Comments on: How To Be Polite In Norway

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 25 May 2024 23:08:19 +0000

Reading this article was a great relief for me as an Englishman. I realised that I could fit into Norwegian society much better than, say, the United States. I find the American need for personal contact with strangers disturbing, exhausting and quite rude, even though I worked out that it is not meant to be. I find being addressed in a personal way by a stranger is very off-putting, and when people I don’t know start a phone conversation by asking me ‘how are you today?’ I put the phone down.

However, I did live in Israel for some years, and found the Israelis intolerably rude; that is, until I learned Hebrew, and discovered that now I could be very direct in a socially acceptable way. There are ways of speaking that I just can’t do in English, but speaking Hebrew allows me feel fine about it.

So politeness and rudeness is very much a cultural construct, and we just have to understand that people don’t always communicate the way we do.

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 08:11:24 +0000

In reply to Mark. Actually, I was rather surprised when in Norway. I found Norwegians rather rude, by American standards. They don’t seem as polite, often taking one’s reactions for granted, or making assumptions. Often they ignore simple things that we use to put people at ease, what I guess you would call “level 1” conversation, “hello” how are you”, etc. They will tell you what they think of your country, which, even if I agree, seems offputting. I often found myself trying to find common ground with people who could care less. And I even speak fair Norwegian.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 15:54:46 +0000

As a mathematician (who is about to embark on a trip to Norway), I have to confess to staring at this closing phrase in your post for a long moment, completely perplexed: “get a dog to help with integration”

I eventually figured it out, that you hadn’t slipped into giving calculus advice.

By: Tor Stokkan

Tor Stokkan — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 21:31:00 +0000

In reply to Pete Story. Yes I totally agree. «Takk for alt!» is kind of statement you say to family and friends right before you die. Or your family and friends say this in your funeral. (I am 100% ethnic Norwegian.)

By: Tor Stokkan

Tor Stokkan — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 21:14:23 +0000

I liked this article:) I am 100% Norwegian, and during my day I have to translate to-and-from English and Norwegian all day long. I take pride in writing “ethnic” Norwegian which is true to our culture. Yes, you are right, it is direct:)
I have a reaction to your sentence “Kan jeg få en kaffe, takk?” I get an instant feeling that this is kind of rude. If you, for instance, are asked “Do you want coffee or tea? (Vil du ha kaffe eller te?)” The most common and natural thing would be to reply “Coffee (Kaffe).” As you mentioned, no need to pack in a lot of unnecessary fill words.

By: Klaus B.

Klaus B. — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 12:06:37 +0000

Well then, Norwegians are just people? Who is behaving in the most ordinary way?!?

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 14:29:27 +0000

In reply to Kate. I agree, 15 minutes late is not ideal. Arriving early is better than arriving late.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 08:13:04 +0000

In reply to Mike Vanni. This! Can relate, so annoying.

By: Mike Vanni

Mike Vanni — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 06:48:30 +0000

I was born in Los Angeles (not the politest part of the U.S.) and spent my adult life in San Francisco (a much more cheery place). I now live in Oslo and have observed a few behavioral differences I find both amusing and annoying.

AMUSING – Coming from Los Angeles where walking and driving qualify as Olympic-class events, I have never seen drivers as polite as they are in Oslo. If I’m walking down the street and simply turn my head and glance at a crosswalk, cars from all directions come to a grinding halt in anticipation of my next step. It’s truly amazing, after experiencing the craziness of being a pedestrian in L.A.

ANNOYING – The rules of the road do not appear to translate to sidewalk and stair behavior in Oslo. Norway drives on the right but walks on both halves of a sidewalk. I want to grab some pedestrians by the collar and ask: “did you grow up in London? Tokyo? Sydney? No?? Then get your butt to the right side of the sidewalk!! The same goes for stairs. There is a divided set of stairs leading into the T-Bane station at Stortinget. It has a handrail running down the middle. That a clue that it’s a divided set of stairs. Do you think that clue gives Oslovians a hint regarding which side to use for ascending or descending? Not a chance! They walk in mass using the entire staircase, regardless of their direction of travel. So rude! They also like to stand in groups in the middle of a sidewalk having a conversation. I have had to walk in the street to get around groups gathered to chat. What I really want to do is walk up to the group and yell: This is a thoroughfare, not a conference room!!

Mostly I love this place. It’s way more civilized than what I’m accustomed to in L.A. and S.F.

By: Pete Story

Pete Story — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 18:48:54 +0000

One small but important caveat for your thank you section. «Takk for alt!», literally “thanks for everything”, is an easy thing to say for a new Norwegian speaker, but there’s a catch – the phrase is traditionally almost exclusively reserved for sad occasions, in particular funerals. Think of some other way of thanking for everything – «Tusen takk for all hjelpen» for example, would be a better thing to say to somebody who had made a big effort on your behalf.