{"id":2047,"date":"2015-04-26T23:59:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-26T23:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2047"},"modified":"2015-04-27T00:01:12","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T00:01:12","slug":"being-polite-in-norwegian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/being-polite-in-norwegian\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Polite in Norwegian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In<\/a>

In Norway, as in\u00a0many other places\u00a0in the world, things like greeting and shaking hands are a sign of good manners. (Illustration by Aidan Jones at Flickr<\/a>, CC License.)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/b>Last summer an avis<\/b> (newspaper) article about Norwegians being uh\u00f8flig<\/b> (impolite) shocked me into writing \u2026 this blog post one year later! \ud83d\ude42 I\u2019ve thrown away the paper, but it still bugs me that anyone could come up with such tull<\/b> (nonsense, bullsh*t). Most Norwegians I\u2019ve met are very kind and h\u00f8flig<\/b> (polite)! True, Norwegian has no proper word for please<\/i>. There are, however, other remedies:<\/p>\n

\u2022 takk<\/b> (thank you) is used much more than in English. You say takk for maten<\/b> (thank you for the food) when you\u2019ve eaten, takk for sist<\/b> (thank you for the last time) when you meet somebody again, takk, i like m\u00e5te<\/b> (thank you, likewise) when someone wishes you well, takk som byr <\/b>(thank you who\u2019s offering) when someone\u2019s offering you something (edible), takk, det var snilt av deg<\/b> (thank you, that was kind of you), tusen takk<\/b> (thousand thanks), takk skal du ha <\/b>(thanks, literally: thank you shall you have), takk, takk<\/b> (thank you, thank you)! It can also be nice alternative to please<\/i>: Et pizzastykke, takk!<\/b> (A slice of pizza, please!)<\/p>\n

\u2022 unnskyld <\/b>(I\u2019m sorry) or unnskyld meg<\/b> (excuse me): Unnskyld, kan du vise meg veien til Frognerparken?<\/b> (Excuse me, can you show me the way to Frogner Park?) Unnskyld meg, men du har spist r\u00f8mmegr\u00f8ten min!<\/b> (Sorry, but you\u2019ve eaten my Norwegian sour cream porridge!)<\/p>\n

\u2022 dessverre <\/b>(unfortunately) and beklager<\/b> (I\u2019m sorry): Beklager! Vi har dessverre ingen lefser igjen!<\/b> (Unfortunately, we\u2019ve got no lefser<\/i> left!)<\/p>\n

\u2022 v\u00e6r s\u00e5 snill <\/b>(\u201dbe so kind\u201d) is probably the closest you get to please<\/i>: Kan ikke du kj\u00f8pe den st\u00f8rste bamsen i butikken? V\u00e6r s\u00e5 snill!!! <\/b>(Can\u2019t you buy me the biggest teddy bear in the shop? Please!!!)\u00a0Hjelp meg, er du snill.\u00a0<\/strong>(Help me, please.)<\/p>\n

There are certainly many other ways of showing h\u00f8flighet <\/b>(courteosness) in Norwegian. All this talk about being nice, however, has me wondering: What are your<\/i> experiences from Norway like? Were people kind, polite, rude or something in between? Share your stories in the comments section \u2013 please! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Last summer an avis (newspaper) article about Norwegians being uh\u00f8flig (impolite) shocked me into writing \u2026 this blog post one year later! \ud83d\ude42 I\u2019ve thrown away the paper, but it still bugs me that anyone could come up with such tull (nonsense, bullsh*t). Most Norwegians I\u2019ve met are very kind and h\u00f8flig (polite)! True, Norwegian…<\/p>\n

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