# Danish: crackers / kiks



## Riveritos

Hello, talking about food, what's the difference between _kiks_ and _crackers_? 
I would like to know exactly how you call this type of crackers in Danish language
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Saltine_crackers.jpg
Thanks in advance for your help.


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## Cerb

I don't think "crackers" is used in any Scandinavian language, but it would have to be Danish if any. Kiks/kex/kjeks (DK/SWE/NOR) covers both biscuits and crackers usually. As for the difference between crackers and biscuits in English wiki and some google image searches will probably give you a better idea than me explaining it 

I'd wait for a native speaker to be 100%.


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## Wilma_Sweden

In Sweden, people don't usually use the word cracker in speech, unless it's part of a brand name. Kex covers both types, but if we want to differentiate, we would call the crackers salta kex or ostkex (=salty or cheese-).


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## eric489

I've always used kjeks /sheks/ in Norwegian.

But as English words are faily often used in informal speech, one would understand you if you drop the word "crackers" in a sentence. Of course, one might ask you why you're not using the appropriate term (kjeks) but you'd be understood.

But that's my two cents.


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## hanne

I haven't been around the last week, but here's the native opinion:
As the others have more or less said, the difference is that "kiks" is a Danish word, and "crackers" isn't.
If you need to differentiate you could call them "ostekiks" or "saltkiks" (thanks Wilma ).

As Eric said, people will understand you if you use the English word in the middle of a Danish sentence - like they'll understand you if you replace any other word with its English equivalent. But I don't think I know anyone who'd consider "crackers" a Danish word (it's not a topic I discuss very often though ).

And btw, that "English words are fairly often used in informal speech", doesn't mean any English word, only certain ones - and to me crackers isn't one of them.


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## eric489

hanne said:


> I haven't been around the last week, but here's the native opinion:
> As the others have more or less said, the difference is that "kiks" is a Danish word, and "crackers" isn't.
> If you need to differentiate you could call them "ostekiks" or "saltkiks" (thanks Wilma ).
> 
> As Eric said, people will understand you if you use the English word in the middle of a Danish sentence - like they'll understand you if you replace any other word with its English equivalent. But I don't think I know anyone who'd consider "crackers" a Danish word (it's not a topic I discuss very often though ).
> 
> And btw, that "English words are fairly often used in informal speech", doesn't mean any English word, only certain ones - and to me crackers isn't one of them.



True crackers isn't one of them, but you'd be surprised at the amout of English words used by us, the Norwegian youth when I head back to Norway twice a year.
It goes from insults to complete sentences (often movie or song-related). 
Just leaf through a random Pondus comic book.

And listening to Norwegian teenagers talking in informal context can be compared to hearing a new language.

But you're right on the main idea, not all English words can be used in Scandinavian tongues, but one has to admit that it has deeply rooted itself in the overall Scandinavian culture.


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## Sepia

Through one of my very imaginative combinations of parameters, entered into a search machine (which has no "G" in its name) I managed to come up with product lists from a number Danish bakeries and Danish entrepeneurs reselling bakery goods. Not one of them used the word "cracker" for their goods. 

There were several hits on "ostekiks" and "saltkiks", often to be found together with internationally well known brand names.


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## ThomasPipstar

Crackers are just called kiks.


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## hanne

Småkager are cookies, biscuits are kiks, not småkager.


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## Ben Jamin

eric489 said:


> I've always used kjeks /sheks/ in Norwegian.
> 
> But as English words are faily often used in informal speech, one would understand you if you drop the word "crackers" in a sentence. Of course, one might ask you why you're not using the appropriate term (kjeks) but you'd be understood.
> 
> But that's my two cents.


 If you pronounce kjeks as 'sheks' then you pronounce it wrong, you may even not be understood. This pronunciation is however popular among kindergarten kids.


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