Word Of The Issue: Welcome to Our Reputation Era

The Grapevine’s guide to sounding Icelandic, one word at a time

It’s been an interesting month. With the holiday season upon us and elections just last week, reflections on a personal and national level are occurring all around (just as holiday spirit, icy slush and tourists are all around as well). I’ve chosen the Icelandic word “mannorð” as our Word Of The Issue, to explore a word with simple construction and complex significance.

The compound word “mannorð” comes from two common words: mann, meaning man as in person, and orð, which is the word for word. Compounding this toddler-level vocabulary allows for the easy misconception that the constructed word will, too, be simple, but that’s not the case here.

Man-word, one’s mannorð, is the Icelandic word for reputation — one’s name, their honour, their character.

In Iceland in particular, mannorð is everything. In a country as small and interwoven as Iceland, reputation is more tangible and graspable; you have effortless access to everyone’s reputation.

Have you ever heard of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? Six degrees of separation? Did you spend the 2010s under a rock? It’s the concept that two humans can be connected (to Kevin Bacon, natch) by way of six people or less.

Icelandic society is like a game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, but everyone is just one or two degrees away. So if you’re applying for a job, your interviewer can just turn to their immediate circle, say “does anyone know this Jón Jónsson guy?” and it’s almost guaranteed that someone went to school with you, is close with your brother, or is your cousin.

If that’s not enough motivation to build a good mannorð, I don’t know what is.

Learn more Icelandic words hér.