Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.06.2014, Blaðsíða 20

20
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 08 — 2014
Before you get the wrong idea, let
me say I don’t tend to get into a lot
of rage-induced bar fights. But nev-
ertheless, it’s in those moments that
you, the second-language-seether,
are at your most vulnerable. You are
thinking and speaking off the cuff
and it’s particularly important that
you be taken seriously. The last thing
you want is to hurl off what you think
is a most devastating verbal barb at
your target, only to be misunder-
stood and have to repeat yourself, or
worse, to be laughed at.
Alas, vulgarities and profanities
are not generally included on most
second-language vocab lists. Or at
least, that’s what I thought until my
Icelandic as a Second Language mid-
terms this semester, when I received
a take-home exam entitled “Dónaleg
orð og kjarngóð blótsyrði” or “Rude
Words And Robust Curses.” For this
test, I had to watch a TV segment
(aired by RÚV, Iceland’s national
broadcast service), which was all
about profanity and then write down
all the obscenities I heard during
the show. Later, in class, my teacher
(waving a good-humoured apology
to my classmate, a priest) asked us to
shout out all the curses we’d heard
so that she could write them on the
board for us. Then one by one, she
read each word aloud.
“Fokk. This is a ‘tökuorð,’ (“loan
word”) of course. Fokk. Now: repeat.”
A class of twenty-some students
dutifully intoned, with slow, two-
syllable enunciation: “Fo-kk.”
“Nei, nei. Don’t forget the pre-as-
piration before the double ‘kk.’ Like
this: Fohh-kk. Repeat.”
While this was certainly one of
the most delightful experiences of
my academic career, it didn’t entire-
ly solve my problem. I had my basic
vocab list, but I wasn’t entirely sure
how to put it into practice.
In English, your insults are gen-
erally action-based and directed
quite specifically at the recipient.
Essentially, you tell someone where
to go and how to get there. I’m not
totally sure how to do that in Icelan-
dic. Moreover, half of these new vo-
cab words sound quite quaint when
translated into English, even those
that I’ve been told are rather em-
phatic: ‘Andskotinn’ (“devil”), for in-
stance, or ‘fíf l’ (which my dictionary
translates as “fool”).
But being the committed student
I am, I decided to investigate, or
rather, to pose the matter to my col-
league, since journalists, and bilin-
gual ones at that, tend to be pretty
masterful in the art of imprecation.
So, Gabríel, first question: what is
with all of these granny-sounding
swear words in Icelandic? I mean,
if I call someone a “helvítis hálfvi-
ti” (damn halfwit), are they going
to cry, or laugh at me?
Looking at it from an English-speak-
ing perspective, Icelandic swear
words do—in fact—sound very tame,
but I assure you they can deeply of-
fend. “Helvítis hálfviti” is a good
place to start, but calling someone
a “helvítis aumingi” (“bloody weak-
ling”) in a nation still obsessed with
physical strength and manliness
may prove to be more effective. And
funny you should mention granny-
sounding: just the other week at a
There are a lot of progress barometers when you are learning a new language, but
for me, I’ve always been of the mind that you can’t count yourself as truly fluent in a
language until you can effectively swear in it. And I don’t just mean the kind of gentle
oath that your grandmother mutters when she stubs her toe. I mean sailor-swears and
rage-induced, bar fight insults.
May Your Urine Burn,
You Cowardly Goat!
The art of swearing in Icelandic
Words by Larissa Kyzer & Tómas Gabríel Benjamin
Illustration by Inga María Brynjarsdóttir
Icelandic | Useful phrases
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