I’m a cornucopia of useless knowledge. I’m kind of annoying about it. Depending on my mood and what information I’ve consumed recently, I can change what I want to overshare at a moment’s notice.

Have you ever notice in English, we refer to the country as “Denmark,” but the people as “Danes?”

Studying German, I have learned it makes perfect sense.

English is derived from German, and the Germans call the country “Dänemark.” The Umlaut over the “ä” makes it sound like a Canadian “Eh?” It’s that solid middle ground between an English long “A” sound and a soft “E” sound. Therefore, when you use the “ä” in “Dänemark”, it sounds smack dab in between the way we say “Denmark,” and the way we say “Danes.”