What does “godt fjendskab” mean in Danish?
Tidsrejser, familie og hemmeligheder i Dragør
B1 Danish listening practice · Standard Danish · Curated for intermediate learners
Danish has a quietly ironic phrase: godt fjendskab, literally “a good enmity.” It describes a long-running rivalry that’s been polished over time into something almost cordial. Two characters in this Dragør time-travel drama say “vi har allerede et godt fjendskab kørende” (“we’ve already got a good enmity going”), framing their adversarial relationship as a shared craft.
The phrase plays on Danish jantelov sensibility, where overt enthusiasm is suspect. Calling an enmity “good” admits something matters without sounding earnest. Danes use the construction in workplace, sports, and family-rival contexts whenever a long-running tension has settled into routine.
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Danish drama series on DR (Borgen, Forbrydelsen, Bedrag)
- ▸In Danish workplace conversations about long-running rivalries
- ▸In Danish sports commentary about classic feuds
- ▸In Danish family dynamics talk around siblings or in-laws
- ▸In Danish opinion columns about political adversaries