In English-speaking countries, overprotective Moms and Dads are called helicopter parents for the way they hover and meddle in their children’s lives. In Denmark, they’re called curling forældre, or curling parents, alluding to the sport of curling and frantic efforts to sweep away all obstacles in their offspring’s path. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Curling Parents”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. It wasn’t that long ago that the term helicopter parents was pretty new.
It came out in the late 1980s, and you know about helicopter parents.
Yeah, these are the parents. They’re hovering over everything their child does just to make sure it’s all perfect.
Right. But in Denmark, they use a different term, which I think is really cool, and it translates as curling parents. Not helicopter parents, but curling parents.
Curling is in the sport?
Yes.
Oh, so they’re using a little brush to smooth the way for their offspring.
Yes.
They’re on the ice.
Yes.
And their little stone-headed child.
Isn’t that great?
Curling foreldra or something like that.
That’s awesome.
Sweeping all obstacles away.
Right.
That’s awesome.
Yeah, this term is on the cover of a book published in Denmark with a picture of these parents who are sweeping things out of the child’s way.
It’s really cute.
And when I was digging into this, I learned the word soup, S-O-O-P.
Yeah.
Do you know this term?
Soup means to assist the progress of a curling stone.
It was the earlier version of what we now call sweeping.
Oh, very interesting.
How about that?
Soup and sweep are connected.
Yes.
Obviously, very nice.
So curling parents.
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