# Danish: when push comes to shove



## aparis2

Hello. How does one say "when push comes to shove" in Danish? There are different nuanced meanings, but I mean it as "if we absolutely must" or "if there's no other choice." Thank you in advance!


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## Billebob

"Når det kommer til stykket" or "Hvis det ikke kan være anderledes" would probably be the terms I would use.


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## aparis2

Tak så meget!


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## Billebob

Velbekomme.

Bonus: "Tak så meget" is the Swedish way of saying Thanks (Tack så mycket). In Danish we'd say "Mange tak" =)


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## bicontinental

aparis2, do you have a specific sentence in mind that you could share with us?

I like Billebob's second suggestion, _hvis ikke det/det ikke kan være anderledes_ (literally _if it can't be any different_). Or you could say, _hvis det er strengt nødvendigt_ (if it's absolutely necessary), _hvis vi er hårdt presset_ (if [we're] hard pressed) or _hvis den er helt gal_ (if we're in too deep), just to mention a few other possibilities.

But...I can't think of a situation where I'd use _når det kommer til stykket_ (when it comes right down to it, when it really matters) for this particular English idiom.

Maybe we can be more helpful if we have the actual sentence to work with.

Bic.


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## Billebob

bicontinental said:


> But...I can't think of a situation where I'd use _når det kommer til stykket_ (when it comes right down to it, when it really matters) for this particular English idiom.
> 
> Maybe we can be more helpful if we have the actual sentence to work with.



EN "When push came to shove, we were always there for each other".
DA "Når det kom til stykket var vi der altid for hinanden"


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## bicontinental

This may be a difficult one to explain, but in my view there’s a difference here, albeit subtle:

_Når det kommer til stykket_ tells me how a situation is in reality, in essence, when you really consider the situation, when it comes right down to it… frequently this is in contrast to what people might have thought otherwise. _Politicians always promise the world, but when it comes right down to it they don’t follow through on their promises..._ (men når det kommer til stykket, i virkeligheden, når det gælder holder de alligevel ikke, hvad de har lovet.) Example inspired by ordnet.dk.   når det kommer til stykket — Den Danske Ordbog

That’s also how I interpret your example above in post #6.

_When push comes to shove_: “if you say that something can be done if push comes to shove, you mean that it can be done if _the situation is so bad that you have to do it._” I think this is the meaning the OP wants to convey, i.e. “if we absolutely must, if there’s no other choice”

_Look, if push comes to shove we'll just have to sell the car_
if push comes to shove


I wouldn’t use _når det kommer til stykket_ in the above example, would you? (i.e. _hør engang, når det kommer til stykket, må vi bare sælge bilen ). _
[I'd suggest, _hvis det går helt galt, hvis det bliver nødvendigt, hvis ikke det kan være anderledes, må vi bare sælge bilen._]



But as I said above, it’s a lot easier to be helpful if we have a specific sentence example to work with…

Bic.


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## Beninu

Billebob said:


> EN "When push came to shove, we were always there for each other".
> DA "Når det kom til stykket var vi der altid for hinanden"


Or:
DA "Når det virkelig gjaldt, var vi der altid for hinanden".

I know this thread is old but I think this is worth mentioning. I saw someone mentioned "når det gælder" which is present tense, while "når det virkelig gjaldt" is past tense. "Virkelig" is just an adverb meaning "really" which brings the meaning closer to the that of the English idiom "When push comes to shove". (Reason: "When push comes to shove" as an idiom describes an extreme, hence the Danish adverb "virkelig")


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## PoulBA

EN "When push came to shove, we were always there for each other".
når det virkelig brændte på, var vi der altid for hinanden - should convey the meaning


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