It's a Danish word, a unique word pronounced hew - gel ee. The actual spelling is Hyggeligt but I had to drop one g and a t to get the blog registered. There is no exact translation but the closest is probably 'cosy'. So if you are going to settle down for a night with close family, friends, lover, wife, partner you are getting hyggeligt.
But there is more, you will be more than cosy. Add a large dose of warmth and happiness - that's the Danish ingredient - and you are getting close.
So am I Danish? Not at all but I did work in Copenhagen for a few years, eventually learned the language and enjoyed more or less everything about the place and its people. So welcoming, friendly, unpretentious and ready to enjoy life.
Surveys often mark Denmark as one of the world's happiest societies and there is a reason for that.
It's true.
So how did they get there? In my view one of the main reasons is that this is as close to a classless society as Europeans can get. There is no constant 'us' and 'them' dialogue and much less of a divide between haves and haves nots - because the majority are 'haves' - though not in any extreme way.
Taxes are fairly high. If you believe in the right wing philosophies of low tax and survival of the very rich - don't bother. You won't feel at home. Tax is there to be paid, to provide for the common good.
If you are a British Conservative or US Republican you may well feel you are on another planet. But it's a waste of time trying to figure out how to get the same happiness factor into your society because basically at heart - you prefer inequality.
It's just one reason you will never be hyggeligt.
