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What does “spille hellig” mean in Danish?

Danish has a sharp idiom for moral posturing: at spille hellig, literally “to play holy.” It accuses someone of acting more virtuous than they actually are. In this clip a father snaps it at his son’s friend, with the implication: stop pretending you’re not part of the problem.

The phrase sits in a small Danish family of spille (to play) constructions: spille dum (play dumb), spille kostbar (play hard to get), spille hellig (play holy). All use the verb the way English uses “act,” but with a sharper accusing edge. Danes deploy them in conflict scenes the way Americans use sarcasm.