Words by

Andie Sophia Fontaine

Photo by

Magnús Tómasson

This is one of those words which has two completely different meanings. It literally means “concrete,” and is often used in this sense. But it is also used to mean “nonsense,” particularly of a low quality. Why does concrete = bullshit? Because a couple decades ago, it was fashionable to say that someone who was not very bright had “steypu í hausnum,” or “concrete in the head.” Over time this was shortened to simply refer to nonsense in itself as “steypa.” It’s also a pretty mild word, as far as derogatory slang goes, so you can say in polite company. That’s why steypa is this issue’s Word of the Issue.