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NORWEGIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Norwegian word of the day: Innlevelse 

If you are really putting your soul into a performance, then our latest Norwegian word of the day should spring to mind. 

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

What does innlevelse mean? 

Innlevelse is a compound of the two Norwegian words inn and leve. Inn (as you have probably guessed) means in, and leve meaning living. 

Put together, they directly translate to ‘living into’. The word doesn’t really have a direct English translation, as living into something means putting one’s soul into something to bring it to life. 

For example, it would be high praise to say an actor is living into their latest role, or a singer is doing the same with their voice. 

However, this isn’t the only instance. Away from the performing arts, you could be said to be ‘living into’ a book when reading to children. This can be done by reading with emphasis or giving the characters their own unique voices to capture the child’s imagination and bring the story to life. 

It can also apply to speeches when the orator in question is doing a good job of conveying the importance of their message to the audience. 

Living into can be swapped out for other words like “passionately” or “emphatically”. 

Use it like this: 

Jeg så musikalen Matilda på Folketeateret i går. Skuespillerne hadde en helt fantastisk innlevelse. 

I saw Matilda the Musical at the Folketheatre yesterday. The actors had an amazing scene presence (innlevelse). 

Talen ble gitt med stor innlevelse.

The speech was given with great passion / innlevelse. 

Hun danser med en utrolig innlevelse.

She dances with an amazing passion/ innlevelse.

Jenta framførte teksten med stor innlevelse.

The girl performed the text with great passion/ innlevelse.

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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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