Word Of The Issue: Bunk Drunk

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

Making the rounds every so often is a list of 37 Icelandic terms for different levels of drunk you can be. There’s góðglaður (a good-happy level of drunk), hestfær (horse able, meaning you can still ride a horse, depending on the horse), or, hopefully, nowhere you ever reach, #37 (dauður — dead).

But there are even more boozing-related words than appear on this list! Today, we’re going to teach you a beloved and very specific one: kojufyllerí.

Kojufyllerí, like most others in this column, is a compound word. The beginning is a declined form of the word koja, which means bunk bed. Fyllerí is a bout of boozing, a stint of sipping, a date of drinking, a period of being pissed, a term of totally getting wasted.

So, what’s this bunk-bed binge about? Are kids getting drunk at their sleepovers?!

Nei nei, djók! These bunk beds are for adults, specifically seamen. These bunks refer to those on boats, and this bunk-drunk term originally referred to those who remained in bed, drinking, while their ships were in port.

But flash-forward to the present day, and this term can be used a bit more broadly, referring to someone who drinks alone, at home in bed, but also to a cosy at-home drinking evening.

Learn more Icelandic words hér.