#4: Þrákálfur

If you can get past the guilt associated with celebrating a holiday that romanticizes the ethnic genocide perpetrated by our country's forefathers, Thanksgiving actually has a lot going for it-- yummy food, a big flashy parade, and the chance to spend quality time with your loved ones. But, like all good things, there's a catch, and that catch is that you have to invite that guy. He could be your annoying uncle, the weird out-of-state cousin, your newest someone-in-law, or that "family friend" who had nowhere else to go. One thing is certain, though: the that guy will inevitably bring his/her unique brand of backwards politics and controversial opinions to the table and, try as you might, you won't be able to avoid it. Fortunately, Icelandic has a word for the that guy, and it's þrákálfur.

Þrákálfur is the perfect word to describe any pigheaded person. It's a compound formed by adding the prefix þrá- ("persistent") to the noun kálfur, which literally means "calf" but can also be used to describe a fool or half-wit. Basically, a þrákálfur is the kind of overly stubborn but under-informed talking machine who's most likely oblivious to the fact that no one wants to hear what he has to say. Kind of like the guy who's sitting next to you on the couch right now, trying to explain how Obama is actually a secret homosexual fascist communist goblin-terrorist from Kenya who totally stole the election. Every family has one....

Fortunately for me, we opted for a very small-scale Thanksgiving celebration this year, so our þrákálfur is off bothering someone else. But if you're not so lucky, maybe you can at least take comfort in the fact that there must be enough people in Iceland sharing your pain; otherwise, they probably wouldn't have invented a word for this type of person.

Happy feasting!

WORD SUMMARY:
þrákálf/ur, -s, -ar (m): pigheaded person

Posted in: Compound Words, Family, Holidays, Nouns