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NORWEGIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Norwegian word of the day: Ildsjell 

If you know someone with fire in their soul and who is a pillar of the community, you have a new Norwegian word to describe them.

Norwegian word of the day.
Caption Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash / Nicolas Raymond/FlickR

What does it mean

The Norwegian word Ildsjell is an interesting one because it has no direct English translation, making it a uniquely Norwegian word in that regard. 

Directly translated, it is a combination of the Norwegian word for fire (ild) and soul (sjell). Put together in English, it means “fire soul”. Another translation of Ildsjell can be interpreted as a driving force. 

An ildsjell describes a person who is passionate about something and has put a lot of energy, passion and determination into something. 

Typically, it refers to passionate causes and those who do a lot of work for the greater good of the community, typically through charity and volunteering work.

Several organisations will have a årets idsjell of the year award, which recognises the commitment and effort of one of its members. 

Use like this

Jan er årets ildsjel. Han gjør så mye for lokalsamfunnet. 

Jan is the “fire soul” of the year. He does so much for the local community.

Annika er en ildsjel. Hun er trener for barnas fotballag, frivillig i Røde Kors og hjelper folk som trenger det.

 Annika is a “fire soul”. She coaches kids’ football, volunteers with the red cross and helps people in need. 

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For members

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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