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NORWEGIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Norwegian expression of the day: Gi jernet

In Norwegian, you're not doing something properly unless you're giving the iron.

Norwegian word of the day.
When you need to dig in and give it your all, its time to give it your all. Caption Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash / Nicolas Raymond/FlickR

Why do I need to know gi jernet?

Because if someone shouts that you should ‘give the iron’, it’s not code for them demanding that you iron their shirt or punch someone in the face.

What does it mean?

Gi jernet literally translates to ‘give the iron’, which sounds a little Viking. 

Norwegians use gi jernet when they want to rile each other up before a big effort.

Gi jernet is like saying ‘let’s give it our all’, like when long-distance runners sprint the last part of a race. Gi jernet means spare no energy, go flat battery.

While all of this ticks the boxes of the mighty Vikings, they had little to do with this expression. Jernet is (sadly) not a referral to a deadly iron sword, but a metaphor for the gas pedal in a car.

Gi jernet is similar to saying ‘hit the gas’ in English, only that it can be used in lots of other settings than while driving.

A football coach might shout gi jernet, gutta! (give the iron, lads!) before a big game. Your co-worker might exclaim, nå gir vi jernet, dere! (let’s give the iron, guys!) before a big team presentation.

A Norwegian dad dreaming of his kid becoming a professional cross-country ski athlete, might roar nå gir vi jernet, gutten min! (let’s give the iron, my boy!) before a Sunday ski trip.

Use it like this

Kom igjen, gi jernet, nå. Det er ikke langt igjen. – Come on, give it all you have now. There’s not far left.
 
Hun er god, hun gir alltid jernet og står på til jobben er gjort. – She’s good, she always gives her best effort and keeps on until the job is done.
 
Synonyms
Gi full gass – step on it
 

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NORWEGIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Norwegian word of the day: Middelmådig

Given that Norwegians don’t like to kick up too much of a fuss, they sometimes settle for less.

Norwegian word of the day: Middelmådig

What does it mean?

Middelmådig is the Norwegian word for mediocre. The word is borrowed from Danish, but this should come as no surprise.

Swedish, Danish and Norwegian are considered mutually intelligible, meaning users of the languages should be able to understand one another.

Norwegian, particularly, borrows plenty of words from Swedish and Danish. This was due to the country’s various historical unions with the other two nations.

This led to a large influence of Swedish and Danish on the Norwegian language, as Norway was typically the poorer and less influential country.

Things have changed these days , and the countries stand on a more even footing with one another, mostly thanks to oil. Still, the impact of Swedish and Danish has remained, despite various movements to make the language moreNorwegian

Back to the word middelmådig, Norwegians typically don’t like confrontation. Therefore, some may settle for mediocrity. This is most likely to happen at a restaurant when the food isn’t totally awful (helt dårlig), but it’s not great – or arrived colder than it was meant to. 

The word isn’t used just for mediocrity. It directly translates to the middle level or middle strength. Therefore, you can use the word to describe being adequate at something. In this sense, you would “være middelmådig begavet,” or “be moderately gifted” when translated to English.

Use it like this:

Mine fotballferdigheter er middelmådige.

My football skills are mediocre.

Kunnskapen min om dette emnet er middelmådig.

My knowledge of this subject is mediocre.

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