# Danish: ret fede



## fedejp

Hi guys. I found this phrase (btw, I don't speak a word of danish) which google translates as: "pretty cool". And fede alone is translated as: "obese". I looked up ret fede on google images and pretty much all of the images have to do with fashion. Can you guys give some more example and in depth details about this phrase?

Thanks in advance.


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## jette(DK)

I don't see which phrase you actually found the and neither the context.

But i guess I can answer pretty accurately nevertheless: 'fed' (declinated forms: fedt/fede) litterally means 'fat' (obese). It is however also a commonly used slang word meaning cool, nice etc. This use has been known since 1969 and is still very frequent.


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## fedejp

Thanks a lot jette. I find it kinda funny that you gave the exact year that it was started to use  Since it's so old. Is it very much used now a days or not so much as in the past.

BTW, do you have any idea why when searched on google images most of the things are about fashion? is an expression mostly used by women?

Cheers


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## jette(DK)

I found the year in my favourite Danish online dictionary, www.ordnet.dk. I actually wondered myself how long this word had been in use as I remember it turning up sometime in my youth (!).

'Fed' may be used frequently in connection with fashion but also in many other contexts, e.g 'en fed oplevelse' (a fat experience), 'en fed bil' (a fat car). I'd say the use of the expression is quite gender neutral.


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## fedejp

And I assume "a fat experience" means "a cool experience". So when you wanna say that something is cool you say it' fat.
Thanks for the answer and that dictionary seems pretty fat


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## Sepia

Well, I could not have put my finger exactloy on the year "1969" - but it is out of the same era as "groovy" and was generally used by the same kind of people who would find anything groovy.


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## jette(DK)

Sepia's remark reminded me of that fact that a joint was/is also called 'en fed' (a fat) - 'at fyre en fed' = to smoke ('burn') a joint. I guess people smoked a lot of 'fats' back in the seventies. I didn't, of course!  Maybe there's a linguistic connection somewhere.


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## frugihoyi

By the way in English "phat" also means cool. And a fattie (or is it phattie) can also mean a joint.


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## Sepia

Just to set things straight - it does not necessarily have to be a joint - what you normally saw when somebody "fyrede en fed" was a smal, straight coneshaped pipe know as a "chillum". However, this is also the only way to use "fed" as a noun in connection with smoking pot. It is not used for whatever you put into your pipe or joint, just a word describing the action itself.


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## jette(DK)

I just checked 'phat' in Merriam-Webster. It indicates:
phat - phatter - phattest
probably alteration of _1fat_ First Known Use: 1963

As for joints and 'fyre en fed', I obviously stand corrected, Sepia. It really isn't an area of expertice with me.


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