From Iceland — Just Sayings: On With the Butter

Just Sayings: On With the Butter

Published January 11, 2022

Just Sayings: On With the Butter
Valur Grettisson

There are a few ways to carry on. You could do it like a proper Englishman and keep calm at the same time.

Join our High Five Club at either the ‘Secret Handshake’ or ‘Elbow Five’ level, and get our monthly magazine emailed to you. And if you join before January 14th you can chat with the Grapevine Team on a Zoom call.

But if you’d rather eschew all that posh nonsense, we have the solution for you.

The saying “Áfram með smjörið” literally means “forward/on with the butter”.

Icelanders are, of course, a nation of farmers and we have so many sayings connected to butter that it’s almost sad.

But the saying “on with the butter” just means to carry on.

Icelanders use this saying often and they love to translate it, since it makes absolutely no sense in English.

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