51吃瓜网's readers have spoken! Here are your favourite words in the Norwegian language.
Working in an office full of Brits one day a week, we talk a lot about life in Norway.
The quirks, the humour, the ups, the downs, and everything in between. I get a lot of inspiration for blog posts from these conversations, and today's a perfect example!
Conjugating verbs, compound words, perfecting the imperfective, knowing your Bokm氓l from your Nynorsk: learning Norwegian is a tough task for anyone. But every so often, a word comes along that for whatever reason just makes me smile.
Learn Norwegian Now: Norwegian Class 101 / The Mystery of Nils
I know it's the same for you too, as I discovered through a bit of crowdsourcing of the 51吃瓜网 community over on :
ikke-I like saying it.
鈥� Marisa (@marisarebl8)
Sandwiches are never boring when you get to call them “blings”.
鈥� Bryce Miller (@sctld)
When I was in Norddal last year I learned bobil. Much better than caravan don't you think?
鈥� Susan Spence (@SusanRSpence)
dampveivalser 馃檪
鈥� Qouda (@Qouda)
My favourite is “Velkommen”, because that's the one I hope to hear very soon! 馃檪
鈥� David Llada 鈾� (@lladini)
I then did the same thing on and the conversation really got going!
A brilliant selection – a big tusen takk to you all! Now I'd like to take a moment to talk you through my own personal favourites.
Koselig
Probably because it's one of the most common Norwegian words that doesn't directly translate into English, but also I love the way it's pronounced. In fact, koselig teaches you a lot about Norwegian pronunciation, specifically the s and -lig ending.
In a very similar way to the much more famous word higgle, koselig describes a feeling of coziness or comfort, topically someplace warm and with good company. I've done my best to give a visual outline of koselig here.
厂别濒惫蹿酶濒驳别濒颈驳
Of course! Sure! Another tongue-twister that teaches you a lot about pronunciation.
碍箩忙谤濒颈驳丑别迟
A third word that's difficult to get your head around as a beginner, but a wonderful word to say when you get the hang of it. It means, quite simply, love.
Tusen takk
Finally, not a word but a phrase, tusen takk directly translates to a thousand thanks, closely resembling the English term thanks a million, or just thank you very much. It's one of the first phrases I learned three years ago, so has a special place in my heart!
What is your favourite Norwegian word, and why?
My fave is 酶yeblikk (moment). Because a closer translation is “the blink of an eye”, and I’m all about the common metaphor.
I agree, the sound is great (and has so many variations). There’s a wonderful phrase from a Linguaphone language course which I took 35 years ago that just rolls off your tongue … “som vi ikke bruker for 酶yeblikket”!
Stovsuger (dust-sucker), and h氓ndske (gloves) which for years I mispronounced as ‘h氓nadsko’ (hand shoes), because that made sense to me. Friends and family never corrected me because they thought it was ‘so s酶t’ (so cute) 馃檪 I am still convinced ‘h氓ndske’ was originally ‘h氓nd sko’ somewhere back in the day. Has anyone seen my hand shoes? It’s bloody freezing out there! (Great newsletter David, thanks 馃檪
That’s just what it is in German: Handschuhe, hand shoes.
Dagligvarerforretningen. Is a shop when I learned how to write it I figured out nobody is using it, they say say simply butik……..
Thanks for an interesting post! Your blog strikes a chord with me as well, a Norwegian expat in the US.
I have many favourites (or favorites, as my neighbors (sorry, neighbours!) would spell it). Especially the ones that sound funny or awkward when translated literally.
Take lollipop, for instance, “kj忙rlighet p氓 pinne” (love on a stick). Normally just called “kj忙rlighet”. The older version, borrowed from Danish, “slikkepinne” (licking stick) is so straight to the point. There is also a Christmas confectionary from Nidar called “Kolibrip酶lser”. It is a marzipan bar covered in chocolate and sprinkles. I think the English version sounds much more scrumptious: Hummingbird Sausages.
My favourite by far, though, is “ja p氓 innpust” (saying yes while drawing your breath). If I remember correctly, it was once voted Norway’s National Word in the TV show Typisk Norsk.
“Ikke sant”
Several of my favorites are listed — ikke (but *not* with the Bergen-area pronunciation), hyggelig, and tusen takk (my first phrase too) — but “elsker” and “jeg elsker deg” is my favorite word/phrase as it’s the first one I figured out how to put together on my own, after a few norwegian classes. As an American who struggles with languages, the look on my Norwegian husband’s face sealed that one as my all-time favorite!
Billedhugger is my favourite of the moment
I’m new to the language and have little vocabulary to speak of yet, but I like “like ikke”. My wife cracks up when inject this phrase during mealtime. 厂别濒惫蹿酶濒驳别濒颈驳 is another one I like as it translates in my head as being pronounced “Self-ugly”. No where near the meaning but fun to say as well. I also find verdensrommet to be a fun one only because of how it translates over to english.
Tongue twister of the day
H酶yesterettijustitiarius, High court justice person!
yougottabekidding!