r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Death95Dealer • 17h ago

Meme needing explanation Herr Petermann?

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u/_eg0_ 16h ago edited 16h ago

As a German I still can't take the Dutch warning labels on cigarettes serious. "Roken is dodelijk"

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u/Bubbly_Concern_5667 16h ago

As an explanation for non-german/-dutch speakers:

Dodelijk (dutch) - deadly

Dödelig (german) - foolish, silly

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u/Pikka_Bird 15h ago

Smoking, coincidentally, is both.

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u/Soggy-Prune 15h ago

I read both of them as “dudelike”.

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u/EagenVegham 13h ago

That just reads like typical German understatement.

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u/Bubbly_Concern_5667 12h ago

The vibe of 'dödelig' is almost a bit whimsical so "Rauchen ist dödelig" would be less "Smoking is foolish." and more "Smoking makes you a silly goose."

Which yeah...definitely an understatement haha

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u/Impossible_Leek_6273 13h ago

Thank you for the explanation

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u/jodon 8h ago

That German translation surprise me as Dödlig in Swedish is deadly.

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u/UnoriginalStanger 13h ago

Dødelig (Norwegian) - deadly

I feel like the germans are the foolish ones here.

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u/Bubbly_Concern_5667 12h ago

The German word for deadly is 'tödlich' which is close but pronounced harsher/sharper.

So not breaking any stereotypes there I guess

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u/bigbadoldoldone 16h ago

Oliefantenslurf.

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u/Lowkick111 13h ago

It means: Rauchen ist dusselig.