Open Plea for Cultural Fluency Help to All Norwegians
One of the great things about foreign languages (that would be anything not English, btw) are the crazy things you say -- only because it makes us realize how crazy the things we say are (which, in turn, just sort of infuriates us, makes us say "you're wrong," ignore the United Nations, and then go blow something up -- but I digress).
What I'm specifically interested in are all the sounds you say that animals make, according to Norwegians (or more likely Norwegian kids). We say:
cow: "moo"
pig: "oink"
rooster: "cock-a-doodle-do" (if you can believe that -- the French say "coco-ree-koo")
dog: "woof" (or if you're comic characters, sometimes "arf")
cat: "meow" and "purr"/"prrr"
frog: "ribbit"
Are there any animals unique to Norway that make sounds? Reindeer? Lemmings? Minke whales? Something else?
Also, I'm interested in the English translations of any phrases, or quips, you know that are uniquely Norwegian. Like in Dutch, for example, there's something that's close to: "Don't leave your shoes on the porch." Think of things your mom would have said to you when you were kids. English examples would be "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," "A stitch in time saves nine," "Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," and "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
I'd also like to know any superstitions that may be uniquely Norwegian. All of the following are examples of ways to get bad luck in America if you're superstitious: opening an umbrella in the house, letting a black cat cross your path, walking under a ladder, stepping on the crack in a sidewalk (this one wishes ill on your grandmother -- "step on the crack, break your grandma's back").
And, lastly, where do you think Santa Claus (Father Christmas? Saint Nicholas?) lives? Showing definitively how much of a lock we have on the concept of geography, we say the North Pole (ignoring the fact that there's no land mass there), but I know that Finns say he's in Finland.
Takk på forhånd
What I'm specifically interested in are all the sounds you say that animals make, according to Norwegians (or more likely Norwegian kids). We say:
cow: "moo"
pig: "oink"
rooster: "cock-a-doodle-do" (if you can believe that -- the French say "coco-ree-koo")
dog: "woof" (or if you're comic characters, sometimes "arf")
cat: "meow" and "purr"/"prrr"
frog: "ribbit"
Are there any animals unique to Norway that make sounds? Reindeer? Lemmings? Minke whales? Something else?
Also, I'm interested in the English translations of any phrases, or quips, you know that are uniquely Norwegian. Like in Dutch, for example, there's something that's close to: "Don't leave your shoes on the porch." Think of things your mom would have said to you when you were kids. English examples would be "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," "A stitch in time saves nine," "Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," and "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
I'd also like to know any superstitions that may be uniquely Norwegian. All of the following are examples of ways to get bad luck in America if you're superstitious: opening an umbrella in the house, letting a black cat cross your path, walking under a ladder, stepping on the crack in a sidewalk (this one wishes ill on your grandmother -- "step on the crack, break your grandma's back").
And, lastly, where do you think Santa Claus (Father Christmas? Saint Nicholas?) lives? Showing definitively how much of a lock we have on the concept of geography, we say the North Pole (ignoring the fact that there's no land mass there), but I know that Finns say he's in Finland.
Takk på forhånd
posted by b1-66er at 16:15
2 Comments:
Ok, here are a few:
Ku: "mø"
Gris: "grynt" or "snøft"
Hane: "kykkeliky"
Hund: "voff"
Katt: "mjau"
Frosk: "kvekk kvekk"
Hest: "vrinsk"
Lemmings make a squishing kind of a sound when they get caught under your car on the vidde.
Well, I don't know anything about shoes on the porch, but this guy in California asked me whether or not Norway was the place where we put the little wooden shoes out for christmas.
Reindeer sound remarkably like giraffe. They say "Mööö"
Whales make a beautiful, resonant sound like a soft trombone, with overtones of brass and a deep, rumbling basso undertones, until the explosive harpoon hits them.
Lemmings go MOKK-MOKK-MOKK when they're angry. Then they say "gasp" and fall down dead.
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