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Home > How to Live in Denmark > Danish humor: Sarcasm, 'self irony', and failure beer
Podcast: How to Live in Denmark
Episode:

Danish humor: Sarcasm, 'self irony', and failure beer
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:04:26
Publish Date: 2018-06-19 01:35:36
Description:

Having a sense of humor about yourself – what the Danes call “self-irony” – is one of the most important elements of fitting into Danish society and the Danish workplace.

In Denmark, if you drop the ball at work, drop your lunch entrée down the front of your business shirt, or make a fool of yourself for any other reason, you’re supposed to be able to laugh at your own bumbling.

This can take a while to get used to for foreigners from countries where status or honor or “face” is very important.

In fact, the Danes have a tradition called the kvajebajer (failure beer) or kvajekage (failure cake.)

The person who makes a big mistake offers this beer or cake to others as a way of playfully admitting that he or she failed to live up to expectations.
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