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NORWEGIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Norwegian word of the day: Friluftsliv 

Today’s Norwegian word of the day should hopefully shed some light on Norwegians’ love for the outdoors.

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

What does it mean? 

Friluftsliv isn’t a super hard nut to crack when it comes to the meaning of the word. Friluft means open air, and liv means life. 

When you combine the two words, you get outdoor (rather than open-air) life. This concept should perhaps be as (if not more) synonymous with Norway as concepts like hygge. Like hygge, frilustliv can comfortably stray into cliché territory. 

Norwegians are well known for their love of the outdoors, which extends all year round. So come wind, rain, snow or sunshine, they tend to make the most of getting out and about. 

Another saying which exemplifies this approach to outdoor life is “Det finnes ikke dårlig, bare dårlige klær” which means there is no bad weather, just bad clothes. 

This shows that there is no excuse worthy of stopping you from getting out there and enjoying an outdoors lifestyle. 

Norwegians invest heavily in weather-proof and weather-appropriate clothing for year-round activities. Many Norwegians are far more impressed with sports clothes and equipment than they would be a designer items costing a similar amount. 

On social media, there are plenty of groups for people in Norway’s big cities for people looking to enjoy the outdoors life with others. 

These people, or anyone who enjoys spending more time outside than inside, can be referred to as friluftsmenneske- meaning outdoors people. 

Use it like this. 

Norge er kjent for godt friluftsliv.

Norway is known for good outdoor life.

Nina er et friluftsmenneske, hun elsker å gå på ski og tur i skogen.

Nina is an outdoors-person, she loves skiing and going for walks in the woods.

Friluftsliv er viktig for meg.

Outdoorslife is important to me.

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For members

NORWEGIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Norwegian word of the day: Hetebølge

Today's word hasn't always been associated with Norway, but instances have become increasingly common in recent years.

Norwegian word of the day: Hetebølge

What does it mean?

Hetebølge is the Norwegian word for a heatwave, and is a simple compound of the word for heat (hete) and the word for wave (bølge).

This word isn’t the most common for heat. Instead, the word varme is used when referring to heat. You would use varme in other compounds, such as a heat pump (varmepumpe).

Heatwaves, for obvious reasons, haven’t always been associated with Norway. Still, the country can see prolonged periods of 25c or 30c plus days.

In the summer, the warmest part of Norway is usually a village called Nesbyn, which holds the national heat record (varmerekord) as a temperature of 35.6c was recorded in 1970. The area’s unique microclimate means that it has also gotten as cold as -38c in the past.

Heatwaves will, unfortunately, become more common in Norway due to global warming. Even if Norway doesn’t experience super common heatwaves, plenty of Norwegians will feel the heat on the continent as they typically travel to the Mediterranean, or Syden, as Norwegians call it, every summer.

Use it like this

Jeg lurer på om det blir hetebølge i Norge i sommer.

I wonder if there will be a heatwave in Norway this summer.

Det var hetebølge i Hellas i juni med nesten 40 varmegrader.

There was a heatwave in Greece in June, and it was almost 40 degrees.

Det er meldt hetebølge neste uke.

The forecast is predicting a heatwave next week.

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