freekfluweel Mar 29, 2019:

du siger tingene som de er, uden at pakke orden in you say the things as they are, without beating around the bush

Razvan Stefan (asker) Mar 21, 2019:

Thank you everybody. Thomas's and Christine's explanations are the best.
It's true that tergiversation or to tergiversate is not so common but it is an old latin word and many latin-based languages have it. It is pretty common in the Romanian language for example.
Even Charles Dickens used it in A Tale of Two Cities: “He knew ... that flight was impossible; that he was tied fast under the shadow of the axe; and that in spite of his utmost tergiversation and treachery in furtherance of the reigning terror, a word might bring it down upon him”.

Christopher Schröder Mar 21, 2019:

For the record, I have never seen the word "tergiversate" before in my life

Christine Andersen Mar 21, 2019:

Without waffling about In the personality test situation, it means you are expected to describe a situation as it is, and keep to the point.
No covering up or trying to make things sound better than they are, to manipulate your audience.
In other situations, you might need to ´pakke ind´ bad news that will come as a shock, to help someone take it in.
It could be looking on the positive side, for instance when someone who is old and ill is said to 'slip away' or 'find peace', and the family will cherish memories etc.
I think to tergiversate is to go a step further, and actually ignore the facts.

Thomas T. Frost Mar 20, 2019:

Difficult without the surrounding text It's an odd expression, as 'pakke ind' has negative connotations and 'smukt' is positive (unless it is meant sarcastically). It may be that the writer has misunderstood what 'pakke ind' means.

'Tergiversate' is something else.

'Pakke ind' is to dissimulate and embellish the true (undesirable) nature of something.

Anne Parelius Mar 20, 2019:

She puts it delicately

Razvan Stefan (asker) Mar 20, 2019:

Could it be translated to "tergiversate"?