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40 Brilliantly Literal Norwegian Words That Say Exactly What They Mean Illustrated By Me
I love languages and I really love funny words and phrases.
But as a Norwegian, I sometimes catch myself saying these weird things when I speak English because my brain directly translates the words. This causes some English-speaking people to scratch their heads—“What on earth is an Ice Bear? Or an Ink Squirt? And why would I eat a Lard Ring?”
So I made this Instagram account where I translate words from Norwegian to English in a bad way. I also add a drawing so people can understand what it is.
I hope people will like it, and maybe have a little laugh, also I hope that you guys can come up with words from your own language that would seem weird to non-speakers.
Hope you will enjoy these silly word translations!
More info: Instagram
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No idea why they named them this i only know that they are definitely right.
I can imagine like a marine/action movie. "GET IN THE BLUBBER CHOPPER!!!!!"
Hose is a short version of the word hosiery, so basically pantyhose in English is hosiery with pants attached.
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Tights makes a lot of sense, because they are tight- unlike slacks (trousers) which are slack. Pantyhose is weird though.
Same in Finnish, (sukkahousut) and it honestly makes more sense than pantyhose or tights.
In French, we call them "stickings", like they stick or are glued to your legs. Maybe, "stockings" also comes from that?
Silk socks in Afrikaans. They are not made of silk and I still hate wearing them.
In french canadian, it's either bas-culotte (socks-pants), bas-collants (sticky-socks) or bas-nylon (nylon-socks)
Gold in a bag, how fitting, it only sucks that there's usually barely any gold...
Well, my little brother did once get scared of a hose and came home and said he saw a snake. We were all surprised well, i think you know what happened next...
I think it’s burned wine, not burning. as well as Nurse may be not sick sister but sister for the sick (in German the same, not "kranke Schwester" but "Kranken Schwester".
Do Norwegian skunks have pink noses? North American skunks have black noses.
This is what I am going to call every janitor, "Good evening GUARD MASTER!!!"
I actually thought instead of saying plumber it was just going to say Mario
"Skill Skating" in Finnish. Makes sense. a lot of it. I can barely skate normally lmao.
Note: this post originally had 57 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
It is fun to read how much our languages are alike (Dutch), many words translate the same. Small world. Thank you for sharing
I know one in German! 'Glove' in German is 'Handschuhe', like 'Hand shoe'. A glove is a shoe for the hand. Sorry if the spellings wrong lol.
this post is really interresting to show how we name things, in Nordic countries it's really practicall, like schornsteinfeger in german 'the one who cleans chimney" from "to sweep+chimney". In France we are more artistic like "barbe à papa", "daddys beard" for "candy floss".
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The translation of the toaster isnt right. If it was bread shaker it would be breadryster not bread rister. I know that google translate says it is the same. But it is not. Riste trandlates into toast og roast. Im not from norway. Im from Denmark but our language is very similar.
Actually, to "riste" means to shake :) Most norwegians don't use the word "ryste". But in the brødristers case, I suppose "riste" points to the toasting and not the shaking :)
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Interesting that "dandelion" is "lion's teeth" in both Germanic and Latin language groups. The differences between the two are usually where Brits and Americans argue about English. Brits use "biscuit" from the French, while Americans use "cookie" from the Dutch.
Yes, but i will be glad to know what "koekje" exactly means in dutch. In french "biscuit" means "cooked two times" because the primary ones were just a type of bread dough cooked 2 to 4 times to get a "biscuit".
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I had fun quizzing my Norwegian hubby about these. He thought a couple were a little off, but otherwise agreed with the meanings (the literal Norwegian to English). He says Scandinavian and other Germanic languages are very descriptive. (I feel badly that I didn't really learn Norwegian as well as I would have liked after we got married, didn't really keep up what I did learn. It's a wonderful language.)
Also, the reason why you might need a sick car / sister / house is that somebody offered you to sit down; Slå deg ned; Hit / strike / punch yourself down
To be fair, Hippopotamus also means River Horse ( or horse of the river), but in ancient Greek.
same here, bro! with 7 languages in my head i am prone to produce similar errors..
It is fun to read how much our languages are alike (Dutch), many words translate the same. Small world. Thank you for sharing
I know one in German! 'Glove' in German is 'Handschuhe', like 'Hand shoe'. A glove is a shoe for the hand. Sorry if the spellings wrong lol.
this post is really interresting to show how we name things, in Nordic countries it's really practicall, like schornsteinfeger in german 'the one who cleans chimney" from "to sweep+chimney". In France we are more artistic like "barbe à papa", "daddys beard" for "candy floss".
Load More Replies... The translation of the toaster isnt right. If it was bread shaker it would be breadryster not bread rister. I know that google translate says it is the same. But it is not. Riste trandlates into toast og roast. Im not from norway. Im from Denmark but our language is very similar.
Actually, to "riste" means to shake :) Most norwegians don't use the word "ryste". But in the brødristers case, I suppose "riste" points to the toasting and not the shaking :)
Load More Replies... Interesting that "dandelion" is "lion's teeth" in both Germanic and Latin language groups. The differences between the two are usually where Brits and Americans argue about English. Brits use "biscuit" from the French, while Americans use "cookie" from the Dutch.
Yes, but i will be glad to know what "koekje" exactly means in dutch. In french "biscuit" means "cooked two times" because the primary ones were just a type of bread dough cooked 2 to 4 times to get a "biscuit".
Load More Replies... I had fun quizzing my Norwegian hubby about these. He thought a couple were a little off, but otherwise agreed with the meanings (the literal Norwegian to English). He says Scandinavian and other Germanic languages are very descriptive. (I feel badly that I didn't really learn Norwegian as well as I would have liked after we got married, didn't really keep up what I did learn. It's a wonderful language.)
Also, the reason why you might need a sick car / sister / house is that somebody offered you to sit down; Slå deg ned; Hit / strike / punch yourself down
To be fair, Hippopotamus also means River Horse ( or horse of the river), but in ancient Greek.
same here, bro! with 7 languages in my head i am prone to produce similar errors..
