"something is rotten in the state of Denmark" meaning in English

See something is rotten in the state of Denmark in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Audio: En-au-something is rotten in the state of Denmark.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: A line spoken by Marcellus in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act I, scene iv. Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} something is rotten in the state of Denmark
  1. (idiomatic) Something is not right, seriously amiss, especially when leading to suspicion of motive. Wikipedia link: Hamlet Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: something is rotten in Denmark, there is something rotten in the state of Denmark (english: common misquotation) Translations (Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean "something is not right"): има нещо гнило в Дания (ima nešto gnilo v Danija) (Bulgarian), je cosi shnilého ve státě dánském (Czech), je něco shnilého ve státě dánském (Czech), der er noget råddent i Danmarks rige (Danish), malbona io estas en Danujo (Esperanto), on jotain mätää Tanskanmaalla (Finnish), il y a quelque chose de pourri au royaume du Danemark (French), etwas ist faul im Staate Dänemark (German), κάτι σάπιο υπάρχει στο βασίλειο της Δανιμαρκίας (káti sápio ypárchei sto vasíleio tis Danimarkías) (Greek), משהו רקוב בממלכת דנמרק (Hebrew), valami bűzlik Dániában (Hungarian), c'è del marcio nel regno di Danimarca (Italian), c'è del marcio in Danimarca (Italian), det er noe råttent i kongeriket Danmark (Norwegian), źle się dzieje w państwie duńskim (Polish), há algo de podre no reino da Dinamarca (Portuguese), нела́дно что́-то в да́тском короле́встве (neládno štó-to v dátskom korolévstve) (Russian), има нешто труло у држави Данској [Cyrillic] (Serbo-Croatian), ima nešto trulo u državi Danskoj [Roman] (Serbo-Croatian), algo está podrido en el estado de Dinamarca (Spanish), algo huele a podrido en Dinamarca (Spanish), något är ruttet i konungariket Danmark (Swedish), något är ruttet (Swedish), i danska staten någonting är ruttet (Swedish), çürümüş bir şeyler var şu Danimarka krallığında (Turkish)

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for something is rotten in the state of Denmark meaning in English (7.6kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "A line spoken by Marcellus in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act I, scene iv.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "something is rotten in the state of Denmark",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English aphorisms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English catchphrases",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
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          "kind": "other",
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            "Entry maintenance"
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Serbo-Croatian terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "If the authorities knew about the problems and chose not to prevent them, then clearly something is rotten in the state of Denmark.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992 November 18, Lord Mackie of Benshie, “World Food Situation”, in parliamentary debates (Lords Chamber), volume 540, column 661",
          "text": "If divided roughly, two-thirds of them work in desk jobs while one-third are involved in field work. When one gets that sort of proportion one begins to think, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Robin Morgan, editor, Sisterhood Is Global […], Open Road Media",
          "text": "My belief that something is rotten in the State of Denmark is bred by recent developments, both political and cultural. I feel that the feminist movement is now more on the defensive than the offensive, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something is not right, seriously amiss, especially when leading to suspicion of motive."
      ],
      "id": "en-something_is_rotten_in_the_state_of_Denmark-en-phrase-h9JaAdEh",
      "links": [
        [
          "right",
          "right"
        ],
        [
          "amiss",
          "amiss"
        ],
        [
          "suspicion",
          "suspicion"
        ],
        [
          "motive",
          "motive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Something is not right, seriously amiss, especially when leading to suspicion of motive."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "something is rotten in Denmark"
        },
        {
          "english": "common misquotation",
          "word": "there is something rotten in the state of Denmark"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "ima nešto gnilo v Danija",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "има нещо гнило в Дания"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "je cosi shnilého ve státě dánském"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "je něco shnilého ve státě dánském"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "der er noget råddent i Danmarks rige"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "malbona io estas en Danujo"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "on jotain mätää Tanskanmaalla"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "il y a quelque chose de pourri au royaume du Danemark"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "etwas ist faul im Staate Dänemark"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "káti sápio ypárchei sto vasíleio tis Danimarkías",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "κάτι σάπιο υπάρχει στο βασίλειο της Δανιμαρκίας"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "משהו רקוב בממלכת דנמרק"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "valami bűzlik Dániában"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "c'è del marcio nel regno di Danimarca"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "c'è del marcio in Danimarca"
        },
        {
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "det er noe råttent i kongeriket Danmark"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "źle się dzieje w państwie duńskim"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "há algo de podre no reino da Dinamarca"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "neládno štó-to v dátskom korolévstve",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "нела́дно что́-то в да́тском короле́встве"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "tags": [
            "Cyrillic"
          ],
          "word": "има нешто труло у држави Данској"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "tags": [
            "Roman"
          ],
          "word": "ima nešto trulo u državi Danskoj"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "algo está podrido en el estado de Dinamarca"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "algo huele a podrido en Dinamarca"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "något är ruttet i konungariket Danmark"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "något är ruttet"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "i danska staten någonting är ruttet"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
          "word": "çürümüş bir şeyler var şu Danimarka krallığında"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Hamlet"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-something is rotten in the state of Denmark.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3c/En-au-something_is_rotten_in_the_state_of_Denmark.ogg/En-au-something_is_rotten_in_the_state_of_Denmark.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/En-au-something_is_rotten_in_the_state_of_Denmark.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "A line spoken by Marcellus in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act I, scene iv.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "something is rotten in the state of Denmark",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English aphorisms",
        "English catchphrases",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English terms derived from toponyms",
        "English terms first attested in Shakespeare",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Serbo-Croatian terms with redundant script codes"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "If the authorities knew about the problems and chose not to prevent them, then clearly something is rotten in the state of Denmark.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992 November 18, Lord Mackie of Benshie, “World Food Situation”, in parliamentary debates (Lords Chamber), volume 540, column 661",
          "text": "If divided roughly, two-thirds of them work in desk jobs while one-third are involved in field work. When one gets that sort of proportion one begins to think, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Robin Morgan, editor, Sisterhood Is Global […], Open Road Media",
          "text": "My belief that something is rotten in the State of Denmark is bred by recent developments, both political and cultural. I feel that the feminist movement is now more on the defensive than the offensive, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something is not right, seriously amiss, especially when leading to suspicion of motive."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "right",
          "right"
        ],
        [
          "amiss",
          "amiss"
        ],
        [
          "suspicion",
          "suspicion"
        ],
        [
          "motive",
          "motive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Something is not right, seriously amiss, especially when leading to suspicion of motive."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Hamlet"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-something is rotten in the state of Denmark.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3c/En-au-something_is_rotten_in_the_state_of_Denmark.ogg/En-au-something_is_rotten_in_the_state_of_Denmark.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/En-au-something_is_rotten_in_the_state_of_Denmark.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "something is rotten in Denmark"
    },
    {
      "english": "common misquotation",
      "word": "there is something rotten in the state of Denmark"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "ima nešto gnilo v Danija",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "има нещо гнило в Дания"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "je cosi shnilého ve státě dánském"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "je něco shnilého ve státě dánském"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "der er noget råddent i Danmarks rige"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "malbona io estas en Danujo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "on jotain mätää Tanskanmaalla"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "il y a quelque chose de pourri au royaume du Danemark"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "etwas ist faul im Staate Dänemark"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "káti sápio ypárchei sto vasíleio tis Danimarkías",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "κάτι σάπιο υπάρχει στο βασίλειο της Δανιμαρκίας"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "משהו רקוב בממלכת דנמרק"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "valami bűzlik Dániában"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "c'è del marcio nel regno di Danimarca"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "c'è del marcio in Danimarca"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "det er noe råttent i kongeriket Danmark"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "źle się dzieje w państwie duńskim"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "há algo de podre no reino da Dinamarca"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "neládno štó-to v dátskom korolévstve",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "нела́дно что́-то в да́тском короле́встве"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "tags": [
        "Cyrillic"
      ],
      "word": "има нешто труло у држави Данској"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "tags": [
        "Roman"
      ],
      "word": "ima nešto trulo u državi Danskoj"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "algo está podrido en el estado de Dinamarca"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "algo huele a podrido en Dinamarca"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "något är ruttet i konungariket Danmark"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "något är ruttet"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "i danska staten någonting är ruttet"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "Hamlet quotation, used in other contexts to mean \"something is not right\"",
      "word": "çürümüş bir şeyler var şu Danimarka krallığında"
    }
  ],
  "word": "something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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