# Swedish, Danish, Norwegian: Murder



## dihydrogen monoxide

Is the word mord used at all in Danish and Norwegian (b/n), since I rarely heard mord but just drab. Is the word drab or its descendent used in Swedish since so far as I know only mord is used there.


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## bicontinental

Mord and drab are both used in Danish. Mord refers to the premeditated killing of someone, drab can also be accidental or unintentional (as in trafikdrab.)


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## Den falska sköldpaddan

*Dråp* is a common word in Swedish, used, I guess, more or less like *drab* in Danish.


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## raumar

Both mord and drap are used in Norwegian. The difference is the same as bicontinental describes for Danish. Another difference is that "drap" is the legal term, used by police and courts, while "mord" is used in everyday speech and in mystery novels, TV series etc, for example Agatha Christie's novel "Mord på Orientekspressen".


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## dihydrogen monoxide

raumar said:


> Both mord and drap are used in Norwegian. The difference is the same as bicontinental describes for Danish. Another difference is that "drap" is the legal term, used by police and courts, while "mord" is used in everyday speech and in mystery novels, TV series etc, for example Agatha Christie's novel "Mord på Orientekspressen".



Would that be something along the lines of murder and homicide.


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## PoulBA

NB. Raumar's differentiation between drab and mord also applies in Danish - mord is not a legal term


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## winenous

If _mord _is not a legal term in Danish or Norwegian, what are the legal words or expressions that distinguish between the everyday-speech _mord _and killing accidentally or in delf-defense?


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## AutumnOwl

Swedish:
Mord - murder. 
Dråp - manslaughter.
Vållande till annans död - involuntary manslaughter.

I would say that _mord_ is the word most people use when talking about homicides. To differentiate between _mord_ and _dråp_, it's usually something that's a matter for the courts to decide on.


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## raumar

winenous said:


> If _mord _is not a legal term in Danish or Norwegian, what are the legal words or expressions that distinguish between the everyday-speech _mord _and killing accidentally or in delf-defense?



I am not an expert on this, but I believe the Norwegian legal terms are:

Overlagt drap (intentional and premeditated) 
Forsettlig drap (intention to kill, but no forethought or planning) 
Uaktsomt drap (unintentional, caused by carelessness or negligence)

If it is self-defense, or if there is no carelessness, I don't think it is legally categorized as "drap".


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## winenous

raumar said:


> I am not an expert on this


That's fine. I was not looking for legal precision - just some idea as to what the terms were. Thank you


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## PoulBA

The terms Raumar lists, are much the same in Danish legalese, prefixed with mand-, though
overlagt manddrab
forsætligt manddrab
uagtsomt manddrab


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