Posted on 08/10/2009 2:32:57 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A retired Norwegian linguistics professor has described Swedes as "stupid" for not being able to understand Norwegian. Norwegians have no problem with Swedish, the professor points out.
Finn-Erik Vinje has caused an escalation in what is promising to become an all out language war, by publishing a post on his blog last week asking, "Why are Swedes so stupid?".
The citation, Vinje writes, is taken from a publication written 60 years ago but, he claims, remains a relevant question today.
The basis of Vinje's assertion is that Swedish viewers of Himmelbå, a Norwegian television series based on the British production "Two Thousand Acres of Sky", have complained that the language is too difficult to understand and would prefer to see a series in Swedish, with Swedish actors, in a Swedish setting.
Vinje reacts to a review of the series in the Expressen newspaper in which Norwegian is described as an "incomprehensible and ugly language".
"Line Verndal in the female lead can look as much like (the Swedish actress) Lena Endre as she likes. But she is still speaking that strange double Dutch," Expressen's Nils Schwarts writes.
The retired linguistics professor argues in response that Norwegians have no trouble understanding spoken Swedish.
"Swedish is child's play for us - in its spoken form anyway. When we have contact with Swedes and realize that they don't understand we simply shift to using the equivalent Swedish word."
Vinje goes on to claim that it is thus unnecessary for Swedish to be subtitled on Norwegian television although adds that perhaps it may be useful to do so for some of the Norwegian dialects.
I am in Sweden a couple months out of the year. The Swedes just don’t care about Norway other than an occasional ski trip.
The Swedes have nothing to do with the oil industry and are otherwise doing business with the rest of the world. So why bother.
Does Obama understand Norwegian?
A collegue of mine once told me that her father was of Norwegian descent and her mother was of Swedish descent. When her dad introduced his future wife to his mother, she instantly decided to not like this woman because she was a Swede. Apparently the husband was more mellow about it.
Anyway, my friend told me she never liked her paternal grandmother because of the way that she treated her daughter-in-law - like dirt. But, she loved her paternal grandfather as he was a nice guy who respected his D-i-L.
It supposedly goes back to the time when Sweden ruled Norway - until the early 20th century.
Ten thousand Swedes ran through the weeds, chased by one Norwegian; ten thousand more they swarmed the shore at the Battle of Copenhagen.
My Cousin Vinje ?
My Grandfather was concidered a "half breed" per se.
Because He was Half Swedish and half Norwegian.
By my Mother's generation it wasn't as important.
By the time you get to my kids generation they are quite a mixture.
Re: “But Norway has to answer for a-ha.”
*********
Uff da!!!!
My ancestors were Norwegian and I heard about the Norway v. Sweden wars. Pretty amusing.
Heard about the No.Dak v. So.Dak jokes here in the US? Heard about that from a Montana native some time back — also very funny...
According to my Norwegian Grandmother, The "Yoke of Swedish Oppression" was thrown off on May 17th 1814
Syttende Mai was her favorite Holiday.(17th of May)
Many Swedes are also pee'od that after they let the Norwegians go in 1905, they quickly turned it into a very successful country ... and then found oil ... and not from fish!
Q: How much does a haircut in [Sweden] [Norway] cost?
A: Four dollars - one dollar a side!
<Just how long have Swedes and Norwegians been insulting each other, anyway?
Probably forever. I went to grad school with a Norwegian and we had a Danish prof. When the two of them got together, they’d speak Danish and make jokes about the Swedes and Finns. Until I met these two, I had no idea that there was any animosity between the groups - apparently they all make fun of each other.
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Thanks nick.Norwegians have no problem with Swedish, the professor points out. Finn-Erik Vinje has caused an escalation in what is promising to become an all out language war, by publishing a post on his blog last week asking, "Why are Swedes so stupid?".Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. |
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