Learn some common Norwegian idioms
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some common Norwegian idioms? |
| Inger: And how are they used? |
| Michael: At NorwegianClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Karen Lee hears an idiom she is unfamiliar with. She asks her neighbor, Trine Tvedt, "What does 'Ikke bare bare' mean?" |
| Karen: Hva betyr "ikke bare bare"? |
| Dialogue |
| Karen: Hva betyr "ikke bare bare"? |
| Trine: Det betyr "not that easy". |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Karen: Hva betyr "ikke bare bare"? |
| Michael: "What does 'Ikke bare bare' mean?" |
| Trine: Det betyr "not that easy". |
| Michael: "It means 'not that easy.'" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, you will be learning about Norwegian idioms, or |
| Inger: idiomer. |
| Michael: Idioms are expressions that might be quite confusing to someone who encounters them for the first time. This is because the meaning of the expression is usually not apparent, even if you know the meaning of all the individual words in the expression. The result of this is that, if one translates idioms directly, they can sometimes seem quite bizarre and amusing. |
| Idioms are a convenient way of putting something succinctly that might otherwise require a more wordy explanation. It is a good idea to learn some of the more common idioms that are found in a language you are learning because they will give you a unique insight into the culture of the people who speak that language. You will also find that, when you use idioms, you sound a lot more fluent in that language. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue as our first example of a Norwegian idiom. |
| Do you remember how Karen Lee asks, "What does 'Ikke bare bare' mean?"? |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Inger as Karen Lee: Hva betyr "ikke bare bare"? |
| Michael: Here, Karen Lee is asking about an expression that translates directly to: "Not simply simply". As you can hear, it does not make much sense. However, Trine, being a native speaker of Norwegian, was able to explain to Karen that it means: "Not that easy". |
| Let’s quickly review what you have learned so far and then look at some more examples of Norwegian idioms. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, so far, you have learned that idioms or |
| Inger: idiomer |
| Michael: are expressions with a figurative, rather than a literal meaning. One has to learn these meanings in order to understand what the words are actually conveying. This is why native speakers can understand them, but learners who are new to the language will struggle to interpret their meaning. |
| Some Norwegian idioms might be similar to English ones. Take this one for example: |
| Inger: Når katten er borte, danser musene på bordet. |
| Michael: You can translate this literally as: "When the cat is gone, the mice dance on the table". This is similar to the English idiom: "When the cat’s away the mice will play". As you probably know, this means that, when the person who is supervising an activity steps out, those who were being supervised will misbehave. |
| As was mentioned previously, there are similarities between Norwegian idioms and idioms in other languages but so many are unique to the Norwegian language and culture. Here’s an example of one: |
| Inger: Å være midt i smørøyet. |
| Michael: The literal translation of this interesting idiom is "to be in the middle of the butter eye". The figurative meaning of this is: "to be in a great place". This idiom comes from the Norwegian custom of placing a scoop of butter in the middle of hot porridge and letting it melt. Once the butter has melted, it leaves a pool that resembles an eye. This is what is referred to as the |
| Inger: smørøye. |
| Michael: and the idiom means: "to be in the best possible spot". It could refer to, say, an ideal hotel location, or to be among the right people, etc. |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: Because idioms can help you communicate better, and because they can give you some insight into the local culture, it is a good idea to learn as many of them as you can. For your convenience, here is a list of some of the most common Norwegian idioms. We’ll start with: |
| Inger: Det er ugler i mosen. |
| Michael: This translates to: "There are owls in the moss". It means that something suspicious is going on, and it is the equivalent of the English: "There is something fishy going on". We use this expression when we suspect that something is amiss or that someone is keeping a secret. Interestingly, this idiom was originally |
| Inger: Der er ulver i mosen, |
| Michael: literally, "There are wolves in the bog". |
| Michael: Another idiom we can use to talk about someone ending up in a situation they could have avoided or that is difficult to get out of is: |
| Inger: Å stå med skjegget i postkassa. |
| Michael: It translates to: "to stand with one’s beard in the mailbox". Naturally, this is an unusual and unpleasant situation to be in and most people would avoid it, if possible. On the other hand, sometimes a situation is so pleasant that we want more of it. When someone is inspired in this way, Norwegians use a saying which translates to: "to get blood on one’s tooth", or |
| Inger: Å få blod på tann. |
| Michael: This expression comes from the idea of a predator tasting blood and wanting more, but it is used to describe less sinister activities, such as when you start cleaning your room and get so into it that you end up cleaning the rest of your house as well. |
| While on the topic of parts of the body, let’s look at a few more idioms that refer to the body. The next one translates as: "to speak straight from the liver": |
| Inger: Å snakke rett fra leveren. |
| Michael: This idiom means that someone is saying something very directly. They are not beating about the bush or mincing their words, to use two English idioms. |
| Let’s now go up to the head area again. This idiom translates as: "to write something behind the ear": |
| Inger: Å skrive noe bak øret. |
| Michael: It refers to the act of making sure you remember something by making a special, mental note of it. |
| Now we go down to the stomach. If someone in Norway talks about having "ice in one’s stomach", they are talking about staying in control or keeping a cool head. The idiom is: |
| Inger: Is i magen. |
| Michael: For our last two idioms, let’s look at the theme of food. The first one has to do with cabbage. It translates as "to boil away with the cabbage", and it means to start a task or a project and then never finish it. In Norwegian, it sounds like this: |
| Inger: Å koke bort i kålen. |
| Michael: And, finally, we’ll look at an idiom that translates as: "to be out berry-picking". It sounds like this: |
| Inger: Å være på bærtur. |
| Michael: What it means is that someone is lost, either literally, or else within the context of a conversation. It is also used to refer to someone who does not know what they are talking about. |
| Michael: You now know quite a few idioms in Norwegian. Being able to use and understand these in conversation will significantly improve your ability to communicate well in Norwegian. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Inger: Ha det! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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