Scandinavia and the World
Scandinavia and the World

Comments #9489309:


Tjalve

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Icelandic place names may sound exotic, but they're usu 30 5, 3:16pm

@Karen Interesting to see the different meanings in the same words in faroese and icelandic. I always thought icelandic was more or less the "original" norse. For a long time I have said that we norwegians don't speak norwegian. We speak danish. It's the icelanders who speak norwegian. But I might have to reconsider that, and assume that it's the faroese instead.

Faroese word: Norwegian equivalent -> Meaning of the norwegian word
afgangur: avgang -> leaving, or finishing. As in "the train is leaving" or "finishing student (last year of studies)"
skref: skrev -> crotch, but can also be used when stepping over something, especialy when it's so tall that you have to step over it sideways.
limur: lem -> limb
ríðingarfélag: rideklubb -> riding association. The faroese and norwegian words are not completely the same, but sufficiently similar.
Reyði Krossurinn: Røde Kors -> Red Cross
ástand: åsted -> scene, as in "crime scene", where something has happened
bert: bort -> away. But could also be "bare" which means "only". I think I'll go for "bort" though.
yfirgangsfólk: overgangsfolk -> This word doesn't exist in norwegian. But if it had existed, it would mean something like "people who are crossing" or "people who are moving from one thing to another".
bumba: bombe -> bomb
afmynda: Doesn't really have an equivalent in norwegian. The closest might be "avbilde (take a picture)" or "umyndiggjøre (disempower, as in taking away a person's right to make decisions for himself)"
spæla: spela (new-norwegian), spille (dano-norwegian) -> play
herbergi: herberge -> hostel
dýna: dyna/dyne -> duvet (I assume that's what you meant when you wrote "heavy blanket")
sæng: seng -> bed
ljóð: ljod (dialect), lyd (standard norwegian) -> sound
ljóðaldur: No equivalent word in norwegian
skuldsettur: skuldsatt -> This word doesn't really exist in norwegian, but if it had existed, it would probably mean "indebted". It might actually exist in some dialects. I don't know.
lífsvandi: Doesn't really exist in norwegian, but similar words do exist, with varying meanings.
pingvinir: pingviner -> penguins
sjúkrabilur: sjukebil/sykebil -> ambulance
rúsdrekkakoyring: ruskjøring -> not really the word we use, but it would mean "intoxicated driving".

All in all, I see what you mean with icelandic reusing old words for new meanings.
Afgangur -> semen (or I would assume "ejaculate" would be a more technically correct translation, just as I'd translate "foss" into "cascade" rather than "waterfall"), skref -> pussy, limur -> penis, and ríða -> fucking are all good examples of how an original word can get a new sexualized meaning. Just like "cock" originally meant "rooster", and "cunt" originally meant "wedge", "crack" or "crevasse" (I tend to have fun saying that "cuneiform" means "cunt shaped"). I can also easily understand the basis for most of the other differences in meaning between faroese and icelandic.

I do have a problem understanding why the icelanders have exchanged the meanings of "duvet" and "mattress" though. But then again, the norwegian meaning of the word "grine" also seems to be the opposite of what it "should" be.

Your word "tilhneiging" seems to be what we would call "tilbøyning". Technically it would mean "bowing for something", but I don't think we use the word in that form. We do however use "tilbøyelse", which means "propensity" or "being inclined to do something".
Our word "tilhenger" would have about the same meaning as "tilhanga" in icelandic. I'm not saying that word exists in icelandic, but "tilhenger" means "hanging onto something". So I guess you can understand why it can both mean "trailer" and "fan/supporter".
As for your "stuðningsmaður" and "fylgismaður", I suppose they means "supporting man" and "following man". Which would be the same thing, yes.