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The word 'Vrede' jumped out at me from this 'Peace' installation. 'Vrede' is Danish for anger, fury, wrath. I wondered if it was an artistic provocation. But it seemed too confined to chance, that someone who happens to understand Danish happens to see this German artwork. So I looked it up and learned that 'vrede' is Dutch for 'peace'.
Vrede. Peace in Dutch. Wrath in Danish. I wonder if there's a word for words like these, that mean the opposite in different languages.
@CiaraNi
In Dutch we also have the word 'wreed' (someone already mentioned that, saw it too late 🤗)
It means 'cruel' in English, 'grausam' in German or according to Google translate 'grusom' in Danish. So the Danish 'vrede' may be related to the Dutch 'wreed'.
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One translation of the Dutch 'wreed' in English is 'brutal'.
There is a Dutch word 'brutaal', but it means 'cheeky' in English.
It'd be a good idea if there were!
My contribution: Gift in English is something given freely; in German it means poison, or a harmful substance.
Well now I'm sitting here staring at my new realisation that Vrede is Dutch for Peace and Vrede is Danish for Wrath and Fred is Danish for Peace. Depending on your accent and how tired you are and how much you mumble, Vrede and Fred sound the same. Vrede and Fred. Wrath and Peace.
The Fediverse is lovely. I saw a nice photo on my timeline and threw out a random remark about something that struck me. And now my timeline is a delight of funny, learned, cheeky, fascinating anecdotes & knowledge. Much of it steeped in your experience from all the languages you all speak.
I haven't been able to catch up on all the replies yet. I look forward to catching up when I log back on later. Meanwhile: thanks to my neighbours here in the Fediverse for great information & entertainment.
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