Underforståede

Underforståede is a Danish term that refers to indirectly or implicitly understood meanings in language. It contrasts with explicit or overt expressions, where the intended message is stated plainly. The concept is common in pragmatics, the study of how context shapes meaning, and is used to describe information that speakers assume their listeners can infer without being directly mentioned.

In Danish discourse, underforståede can occur in everyday conversation, literary texts, and political speech. An example of underforstået content is a statement like “Det er en god idé at biofilmen er en god måde at lave fælles sjove ting på.” Though not stating it outright, the speaker implies that watching a film together can strengthen social bonds or create memories. The audience therefore fills in the unstated implications. This technique can be used to be polite, to save time, or to avoid confrontation.

Underforstået is close to the English idiom “understood implicitly,” but Denmark’s linguistic tradition places the concept at the heart of compositional meaning. Related terms include “implicitness,” “indirectness,” and “connotative meaning.” In scholarly contexts underforståede often appears in chapters on presupposition, implicature, and speech act theory. The phenomenon is found worldwide, but Danish often uses it to preserve the subtlety of context in written and spoken communication.