nullbyte420 at 2024-03-20 15:29:58+00:00 ID: kvqu6a3
No it's not true, it's not known or used in Copenhagen at least. Maybe among German immigrants or Danes near the border? Probably not.
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nullbyte420 at 2024-03-20 15:29:58+00:00 ID: kvqu6a3
No it's not true, it's not known or used in Copenhagen at least. Maybe among German immigrants or Danes near the border? Probably not.
SnooPeanuts518 at 2024-03-20 15:38:36+00:00 ID: kvqvqcl
I have heard people say helgoland instead of helvede when they want to avoid using swear words
mallebrok at 2024-03-20 21:58:25+00:00 ID: kvssv6x
Hørte og brugte samme udtryk, opvokset i Sønderborg ^^
'Skrid ad Helgoland til'
English version would be 'Fuck off to Helgoland'
Creepy_Experience993 at 2024-03-20 15:48:28+00:00 ID: kvqxipr
It does exist, or rather: did exist. I doubt that anyone uses it anymore.
aaaaaske at 2024-03-20 15:23:11+00:00 ID: kvqsy6g
According to Ordnet there is a danish saying including Wandsbek: https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=Wandsbek&tab=for
Particular_Run_8930 at 2024-03-20 15:27:45+00:00 ID: kvqtrw6
I have never heard it in use, but according to ordnet.dk there is an expression of “going to Wandsbek”, but it is used for “arguments that does not hold true on closer inspection”.
https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?subentry_id=59012337&def_id=21096840&query=na?
XenonXcraft at 2024-03-20 19:21:10+00:00 ID: kvs0uab
The deeper explanations are pretty funny - and quite different from what OP has read:
Probably used in Hamburg as an expression because something doesn't apply there, but possibly in the small town of Wandsbeck outside Hamburg, which was a haunt for all kinds of dishonest people, bankrupt gamblers etc.
Sometimes used with a view to the fact that Wandsbeck was one of the three places in the Danish monarchy where the lottery was drawn, and that a number for the draw that did not apply to the draw in Kbh., and a note drawn in W. did not was honored in Kbh.
StonoDk at 2024-03-20 15:57:22+00:00 ID: kvqz5j5
Yes, i (M62) have heard it used frequently.
When i was i child i thought they said "gå af Vallensbæk til" (Vallensbæk is a Copenhagen suburb)
I havnt heard it in many years, so it may have been the older generation that used it. (Probably my mother, she was from Sønderborg)
United_Housing_5323 (OP) at 2024-03-20 16:04:23+00:00 ID: kvr0g18
Ohh thank you for sharing your little story! It's interesting, actually not that surprising though, how the saying is apparently not used or known everywhere in Denmark. Had to search up Sønderborg (first time using this character ø lol), makes sense that she knew that as it's so close to the border
RHeegaard at 2024-03-20 16:28:02+00:00 ID: kvr4sk9
ø is just the Danish version of ö, they're pronounced the same
dksprocket at 2024-03-20 21:30:21+00:00 ID: kvsnw2a
I remember hearing it in media many years ago in the context of a worker's strike - possibly workers at a ferry route.
As I recall it: People were showing up saying they had a reservation and then the workers would tell them their reservation were only valid for going to Wandsbek ("Den gælder kun af Wandsbek til"). (i.e. "go to hell with your reservation")
DKlurifax at 2024-03-20 19:03:16+00:00 ID: kvrxgsn
I've (M50) have heard the term "go to heckenfelt" when I was younger. Lived in copenhagen that time and havn't heard it used since.
DKlurifax at 2024-03-20 19:03:06+00:00 ID: kvrxfjz
I've (M50) have heard the term "go to heckenfelt" when I was younger. Lived in copenhagen that time and havn't heard it used since.
XenonXcraft at 2024-03-20 20:22:57+00:00 ID: kvsbvdx
“Hekkenfeldt” refers to the Icelandic volcano Hekla.
DKlurifax at 2024-03-20 20:58:46+00:00 ID: kvsiar2
Interesting. Did not know that.
Selfsigned_Cert at 2024-03-20 21:33:38+00:00 ID: kvsogvl
Guess it’s a diplomatic version of “gå ad helvedes til”. Aka “get lost”
type_reddit_type at 2024-03-20 21:55:20+00:00 ID: kvssbjg
Ah, did not know that. Prefer Katla though :)
Important_Pilot6596 at 2024-03-20 18:13:08+00:00 ID: kvro6z0
Yes I also heard it as Vallensbæk (F66). In the middle of Jutland, so whatever, Wandsbeck or Vallensbæk, ha ha.
Precioustooth at 2024-03-20 18:46:58+00:00 ID: kvru7nm
Being from Vestegnen and just short of 30 years old I have never heard of this saying or of "Wandsbek" so it's probably very regional, which makes sense.
neuratio at 2024-03-20 22:25:18+00:00 ID: kvsxjad
This story triggered a similar yet vague memory I have from my childhood. But I can't connect it to a particular event or person. It does seem like it may be something the older generations used.
JojoDaYoyo at 2024-03-20 16:22:06+00:00 ID: kvr3p55
It sounds ever so slightly familiar, but I wouldn’t use that expression myself. Keep in mind I wasn’t born in the 1900’s.
(Yes I intentionally formulated it like that to make people feel old.)
type_reddit_type at 2024-03-20 22:00:14+00:00 ID: kvst6ks
You sound kinda old, sry.
povlhp at 2024-03-20 17:01:07+00:00 ID: kvraze4
Gå ad Pommern til. Pommern is in Germany. And we once had a Danish King, Erik after Pommern. Not sure where it is, but I associate it with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
FarManden at 2024-03-20 16:01:06+00:00 ID: kvqzua1
Translated from ordnet.dk which could explain the expression (which is not really in use anymore):
“… (Wandsbek) which was one of the three places in Denmark where numbers were drawn in a now-abolished state lottery, and whose numbers did not apply in Copenhagen”.
So it seems the expression is about something that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, like the lottery numbers from Wandsbek didn’t hold up in Copenhagen.
dksprocket at 2024-03-20 21:33:47+00:00 ID: kvsohve
That's the context I heard it in Danish media when I was a kid. There was a strike (possibly on a ferry route) and customers were asking where to go with their reservations. Worker told them sarcasticly their reservation was only valid for Wandsbek.
Micp at 2024-03-20 16:21:48+00:00 ID: kvr3n5e
Haven't heard any saying about Wandsbek, but I have heard Pommern, Helgoland, Hækkenfeldt (after Hekla in Iceland). And of course witches are known to fly to Blocksberg.
TomrummetsKald at 2024-03-20 16:05:34+00:00 ID: kvr0nxy
"Hvor fanden er Herning?"
Maybestof at 2024-03-20 16:05:06+00:00 ID: kvr0ks5
I've heard this, and only because my parents once told me this exactly fact because we happened to go to Wandsbeck one time. Don't think I'd heard it that time before.
It's not something you'd hear anyone below 60 say nowadays. I am not surprised people in this thread havnt heard of it.
United_Housing_5323 (OP) at 2024-03-20 16:12:18+00:00 ID: kvr1w18
What makes you come to that specific, very mediocre place haha And what is the associated meaning to you with that saying?
Blirup at 2024-03-20 15:51:33+00:00 ID: kvqy3c5
There’s also “Gå ad Pommern til”
LuckyAstronomer4982 at 2024-03-20 16:19:00+00:00 ID: kvr34es
Like Go to Hekkenfeldt, go to Hell (the entrance is at the volcano Hekla in Iceland)
Blirup at 2024-03-20 17:22:17+00:00 ID: kvrevw5
Yes, and used in the same manner. But Pommern is in Germany though which was maybe more interesting to OP
LuckyAstronomer4982 at 2024-03-20 17:25:42+00:00 ID: kvrfizk
Go to Pommern is also go to Hell. Why is Hell in Pommern?
Stalinerino at 2024-03-20 18:18:52+00:00 ID: kvrp7pp
It come from erik af pommern, who was a shitty king
A_Strandfelt at 2024-03-20 18:09:42+00:00 ID: kvrnl23
My guesses: Historically, Germany was "far away" and also very often an enemy.
mugaccino at 2024-03-20 18:20:06+00:00 ID: kvrpfq0
It also sounds close-ish to "Pokkers" which is an old timey "don't say Satan's name out loud" way of refering to the devil (and before that, syphilis).
There's also the king nobody liked imported from Germany when we didn't have any direct heirs to the throne: Erik af Pommern. It could also refer to him, he ended up disposed from the throne and returned to Pommern.
WolverineDK at 2024-03-21 12:50:55+00:00 ID: kvvqhza
Pokker has also many meanings of illnesses including the STD known as syfilis now a days.
Mobben at 2024-03-20 20:15:49+00:00 ID: kvsala9
It isn't 'Go to Pommern' but 'Going like Pommern' instead. As u/Stalinerino said, it's because of Erik af Pommern. So when it's going like Pommern, it's going like shit.
Precioustooth at 2024-03-20 19:14:07+00:00 ID: kvrzlj1
You don't think the Poles will be said that the Germans took Pomerania again?
Blirup at 2024-03-20 21:39:43+00:00 ID: kvspjuc
Isn't it situated partly in Poland and partly in Germany? If not, I'm sorry. -and besides, what do I know; I'm more a student of languages than geography.
Precioustooth at 2024-03-20 21:51:55+00:00 ID: kvsrplz
Modern day Pomerania is like 75% Poland and 25% Germany but it was German before ww2. I don't take any offense (and am neither German nor Polish)
tzgolem at 2024-03-20 16:38:19+00:00 ID: kvr6owu
Yes. You can say. "Amen så gå da ad helveds til" It translate into: Well then go to Copenhagen.
FlakaWokaFlamsk at 2024-03-20 16:51:02+00:00 ID: kvr92ls
Yes, but it's very rare nowadays
DubkanJobaltis at 2024-03-20 16:02:57+00:00 ID: kvr06lj
"Hvor længe skal den duppes?"
" Jeg plejer at sige: Den tid det tager at køre til Flensborg"
Fearless_Baseball121 at 2024-03-20 16:13:27+00:00 ID: kvr23lw
Hvis du sætter dig i en bil og kører fra København til Flensborg, så ringer du lige når du når Flensborg og så stopper jeg med at duppe.
Man skal altid ringe når man kommer til Flensborg
Inevitable_Listen747 at 2024-03-20 17:22:21+00:00 ID: kvrewdw
Og stige af i roskilde….
wildmanden at 2024-03-20 16:06:24+00:00 ID: kvr0tcn
Only saying I know that are like that is "Gå af Pommern til", which directly translates to "Go to Pommerania", but actually means "Go to hell" or simply "Fuck off"
williewrap1 at 2024-03-20 16:46:27+00:00 ID: kvr87gg
I looked it up in the book 'Bevingede Ord' which is a collection of idioms, sayings and quotes. According to the author T. Vogel-Jørgensen there's only one such about Wandsbeck, and it goes "Gælder til Wandsbeck" which means "Valid for Wandsbeck".
The explanation given is that this idiom dates back to the time of the numbers lottery. The lottery winners were drawn at three locations: Copenhagen, Altona and Wandsbeck. If you were the owner of a lottery ticket for the latter and presented that ticket in Copenhagen, you would be told "that one is only valid for Wandsbeck".
The book goes on to explain that over time, this idiom got mixed up with a saying used by craftsmen apprentices travelling for work ("på valsen", as it was called). If they went to Hamburg in order to get "Geschenk", they would write Wandsbeck as destination even if they were only going to Altona. The reason was that the Altona trip wasn't far enough to receive "Geschenk". So the entry in their journey books would probably read Wandsbeck, and in conversations among the traveling workers, they might say of such a book that it is "valid for Wandsbeck".
casperghst42 at 2024-03-20 17:14:07+00:00 ID: kvrddqe
"Gå ad Pommern til" would be similar, Pommern as you know is far away from Denmark and I guess back then it was not a very nice place. Back then was in the 14th or 15th century, and it comes from Erik VII (https://historiskerejser.dk/erik-vii-af-pommern/)
Det omtales ofte, at det danske udtryk “Ad Pommern til”, som betyder, at noget går dårligt, kan stamme fra Erik af Pommern, hvis liv også kom til at gå dårligt. Der er dog ikke helt sikkerhed herfor. Man mener, at tilnavnet “af Pommern” har været for at understrege hans manglende nordiske tilhørsforhold, at han var en tysker på den skandinaviske trone, ligesom hans efterfølger fik navnet “af Bayern”.