#19: Batavegur

Whenever something bad happens, whether it's an illness or a natural disaster or any other kind of crisis, we always hope for a speedy recovery. But the unfortunate truth is that sometimes recovery takes a while, because most things just can't be fixed with the flip of a switch or the push of a button. Instead, recovery is usually a slow and continuous process, which is exactly what is reflected in the Icelandic word batavegur.

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#18: Lundi

Today's word doesn't have much of an interesting history behind it, nor is it a particularly useful word for most people. But, it's one that's worth mentioning because I chose it as a mascot for this little project of mine. It's lundi, and it means "puffin."

Surely you've noticed my little puffin up at the top of the page there, right?

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#17: Útlenska

If you encounter an Icelandic noun that ends in -(n)ska, it's a decently safe bet that it refers to some kind of language. In addition to popping up in íslenska and enska, it also appears in words like danska, spænska, hebreska, finnska, kínverska (Chinese), þyska (German), and even klingonska. That's because it's a suffix much like the -ese in "Japanese" or the -ish in "Swedish." Of course, there are exceptions (such as latína, úrdú, and norræna [Old Norse]), but they are relatively rare. And, floating in this sea of -(n)ska words there is also útlenska, the Icelandic term for "foreign language." But perhaps a more accurate translation would be something like "Foreignese."

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#16: Að Nenna

We've all had those moments when we just don't feel like doing anything-- rainy days and lazy Sundays when the only thing that sounds appealing is lounging around on the couch and eating our favorite comfort foods. Today's word is perfect for times like this, or days when you're seriously procrastinating on something important, or even when you're just feeling indifferent. It's að nenna, a verb with no precise English equivalent.

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#15: Appelsínugulur

Today's word can be used to describe many things that I really like-- pumpkins, tigers, autumn, and a surprisingly large portion of my wardrobe. It's appelsínugulur, and it's the word for my favorite color: orange.

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#14: Öndvegi

Today's word is one that, at first glance, may not seem all that useful to know. It's öndvegi, and it means "seat of honor." Sure, you may use it at an awards banquet or a big celebratory dinner, but how often do you go to those? And how often do you go to those in Iceland? It seems like öndvegi might be one of those dusty words that hardly ever gets taken off the shelf, but it turns out that that's not true at all. That's because the genitive form of the word-- öndvegis-- is actually a very handy and adaptable prefix in compound words.

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#13: Feðgar

I've already touched on untranslatable words in a previous post, but the truth is that "translatability" as a general concept doesn't really exist at all. At best, translation is merely a form of approximation. It's all about finding the "closest match" to a word in a different language, and when you do that, chances are that some subtle aspect of the original word-- perhaps its connotation, or maybe an extra layer of meaning, or something encoded in the actual sound of the word-- will be lost. This is perhaps best seen in words that describe family relations, like the Icelandic word feðgar.

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