Words are Nice
Old Norse had a great impact on the English language during the Viking Age. However, even in modern day speech, with the introduction of new words, I find many parallels to English and Norwegian. In Australia (at least) we have a word ‘more-some’. I don’t know how it started – it could have been inspired by ‘awesom’ – who knows? There is no real spelling for it as this word isn’t ‘writing-worthy’ – yet! So it could also be spelt: more-som, moresom or morsom. ’Morsom’ in Australian means that the item (usually food) is so good you want ‘some more of’ it: The chocolate is soooo morsom!
It just so happens that there is also a ‘morsom’ in Norwegian. Morsom comes from ‘som morer‘ which means something that amuses or entertains. Morsom can also mean something funny, funny-interesting and also that boring word nice.
As Australians tend to overstate and Norwegians tend to understate, I figure that ‘nice’ and ‘morsom’ mean the same thing. Therefore, this is a modern day story of how two languages, on the opposite sides of the world, Australian and Norwegian, own the same word with the same meaning!
Have a morsom day!
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Even though the males are called bulls and the females cows, the muskoxen are more closely related to sheep than cattle. Make no mistake, though – this is not your average cuddly ba-ba-blacksheep! A grown animal can be 2,5 m long and weigh up to 400 kgs, and their long curved horns mean business.
The sun never goes down during this season but the mountains to the East are so high that the sun still has to raise above them in the morning hours and an artificial dawn-effect wakes the city.
Pølse is THE fast food of Norway. When the grilled pølse was first introduced to Norway in the 50s it was eaten naked – without bread.
The bunad is a traditional Norwegian costume worn by both men and women. It can either come from established rural traditions or have a more modern design inspired by historical patterns and cuts.
Many Norwegians know what they are doing when they pick wild mushrooms. This knowledge is passed down the family during mushroom hunting trips. The hard-core mushroom hunters go into the mountain wilderness for days to get the best finds.
Ahh, you say “moresom” in Oz? Here in old Blighty we say “moreish” (think that is how it’s spelt at least!) Might have to tell my students that as some of them have been bugging me to give them some Aussie words and I have been stumped after “barbie” “sheila” and “sarvo” :s
Right, back to my morsomme timer!
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from L-Jay:
We also have ‘more-ish’ in Oz too, but ‘-ish’ isn’t as good as ‘-som’
Aussie words – have you tried: Howzat! Fair dinkum! Wolly/Boof! Too Right, Mate! Cool Digger! You Little Ripper! Scrubber, Bogen, Ocher, Stubbies, Togs, Port, Snags, Daggy, Bonza, Ridgy-didge, Koowee, a Happy Little Vegemite, Ute, Bush Bashing…lol
I have been reading your blogs for close to a year now, and I just wanted to thank you both so much for sharing your insights on a regular basis. I just ordered the calendar, and I am so excited to see your photos of Norway
That is really really cool!
That’s strange.. I’m Aussie and I’ve only ever heard “moreish” not “moresome”, and you spell a couple of those aussie words differently to what I’m used to as well. Haha. Must depend on the area and upbringing or something. Fun story, though