# Danish and Swedish: 'asshole'



## Bonjules

Hola,

Apparently a Danish minister called a reporter an 'a--- ';
What would that be in those languages? any difficulty in pronunciation? would Norwegian be very differrent?
thanks


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## frugihoyi

In Danish it's røvhul


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## Bonjules

Thanks, Frugi.
Would that 'ø' sound similar to the German 'ö' or more like an true ('romance'?) 'o'?


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## Lars H

The Swedes have the same word, _rövhål_. 
The "ö" is close to German, pronounced like in "Görlitz" and "hål" rhymes with "all"

You could also do fine with saying _arsle_ which I think you can grasp without a translation


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## Alxmrphi

Lars H said:


> You could also do fine with saying _arsle_ which I think you can grasp without a translation



Hehe, is that a word that's used in Sweden though? Or is it a word that would only be _understood_?


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## Lars H

I find it slightly less vulgar than the topic of this thread, and yes, it is in use. By me and by others. 

If needed, the expression could be spiced up a bit by adding _prakt_- as a prefix. _Praktarsle_ means "splendid ass".


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## Tjahzi

I recall _rövhål_ being one of the first "curse words" I encountered in first grade (school was the theater at which a whole new world of more or less innovative insults was introduced to me). However, I have since found it to have fallen out of use, and would someone use it to insult me today, I would most likely laugh more than feeling insulted. 

That said, this kind of words are quite dialectal, and what's unpopular here could be popular somewhere else and of course vice versa.

EDIT: I know noticed the last part of Lars' post and must say that I would find that even more amusing.  (That said, the above still stands of course.)

Also, a somewhat less out dated (in my "dialect" that is) word with the same meaning would be _arsle _(but then again, even my brother (who went to the same school (just 3 years later)) prefers _arsel _over it, so again, this very much varies)_. _


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## basslop

Norwegian: Rasshøl.

The "ø" is pronounced almost like the german "ö"


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## Tjahzi

Alxmrphi said:


> Hehe, is that a word that's used in Sweden though? Or is it a word that would only be _understood_?



I'd just like to add that the pronunciation of _arsle_ is ['aʂ:ɭe] and as such, it's technically a native word (well, at least the pronunciation has been modified to conform to Swedish rules).


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## cocuyo

It might be noted that "arsle", "arsel" or "ashål" in Swedish is not commonly used as an invective for cursing and does not have the same connotation as "asshole" in English. It is more used for the anatomical part. The colloquial expression that corresponds to the invective "asshole" is "skitstövel".


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## solregn

cocuyo said:


> It might be noted that "arsle", "arsel" or "ashål" in Swedish is not commonly used as an invective for cursing and does not have the same connotation as "asshole" in English.



I agree, but have to say that I've never heard anyone use the word "ashål" - are you sure it is in use? I've possibly heard "arselhål" but it still sounds a bit like a constructed, direct translation from English.



> The colloquial expression that corresponds to the invective "asshole" is "skitstövel".



I just wanted to add that "svin" (= swine) is used in the same way:

_Vilken skitstövel! / Vilket svin!_ = What an asshole!


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## Sepia

Bonjules said:


> Hola,
> 
> Apparently a Danish minister called a reporter an 'a--- ';
> What would that be in those languages? any difficulty in pronunciation? would Norwegian be very differrent?
> thanks


 
That would be a possible translation. And retranslated this would normally be "roevhul".

What he actually said was not this, rather than "dumme svin" - and it is also not true that he addressed a journalist with this expression. He said this word more or less into the open air, while the camera was still running, but the journalist was several meters away out of earshot.


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