word of the issue
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Word Of The Issue: Ostaskeri
Travellers are often surprised by the peculiar ‘ostaskeri’ found in Icelandic Airbnb kitchens. Although it looks like a spatula, the horizontal blade at its base betrays its purpose: it’s a cheese (osta) cutter (skeri)! But why do Icelanders often talk about how…
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Word Of The Issue: Teika
The Icelandic word of the issue is teika. This word is a classic example of vocabulary that falls out of use due to technological evolution. “Teika” is derived from the English word “take”, and specifically refers to hopping onto a taxi’s running…
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Word Of The Issue: Að Kynda
Have you ever heard Icelanders’ favourite story about the word ‘kynda’? Tour guides in particular love to explain how it roughly translates to ‘heat up’ and that it derives from the word ‘kind’ which means ‘sheep.’ In fact, they say, packing a…
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Word Of The Issue: Farfuglaheimili
If you were ever a tourist in your youth, chances are you’ve set foot in a “farfuglaheimili” at least once. “Farfuglaheimili” is the proper Icelandic word for “hostel,” but the literal translation is far more poetic than that. “Farfuglar” are in fact…
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Word of the Issue: Fössari
“Fössari” is an informal Icelandic word for Friday, which is more formally written “Föstudagur.”There should be nothing particularly controversial about this word in itself, yet for some reason it evokes rage in a great many people. Think of an informal word that…
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Word Of The Issue: Þórðargleði
The English language doesn’t have a word for it, so it borrowed from German to express “schadenfreude”: the joy of watching others suffer. But there is a word for this joyous phenomenon in Icelandic: Þórðargleði. The story goes that a farmer named…
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Word Of The Issue: Gárungar
A phrase you should never use in a news article is “some people say.” Who are these people? But saying “some fools say,”—now, there is a line you can freely use. The word “gárungar” has many meanings, like fools, reckless people or…
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Word of the Issue: Steypa
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…
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Word Of The Issue: Kvennabósi
Around the year 1300, the Saga of Bósi and Herraud was written. It tells of the fantastic adventures of two viking friends. The most notorious part of the story is the graphic recounting of an erotic rendezvous between Bósi and a farmer’s…
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Word Of The Issue: Útlenska
This word basically means “foreign languages,” but not quite. It is an expression that linguistically splits all languages into Icelandic or not Icelandic. You could almost view it as a Husserlian phenomenological exploration of language as The Other—that is if it wasn’t…
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Word Of The Issue: Örlagabytta
One of the things Icelanders do better than most is alcoholism, which is probably why we have 300 words for drunks. While the availability of good words is extensive, one word beats them all–örlagabytta. It is poetic, magical and laced with Brennivín.…
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Word Of The Issue: Hommi
Look up “hommi” in the dictionary and you’ll find the definition of a gay man. But colloquially this word refers to something else: a dustpan and broom with a long handle. While the idea of a long handle might conjure up the…
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Word Of The Issue: Flugdólgur
Until 1989, beer was illegal in Iceland. However, there was one place where beer was legal—the international airport in Keflavík. There, drunks entered an exotic beer-filled purgatory, where all their worries could be drowned before soaring up into the skies. Imagine boarding…
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Word of the Issue: Kviðmágur
The word of the issue this issue is kviðmágur, which roughly translates as “belly cousin.” And it does describe a relation of sorts: that is, when two men have had sexual relations with the same person, they are now kviðmágar. The relationship…
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Word Of The Issue: Farfuglaheimili
Iceland may be on everyone’s bucket list, but did you know that it’s also a firm favourite with migratory birds? Each year, thousands of species stop off en route to sunnier climes. Enter “farfuglaheimi,” directly translated as “home of migratory birds.” In…
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Word Of The Issue: Fórnarlamb
“Fórnarlamb” is the Icelandic word for “victim,” but it literally means “the sacrifice (fórn) lamb.” Especially when it comes to sexual assaults survivors, it is often deemed anachronistic and almost offensive in comparison to its English sister. “But if you look up…
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Word Of The Issue: Brúðkaup
Words often give us insight on past traditions. “Brúðkaup,” for instance, the Icelandic word for “wedding,” refers to the old custom of purchasing (kaupa) a bride (brúð). “Is she worth five cows and a goat? I’ll take her. You, father of the…
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Word Of The Issue: Ljósmóðir
Literally translated as “mother of light,” “ljósmóðir” is the Icelandic word for “midwife,” and it’s considered by many to be the most beautiful word in the Icelandic language. Its soft sound does not do justice to the strength and determination of midwives,…
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Word of the Issue: Svikalogn
The word of the issue this issue is svikalogn, and like other useful aspects of Icelandic conversation, it’s about the weather. The word literally means “betraying calm,” and refers to a period of fair weather just before a storm rolls in. You…
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Word Of The Issue: Kuldaskræfa
The word of the issue this issue is kuldaskræfa. This literally means “cold coward,” and is used to refer to people who get cold easily or hate being cold. It’s a word that has no English equivalent, and also says a lot…
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Word of the Issue: :Þ
The word of the issue this issue is :Þ. Technically, no, this isn’t a word, but it is a neat emoticon that you can only make in Icelandic. And emoticons, like words, are imbued with meaning that can be at once static…
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Word of the Issue: Glatað
The word of the issue this issue is glatað. This is a word you will hear quite often in the everyday speech of Icelanders. While it has the literal meaning of “lost” (e.g. “glatað vegabréf,” a lost passport), it is also used…
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Word Of The Issue: Legkaka
The word of the issue this issue is legkaka. Normally, this space is reserved for Icelandic words that have no direct English equivalent. In this case, there is an equivalent, as this is the Icelandic word for “placenta.” However, the direct translation…