Wow - thanks a million!Some Bokmål alternatives for what the heck, with increasing degree of vulgarity:
hva i alle dager
hva i all verden
hva søren
hva pokker
hva fanden (faen)
hva i helvete
hva satan
-- and more!
Similarly with hvem for who the heck.
Interesting list. My feeling is that in Norwegian families that don't swear and tell their children that it's very wrong to swear (especially the f-word), only the first two would be entirely acceptable. If the teenage son used no. 3 or 4, that's a bit more of a grey area (the parents might not like it, but they wouldn't go through the roof). On the other hand, nos. 5-7 are definitely NO-NO!![]()
Yes. Usage varies in both English and Norwegian, but my feeling is that "hva søren" is the closest in intensity to "what the heck". "Hva i all verden" is an almost literal translation of "what on Earth", and is equally mild.Interesting list. My feeling is that in Norwegian families that don't swear and tell their children that it's very wrong to swear (especially the f-word), only the first two would be entirely acceptable. If the teenage son used no. 3 or 4, that's a bit more of a grey area (the parents might not like it, but they wouldn't go through the roof). On the other hand, nos. 5-7 are definitely NO-NO!![]()
thank you, Sir (I think)
Your seasoned acumen in this area is well appreciated!
tack så mycket (yes, I’m one of those - well, kinda….)
So what would a typical Norwegian sailor’s curse be?
I haven't got any statistics to back me up on this (but there probably are some somewhere), but my impression is that there are a lot more Norwegians who never swear than Danes or Swedes. You will find them amongst both professors and factory workers, but I guess they're more common among the former.In Scandinavia it really works like this: Moderat cursing in English = Hvad fanden ... and so on. University professors, Wallander, factory workers, doesn't make much difference.
I surprised to hear "f*ck" in an early-evening TV news interview last time I was in Norway, something that would never happen in the UK. There, its use is mainly confined to late-night comedy shows, though it does seem to be creeping into some other programming.Swearing is more common, and to some extent English swear words are used, and perhaps not seen as crude as the native ones.
I would be very surprised to hear a Norwegian priest swear, though I think there are a few swearing priests in other countries (Denmark, Ireland, the US). According to Pew Research, the percentages who said they were "highly religious" in 2018 were: 17% in Norway, 10% in Sweden, 8% in Denmark, 24% in Ireland and 9% in the UK. From my knowledge of Norwegians, I would say it's highly unlikely that any of the 17% normally swear. Maybe a few "highly religious" people in the other countries, I don't know.I would expect strongly religious countries, areas and people to swear less - certainly that works with Christians and Muslims, and I suspect Jews also. They would not use religious swear words, and that taboo seems to extend to vulgarity too. Would you say that correlates with the Scandinavian regions you mention @serbianfan?
Indeed, though English underlivet loan words seem to be used with increasing frequency in Norwegian.You may have noticed that the usual Norwegian (and Scandinavian) swear words are connected to religion (the Devil and Hell), whereas many of those in the UK and other European countries are connected to "underlivet" (the abdomen).
Well, I think the basic meaning of 'dritt' is excrement. But it's used in all kinds of ways to express something negative. One of the most common is 'snakke/prate/preike dritt om noen', which Google translate (which is not known for its nuances) translates as 'talk shit about'. I think most people who are fluent in both languages (including me) would use 'snakke dritt om' quite broadly, maybe also when talking to very religious people, but would not use 'talk shit about' or be much more careful about using it.Is dritseck an underlivet word or just a colourful metaphor?