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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
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Final score:
120points
Viz 5 years ago
Same stuff in the Netherlands. So maybe England is the odd one out, like with Pineapple.
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Pogy Nevis 5 years ago
On russian it's flying mouse. It does look like a mouse with wings though.
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
In french it's a "bald mouse", don't ask me why! Apparently we don't care that it's flying, it's just a bald mouse, and yes it has wings and we didn't care at all when we named it. Because frenchies are so snobby^^ "ok you can fly i don't care!you are a bald mouse for us." lol Cliché
Nevid 5 years ago
It's derived from the late Latin cava sorex (owl mouse) which somehow got distroted into calva sorex (bald mouse).
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BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know that bats can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes an hour
RELATED:
#2
Final score:
93points
Yeah, you heard 5 years ago
Well "hog" and "pig" mean the same thing. Spike pig makes a lot more sense than hedge pig.
Lord Mysticlaw 5 years ago
In Afrikaans it's a shrink pig (hedgehog) and an iron pig (porcupine).
eezycheezes101 5 years ago
Ok I love ALL of these and am honered to be the first one to read this post! (Maybe not first but first to . . .comment! BTW this is REALLY funny!)
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know that a porcupine has approximately 30,000 quills on its body.
#4
Final score:
91points
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
I don't have a fact for this but foot odors can be pretty dangerous
David Tourangeau 3 years ago
In french canadian, smelling like slippers (sentir le chausson) or smelling like little feet (ça sent les petits pieds)
#5
Final score:
82points
Pogy Nevis 5 years ago
No idea why they named them this i only know that they are definitely right.
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
In french it's a "tétard" , "teter" means to feed an infant so it's make sence. But for leech we have the word "sangsue", "sang" is blood, sue from "suce" (don't bring your lawyers americans they don't sue you), "suck", so it's a "bloodsucker"
Annett Nyrud 5 years ago
"Rumpe" does not only mean "butt," at least long ago when the word "rumpetroll" came to be, it can also mean "tail."
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know Bullfrog Tadpoles can grow as long as a banana.
#6
Final score:
80points
Average Grizzlies Fan 5 years ago
I can imagine like a marine/action movie. "GET IN THE BLUBBER CHOPPER!!!!!"
Linda HS 5 years ago
Burst out laughing...I heard it in Arnie’s strong accent
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BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know that orcas are regular and natural predators of moose
David Tourangeau 3 years ago
In french, épaulard (from ancient french - from the shoulder and lard)
Nina Johansson 5 years ago
I don't see the issue, it is the same if you translate it from Swedish
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
That's not very fun since orcas are endangered, red flag endangered. Differents familys of orcas all over the world, teaching different things to their youngs... all of them have a culture. If we loose one family, we will lose an entire culture. The polar bear were once a grizzly, he will become a grizzly again with humans mistakes. Orcas will leave the earth forever very soon and their knowledge will be forgotten. Sorry to be "not fun at parties" as a behavior scientist, orcas are awesome.
Load More Replies... #7
Final score:
79points
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know that butterflies can taste with their feet... imagine that...
#8
Final score:
73points
Shelley DuVal 5 years ago
Hose is a short version of the word hosiery, so basically pantyhose in English is hosiery with pants attached.
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Yeah, you heard 5 years ago
Tights makes a lot of sense, because they are tight- unlike slacks (trousers) which are slack. Pantyhose is weird though.
RoseTheMad 5 years ago
Same in Finnish, (sukkahousut) and it honestly makes more sense than pantyhose or tights.
Ryukei Panda 5 years ago
In French, we call them "stickings", like they stick or are glued to your legs. Maybe, "stockings" also comes from that?
Lord Mysticlaw 5 years ago
Silk socks in Afrikaans. They are not made of silk and I still hate wearing them.
David Tourangeau 3 years ago
In french canadian, it's either bas-culotte (socks-pants), bas-collants (sticky-socks) or bas-nylon (nylon-socks)
#9
Final score:
71points
Avriel Schwartz 5 years ago
Most unfortunate ad for a vacuum cleaner: Nothing Sucks Like An Electrolux (great vacuum, btw). At least it makes sense now...
Agatz 5 years ago
I think that was s great ad. Like when IKEA had posters (at least in Norway) that said "screw yourself" :p
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#10
Final score:
70points
Pogy Nevis 5 years ago
Gold in a bag, how fitting, it only sucks that there's usually barely any gold...
doggo-is-fren 5 years ago
Would you like microscopic potato chip crumbs instead????
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Hugh Walter 5 years ago
You said 'Norwegian-to-English'? In English these are crisps! They are Potato-chips in American-English, which often isn't English!
#11
Final score:
68points
Pogy Nevis 5 years ago
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...
George A Pope 5 years ago
you made fun of him unmercifully & everyone laughed at him until he cried?
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#12
Final score:
61points
Cupcake168 5 years ago
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".
Mats Iversen (Submission author) 5 years ago
“Burned” would be “brent” in Norwegian, while “burning” is “brenne”. Therefore “burning wine”, but yeah; burning would be more “correct”. The account is just for fun/humor so I often use the most silly direct translation 😊
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Hans 5 years ago
Like the German Bandwein; true meaning is rather burned, i.e. distilled wine.
Jeff Christensen 4 years ago
In English, "brandy" comes from the Dutch "brandewijn" meaning "burnt wine".
Hugh Cookson 5 years ago
The origin of the name 'Brandy' ( Cognac as it is should be correctly called) is because when Dutch sailors were bringing it in from the Netherlands to break an English customs embargo on France, the English couldn't pronounce the Dutch word Brandewijn (literally, burnt wine) and bastardised it to 'Brandy'.
#13
Final score:
61points
Dorka 5 years ago
Similar again. Zöldségek Hey! I thought Finnish was supposed to be similar to Hungarian, turns out Norwegian is similar too.
Mary Rose Kent 5 years ago
Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian are it’s own small language group.
Load More Replies... Jasmina Pavlovic 5 years ago (edited)
It's almost the same in German: "Grünzeug" ... Green stuff. I like your language ... really. 🙂👍
David Tourangeau 3 years ago
In french, légumes. Except if they are eaten raw as appetizers consisting of sliced or whole raw vegetables which are typically dipped in a vinaigrette or other dipping sauce. Then they're called "crudités" =raw-ness.
#14
Final score:
58points
Yakko Warner 5 years ago (edited)
Same in german, I believe. Meerschweinchen.
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Pogy Nevis 5 years ago
One guy mistook Capybara for Chupacabra, He was like, oh my god, i have no idea why everybody is so scared of Chupacabras and he like has photos of Capybaras. Chupacabras are mythological creatures who suck goat blood, buddy.
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know that they can sleep on water and their teeth grow continuously?
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
and other animals use Capybaras like furniture
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Simping for the wrong kind 5 years ago
Idk if it was just me but I had no idea this thing existed.
Joe Reaves 5 years ago
Go and google them. They seem to get on with all other animals so there's lots of videos of them being sat on by other smaller animals. Much cuteness.
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#15
Final score:
55points
Hans 5 years ago
But the meaning is like the German "Krankenschwester". Note the case: not "kranke schwester" (sick sister) but an additonal "n" (sister for the sick).
chi-wei shen 5 years ago
Kranken is a plural and might be best translated as "sick ones", so Krankenschwester makes perfect sense.
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Jonette H 5 years ago
I don't feel this is correct. Most norwegians will say "sykepleier" , which transelates to sick carer. "Sykesøster" is an outdated word.
Einar Kramer 2 years ago
It used to be a more common term a few decades ago.
Load More Replies... Pogy Nevis 5 years ago
It wouldn't really help if your covid sick sister decided to help you with your covid.
Meyer Weinstock 5 years ago
It's all fun-&-games until the sick sister, aka 'Onee-San,' shouts 'Ara-Ara' and runs after the patients... (anime reference)
#16
Final score:
53points
Aragorn II Elessar 5 years ago
Same in Chinese. 河马 (he ma) is river horse
Load More Replies... Lord Mysticlaw 5 years ago
In Afrikaans, it's a sea cow. I admit that I have not yet seen one in the sea.
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know that hippos can't swim or float but they can sleep underwater!!!
#17
Final score:
52points
Simping for the wrong kind 5 years ago
Every night before bed make sure to whisper in your elf's ear "You've been a naughty goblin."
k1ddkanuck 5 years ago
Ya I'm glad this whole Elf on the Shelf thing started after I was a kid. Honestly, I think the whole concept is super creepy and kind of morally reprehensible. My kids will not grow up knowing what it is.
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#18
Final score:
49points
Avriel Schwartz 5 years ago
The word 'sloth' in English also just means laziness. Poor animal just can't get a break...
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know that sloths can take up to a month to digest a single leaf?
#19
Final score:
48points
Mary Rose Kent 5 years ago
Do Norwegian skunks have pink noses? North American skunks have black noses.
Ida 5 years ago
We don't have them in Norway, all we know about them comes from Disney, therefore the pink nose!
Load More Replies... Lord Mysticlaw 5 years ago
In Afrikaans we call them mouse dogs... which makes absolutely no sense
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
A skunk's sulfuric spray has a range of up to 10 feet, and its odor can be detected up to 1.5 miles. Skunks eat wasps and honeybees, and will often attack beehives. Immune to snake venom, skunks are known to eat poisonous snakes like rattlesnakes.
Victor Botha 5 years ago
So they are like African honey badgers in that respect, eating snakes etc.
Load More Replies... #20
Final score:
47points
RoseTheMad 5 years ago
"Ice cabinet" in Finnish. :) (I loved learning all the translations andhow literal some are when I learned, since my fiance is Finnish xP)
Anggi Santika 5 years ago
Kulkas in Indonesian. Derived it from Dutch word, Koelkast. Koel : cool, Kast : cabinet.
#21
Final score:
45points
Alien 5 years ago
Isn’t there just something about them that looks so cool?!?! I. Love. Octopuses.
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BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
They have 9 brains, 3 hearts, blue blood, camouflage, toxic ink and the ultimate sacrifice (Giant Pacific octopus mothers sacrifice their lives after laying their eggs in deep-water dens. They live with their eggs for up to seven months without eating, ensuring that streams of oxygen- and nutrient-rich water waft over them. Mothers usually die after their broods hatch.). Octopus are amazing
Lord Mysticlaw 5 years ago
The Afrikaans word for octopus is sea cat. Please don't ask me why 🤷🏻♀️
Mats Iversen (Submission author) 5 years ago
We actually use the same word for both squids, octopuses and cuttlefish.
Load More Replies... RoseTheMad 5 years ago
"Ink Fish" (mustekala) in Finnish :) (though i think this might be squid too i can't fully remember xP)
#22
Final score:
45points
Mary Rose Kent 5 years ago
Once on a lunch break from my job in San Francisco’s Financial District I had an øyenstikker land on my Hawaiian shirt and it took a lot of convincing to get it into a tree. Poor thing was so confused.
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know when Dragonflies mate, their tails form a heart?
Nina Johansson 5 years ago
This is not so weird, in Swedish we say Trollslända which would translate to the spindle of a troll
Allan Jensen 5 years ago
This would be a 'guldsmed' in Danish. Translates to jeweler byt with a durect translation referring to a gold blacksmith
#23
Final score:
44points
#24
Final score:
42points
Cupcake168 5 years ago
I begin to doubt if this all is translated properly. Brødrister means, literally translated, bread roaster, not shaker.
Mats Iversen (Submission author) 5 years ago
The account is called BadNorwegianTranslations, so it is purposely bad. “Rister” can mean both shaker and toaster in Norwegian
Load More Replies... BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
The cat I had for a while before putting it with it's family, was investigating the toaster and my bagel was in it. When it was ready and popped up, my cat almost hit the ceiling when it jumped and then ran faster than Usain Bolt
Mads Bargsteen 5 years ago
that's a mistranslated mistranslation it's suppose to be bread roaster not shaker then it would be "brødryster"
Bente Hjertås 4 years ago
this is not accurate. Riste can also mean to warm/burn something to get a crust. So the more accurate translation is bread toaster
Jørgen Sivertsen 4 years ago
"Riste" betyr også "steke, varme på rist". :) Jf. ristede mandler.
#25
Final score:
41points
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
Available for work is probably a better translation.
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#26
Final score:
39points
Simping for the wrong kind 5 years ago
This is what I am going to call every janitor, "Good evening GUARD MASTER!!!"
M O'Connell 5 years ago
It would make more sense for 'custodian' to translate as guard master. It is occasionally used as a synonym for janitor, but refers more to someone with wider responsibilities.
#27
Final score:
38points
Nina Johansson 5 years ago
Technically it translates to magic man, but trolls are magical so it could work as well
#28
Final score:
38points
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
In the winter, shrews may lose up to 40% of their bodyweight, shrinking down to the size of their skeleton and organs.
Laila Hernandez 5 years ago
theyre fun to guess what they are, and then look at picture and name
#29
Final score:
37points
Victor Botha 5 years ago
Correct, spook se asem. Asem= breath, spook se = ghost of
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#30
Final score:
36points
#31
Final score:
35points
Alex K 5 years ago
actually, rhinocerus comes from the greek ρινοκερος which litterally means nose-horn
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
White and black rhinos are actually the same colour. Rhino horns are made from a protein called keratin, the same substance that hair and fingernails are made of. cool right?
#32
Final score:
34points
Robert Willoughby 4 years ago
Yes, but it could give the wrong meaning for "Sick Building Syndrome"........
#33
Final score:
33points
Tacocat 5 years ago
🤣 You, my friend, did not deserve those downvotes you were given. Upvote!
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M O'Connell 5 years ago
Cauliflower is in the family Brassicaceae, which includes plants such as cabbage.
UNEXPLAINABLE 5 years ago
Funny story time, ok. So right now I am 12 ok and when I was like 7 or 8 my parents told me that they were making a macaroni pasta and so my dumb**s was like YAAAAAAAAA thank you mom and dad and so I was so eager to eat it but when it came out it was really a bunch of flower cabbage and it tasted like s**t. And the funnies thing about it is that even my parents fricking hated it.
#34
Final score:
32points
Nina Johansson 5 years ago
I was just going to say, this is actually cooler than our translation of Batman
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Harleen 5 years ago
And for funsies - The Joker is Gudleikr. Harley Quinn is Heljarkyn (literal Harlequin), and means "kindred of hell". I just got a little more badass!
#35
Final score:
32points
Fixin'Ta 5 years ago
My Norwegian husband says "kar" in this context means gourd. Why grass, he isn't sure.
Meyer Weinstock 5 years ago
Pumpkins are native to the New World, and were brought back to Europe after the fifteenth century, so names reflect the context in which the language marks the entry of the organism into the society.
Gro Sellevold 5 years ago
"Kar" means container/receptacle - OR man/guy --> So Gresskar can also mean Grass Container or Grass Man 😂 🤣
#36
Final score:
31points
Jacob Eirikson 5 years ago
I actually thought instead of saying plumber it was just going to say Mario
#37
Final score:
31points
RoseTheMad 5 years ago
"Skill Skating" in Finnish. Makes sense. a lot of it. I can barely skate normally lmao.
Laila Hernandez 5 years ago
i thought it would be ballet or somth but sure that works too (sorta).
#38
Final score:
30points
Yakko Warner 5 years ago (edited)
Braids on mice, or braids made out of mice, or braids made out of braid-bearing mice?
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#39
Final score:
30points
Mats Iversen (Submission author) 5 years ago
Upon till recently they were called the same, but the name has been changed to a more gender neutral “Helsesykepleier” which would translate to “health nurse”
Load More Replies... Batman is coming 5 years ago
I'd rather get treated at the school with the health sister then the sick sister at the hospital.
#40
Final score:
30points
Mary Rose Kent 5 years ago
When we got home from school, my brother, sister, and I used to make ourselves slices of bread with butter and sugar to tide us over until dinner.
George A Pope 5 years ago
in British slang, a "butty" (must've been the vikings introduced that one)
Victoria Kimball 3 years ago
I wonder if this is related to the British word "butty" meaning sandwich.
brukernavn340 5 years ago
Smørbrød isn't a sandwitch though, as there isn't another slice of bread on top.
#41
Final score:
25points
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Polar bears are classified as marine mammals. Polar bears are actually black, not white. They can swim constantly for days at a time. Less than 2% of polar bear hunts are successful. Scientists can extract polar bear DNA from just their footprints. Grizzly-polar bear hybrids exist and... polar bears scream when they poop
Lord Mysticlaw 5 years ago
Icebear in Afrikaans too. It actually took me a while to learn that it's a polar bear in English and not just an icebear.
Maddie Woodworth 5 years ago
we'll be there... bum bum bum. a wink and a smile and a great old time! yeah, we'll be there! bum bum bum. wherever we are theres some fun to be found! we'll be there when you turn that corner, we'll jump out of the bush, with a big bear hug and a smile! we'll be there! familiar, anyone?
Charlee Ferrante 5 years ago
Oh my God I love ice bears they my favorite! Cartoon Network I'm talking to you
#42
Final score:
25points
s. vitkovitsky 5 years ago
Because you!'ve been injured by a beautiful, iridescent eye stabber.
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#43
Final score:
24points
UNEXPLAINABLE 5 years ago
Don’t down vote me but, I was glancing at all of them and then saw that name and was like WTF
Jenný Samúelsdóttir Herlufsen 5 years ago
In iceland an accordian is a harmonica and a harmonica is a mouth-harp
#44
Final score:
24points
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
A platypus has a body like an otter, a bill and webbed feet like a duck, and a tail like a beaver. They spend up to 12 hours each day hunting for food and they are nocturnal. It is one of only two mammals (the echidna is the other) that lay eggs. Platypuses don't have stomachs. Platypus bills give them a “sixth sense.” Platypuses used to be giant. Male platypuses have venomous spurs. They are very, very, very odd creatures
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
French is horrible for this one: "ornithorynque" from the scientific name "ornithorhynchus", a lot of french could not spell it correctly.
Mary Rose Kent 5 years ago
Bird nose. In the U.S. we refer it as the Duck-billed platypus, which totally jibes with the Latin name.
Load More Replies... #45
Final score:
23points
pansexualandproud 5 years ago
it actually is called a centipede because centi means 100 and a centipede has 100 legs
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
Yet there is no centipede that actually has 100 legs.
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BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
The last pair of legs on a female centipede is more than twice as long as its body. They can regrow entire limbs.
RoseTheMad 5 years ago
"thousand foot" in Finnish. Tuhatjalkainen. But no centipede has 100 legs generally, never mind a thousand!
Lord Mysticlaw 5 years ago
The submission author commented above and said that they use the same word for centipede and millipede.
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Sunny Bibeau Bellisle 5 years ago
It's the same for us frenchies! Milles-Pattes - Thousand-legs - centipede (and millipedes as well)
#46
Final score:
23points
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Did you know that you can be considered an alien: In law, an alien is a person who is not a citizen or national of a given country
#47
Final score:
23points
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Cool facts: There are 200 seeds on an average strawberry. Strawberries aren't true berries. Strawberries are members of the rose family.
#48
Final score:
23points
George A Pope 5 years ago
Thoughht at first it said falling scream, & I thought that was quite apt.
#49
Final score:
22points
RoseTheMad 5 years ago
"voikukka" or "Butter Flower" in Finnish... I get it, but you'd think a buttercup would be "butter flower" but nope.
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
Maybe this have a french origin because in french it's "dent de lion" and it means "lions tooth".?
Nevid 5 years ago
The English word indeed comes from "dent de lion" in French, although the modern French word for that flower is "pissenlit" which means "piss in bed" because of its diuretic properties.
Load More Replies... BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
The dandelion flower opens to greet the morning and closes in the evening to go to sleep.
Rissie 5 years ago
But why though? How did the french come to call it that... Is what I'm wondering and not feeling like googling ;)
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#50
Final score:
22points
Joyce Melton 5 years ago
Popsicle is actually a brand name, generically they are frozen pops.
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#51
Final score:
22points
Lord Mysticlaw 5 years ago
I've never really thought about this, but in Afrikaans it's a bear mother (like bearing a child, not like a momma grizzly bear)
#52
Final score:
20points
#53
Final score:
19points
Maddie Woodworth 5 years ago
BWA HA HA! "Hump swing" Sounds like a camel doing a dance to the song "savage love!"
Angharad Eatough 5 years ago
" hey lucy do you want to come hump- swinging with me?" it just sounds wrong!
️️️Trans gay boy️️️ 5 years ago (edited)
Time to hump the swing! Oh wait you meant seesaw... welp I’m go now
#54
Final score:
18points
#55
Final score:
17points
s. vitkovitsky 5 years ago
In some languages, one color word can refer to similar colors.
Load More Replies... BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Baby carrots aren't a type of carrot. Carrots are made up of 88 percent water.
#56
Final score:
16points
Steve Dutch 5 years ago
Since Norwegian is Germanic, it's no surprise that some of these are similar in German. A bat is Fledermaus (flying mouse) and a nurse is Krankenschwester (sick sister). As far removed as this is from Spanish, a sloth in Spanish is perezoso (lazy).
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What do you think ?
Woets 5 years ago
It is fun to read how much our languages are alike (Dutch), many words translate the same. Small world. Thank you for sharing
Blinding_Darkness 5 years ago
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.
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
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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Elisabet Larsen 5 years ago (edited)
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.
Jonette H 5 years ago
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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Nikki Sevven 5 years ago
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.
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
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... Fixin'Ta 5 years ago
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.)
Astrid Nineor 5 years ago
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
Woets 5 years ago
It is fun to read how much our languages are alike (Dutch), many words translate the same. Small world. Thank you for sharing
Blinding_Darkness 5 years ago
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.
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
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... Elisabet Larsen 5 years ago (edited)
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.
Jonette H 5 years ago
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... Nikki Sevven 5 years ago
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.
cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
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... Fixin'Ta 5 years ago
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.)
Astrid Nineor 5 years ago
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
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