me

baa (representing the bleating sound sheep make)


ha

Ha, hvað sagðirðu?


au

An exclamation of awe and surprise; wow.


bless

Presumably a clipping related to the greeting vertu blessaður (literally “be blessed”), compare English God bless.


je

(slang, dated) yeah (indicating enthusiastic appreciation, etc.)


nei

From Old Norse nei, from Proto-Germanic *nai (“never”), *nē (“not”), from Proto-Indo-European *né, *nē, *nēy (negative particle).

jú

implies a positive contradiction, used to contradict a negative

Nei, en gaman!

Nei, hæ!

exclamation indicating being pleasantly surprised


fuss

Fuss! Meiri vitleysan!

pshaw!, pht!, used to indicate disapproval or scoffery


amen

Í guðanna bænum, amen.


æ

Æ, já nú man ég!

Æ, hvað heitir lagið aftur?

Remind me again, what that song's called?

Æææ, ég er kominn með bólu.

Æ, það er leitt að heyra.

Æ, því miður.

Æææ, en sætt!

Æ! Hann beit mig!


takk

Borrowed from Danish tak, from Old Norse þǫkk (whence inherited Icelandic þökk), from Proto-Germanic *þankō, *þankaz. Cognates include Faroese and Norwegian takk, Danish tak, Swedish tack, English thank, West Frisian tank, Dutch dank and German Dank.

takk fyrir mig

thanks for myself; commonly said to a host for having been received as a guest; both after dining and when departing

Einn kaffibolla, takk.

Já, takk.


basta

punktur og basta
punktur og basta#Icelandic


uss

Uss nei!

tsk!, pshaw!, pht!, used to indicate disapproval or disgust


sko

A conflation of two senses: one meaning "look", from Danish skue (“to look”), another meaning "truly", from Danish sgu (“intensifier word”).

Sko skipið!

Nei sko!

look!, look at that! (often implies awe)

Sko þig.

Would you look at that, you did quite well!

used to acknowledge that someone has done well


já

From Old Norse já (“yes”), Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes”).

(informal) yes (as an exclamation of joy or excitement)


jess

(informal) yes (exclamation of satisfaction, joy, etc.)


á

Á! Þetta var vont!


krá

From Old Norse krá, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *krēaną (“to crow”). Cognate with Faroese krá. Related to English crow (noun and verb).

(onomatopoeia) caw (representing the sound of a raven or crow)


hæ

Borrowed from English hi some time after 1970, possibly also influenced by Danish hej.


hæ

Hæ, hæ og hó, hó! Húsfreyja veit ei hvað ég heiti! Gilitrutt heit ég!

Yippee! The lady does not know my name. Gilitrutt is my name!


sæll og blessaður

hello, greetings (greeting a single male person)

sæl og blessuð

to greet a single female person or a mixed male/female group


sæl og blessuð

hello, greetings (greeting a single female person or a mixed male/female group)


sælir og blessaðir

hello, greetings (greeting a group of male people)


sælar og blessaðar

hello, greetings (greeting a group of female people)


takk fyrir

From takk (“thanks”) + fyrir (“for”), literally meaning “thanks for ...”. Cognate with Icelandic þökk fyrir and Faroese takk fyri, tøkk fyri.

þakka þér fyrir

þakka þér (singular) (literally “(I) thank you”)

þakka yður fyrir

þakka yður (singular, formal; rare) (literally “(I) thank you ...”)


svona, svona

Svona, svona, þetta verður allt í lagi. Á ég að hringja á vælubílinn?

There, there, it'll be fine. Should I call the wambulance?

there, there; (Conveys comfort; used to calm someone or urge someone to relax, especially when the person is crying)


fyrirgefðu

The imperative form of the verb [að] fyrirgefa "[to] forgive", (= fyrirgefðu).


halló

Borrowed from Danish hallo. Taken into use in the 1600s.

hello, good day; a salutation said when meeting someone or acknowledging someone’s arrival or presence

Halló, við hvern tala ég?

hello, a greeting used when answering the telephone

hello; a call for response if it is not clear if anyone is present or listening, or if a telephone conversation may have been disconnected.


sæl

hi, hello (to a female or a mixed male/female group)


því miður

From the adverb því (“for that reason”) and miður (“worse”).

Er pláss í bílnum þínum? / Því miður.

Is there any space left in your car? / No, unfortunately not.


ó

Ó ókei, gangi þér vel.

Ó, góðu menn! Heyr mín orð.

Lofsöngur

O, oh, the Icelandic vocative particle, used before a pronoun or the name of a person or persons to mark direct address


takk kærlega

Takk kærlega fyrir vatnið.


noh

nohh (alternative)
no (alternative uncommon)

Noh, þetta tók þig ekki langan tíma!

an expression showing that one is impressed (either mildly or very impressed) or surprised; Oh wow; Would you look at that?


bolla

From the same source as bolli (“drinking cup, bowl”), similar to Danish bolle.

an exclamation that children shout on bolludagur while spanking their parents to demand buns


hana

"there!" (said when handing an item to someone or to indicate that something is finished or ready)


tja

Má bjóða þér að borða? - Tja, ég veit ekki ...

Would you like to eat? - Well, I'm not sure ...

Expression of contemplation or hesitation


skál

From Old Norse skál, from Proto-Germanic *skēlō.


oj

an exclamation of disgust; ew, yuck, ugh


sjitt

Borrowed from English shit. Doublet of skítur.

(vulgar) shit (exclamation indicating a marked displeasure with a newly discovered piece of news or with the current situation, or desperation on the realization of trouble to come)

fokk

similar, perhaps slightly stronger, but mostly just not expected from others than young people


skák

From Old Norse skák, from Classical Persian شاه (šāh), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /šāh/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /xšāyaθiya/, “king”).


sjitturinn

From English shit + -ur + -inn, literally “the shit”.

af

Sjitturinn! Ég gleymdi lyklunum heima.


helvítis

Helvítis! Ég týndi lyklunum mínum aftur!


fyrirgefðu mér

Fyrirgefðu mér faðir, því ég hef syndgað.


voff

Hundurinn segir „voff, voff“.


gaggalagú

cock-a-doodle-doo, the cry of the rooster.


heyrðu

Heyrðu! Þú þarna, þú misstir veskið þitt!

Hey! You there, you dropped your wallet!

Heyrðu, ætluðum við ekki í sund?

Oh hey, hadn't we planned to go swimming?

used when switching to another topic; right, so


jæja

Jæja, hvað finnst þér?


sjáumst

Literally, “we will see [each other again]”.


heyrumst

Literally, “we will hear [each other again]”.


góðir hálsar

Literally, “good necks”, or more loosely translated as “good people”.

ladies and gentlemen
ladies and gentlemen


dömur mínar og herrar

Literally, “my ladies and gentlemen”. Compare Swedish mina damer och herrar.


marr

A contracted form of maður (“man, dude”).

Hvað segirðu marr?

Er ekki allt í lagi marr?

Allt er að gerast mar.

Vá marr.


gangi þér vel

gangi þér vel ! (canonical)
gangi ykkur vel (plural)

See ganga vel (“to do well, to go well”) and þér (“to you”), the dative case of þú (“you”).

Gangi þér vel í prófinu!

Skemmtu þér vel í Japan og gangi þér vel.


djöfull

From Old Norse djǫfull, from Old English dēofol, from Latin diabolus, from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos).

Djöfull er þetta gott kaffi!


ríddu mér

fuck me (used to order a partner to have sex with oneself)


nák

Shortened from nákvæmlega (“exactly”), perhaps from reading the written abbreviation nák., which is common for that word.

(slang, enthusiastic or humorous) exactly!


þey

Compare þegiðu (“shut up”) the viðskeyttur boðháttur of þegja (“to be silent”), þögn (“silence”) and þagga (“to silence”).

Á Sprengisandi (“On Sprengisandur”) by Grímur Thomsen
Þey þey! þey þey! þaut í holti tófa,
þurran vill hún blóði væta góm,
eða líka einhver var að hóa
undarlega digrum karlaróm;
útilegumenn í Ódáðahraun
eru kannske að smala fé á laun.
Hush, hush, hush, hush,
the fox howls in the forest,
wanting to quench his thirst with blood.
Or - is it someone calling,
strangely, with a harsh voice?
Outlawed men, in the vast waste land
are secretly guarding their stolen sheep.


sís

cheese (sound used to produce a smile on photographs)


barasta

Oj barasta!

Þegiðu barasta!

Af því barasta!


nauh

Nauh, djöfull er þetta flott mynd af þér!

Wow, dude! That's a great picture of you.

(colloquial) an expression showing that one is very impressed or in awe; Wow!; Wow, would you look at that!


namm

Clipping of namm-namm (“sound of eating delicious food”), itself onomatopoeic. Compare Danish nam-nam (“idem”), English nom nom.


svei

Svei þessu öllu!

Svei þér!

(very harsh, primarily used when talking to dogs) shame on you!


nauts

Alteration of nei (“no”), with added rounding and the expressive suffix -ts.

Ertu kannski hræddur? – Nauts!

(colloquial, childish) pfft, of course not!; no, not at all!; nuh-uh

Ég fékk vinnuna sem ég sótti um. – Nauts!

I got the job that I applied for. – Wow, no way!

(colloquial, teenagerish) an expression showing that one is very impressed or in awe; wow!


úff

oof! (expresses that something is difficult or painful)


daginn

Daginn. Hvað segist?

Clipping of góðan daginn (“good day, hello”).


obbosí

Possibly derived from Danish op og se ("upwards, and see").

An interjection used by adults towards children when something (an item or the child) is being lifted, acting as a mild word of encouragement; upsadaisy.

oops, uh-oh, whoops-a-daisy, a word used when a mildly silly mistake has been made


bæjó

From bæ + -ó (colloquial, jolly suffix).


andskotans

From the genitive form of andskoti (“devil”).


ansans

Minced oath, a clipping of andskotans (“bloody, fucking”) as in ansi.

Ansans, ég hlýt að hafa gleymt lyklunum.

Oh shoot, I must have forgotten my keys.


hana nú

From hana (“here you have that”), an interjection that may be derived from þarna or hérna, and nú (“now”).

"and that's final!" (usually said after giving an order or demanding something)


punktur og basta

Borrowed from Italian punto e basta (literally “period and that's it”) via Danish punktum og basta.
Basta is not used in other contexts in modern Icelandic, and so many speakers (particularly children) instead say punktur og pasta (literally “period and pasta”).


sei sei

Ásgeir Blöndal suggest that this is derived from a demonstrative (e.g. "that thing") related to -si (an Old Norse demonstrative adverb or suffix, used for example in þessi) and sá (“that thing”).
Sei does not exist in other contexts in Icelandic.

sei-sei (alternative)
sei, sei (alternative)

Sei sei, mikil ósköp.

indicates mild surprise; oh wow; oh dear

Sei sei, segja margir íbúar Amsterdam við vaxandi fjölda ferðamanna.

"Hmph!" is what many people living in Amsterdam have to say about the increasing number of tourists.

indicates mild disapproval; tsk tsk; hmph

Hinn bernski undirtónn er vissulega til staðar í öllum myndunum, sei sei jú.

The child-like undertone is certainly visible in all of his films, oh yes indeed.


svei mér þá

well I'll be damned (an expression of surprise)


sömó

(colloquial) Synonym of sömuleiðis; likewise


ómægod

(colloquial, internet messaging) oh my God!


hjúkket

fjúkket (alternative)
hjúkk (alternative)

whew! (said when something bad that was expected to happen didn't happen)


jebbsí pepsí

A non-sensical rhyming of jebbs (“yup!”) with Pepsí (“Pepsi-Cola”).

(colloquial, humorous) yup!, yes!, you got it!


kommon

Borrowed from English come on. Became widespread among the youth in the 1990s.

Æ, kommon, ekki fara.

(colloquial) come on! (an expression of frustration, disbelief, or encouragement)


djísus

Pronunciation spelling of English Jesus.

(slang) Jesus! (exclamation used to show exasperation)


je minn eini

Euphemistic form of Jesús minn eini (“Jesus, my one and only”), which may itself be a folk-etymological alteration of Latin Jesu domine (“Lord Jesus”). Compare for this German jemine.


jedúddamía

Uncertain, but probably either from Jesús og María (“Jesus and Mary”), or alternatively from Latin Jesu domine (“Lord Jesus”), which is also a likely origin of the form je minn eini (see there).

(euphemistic) oh my! (expresses surprise)


oj barasta

An alteration (possibly a faux superlative) of oj bara.


nennis

Shortening of ég nenni þessu ekki (“I'm not in the mood to do this”), which is pronounced like “ég nennis ekki”.

Nennis að fara að vinna á morgun.

Ugh, I'm really not in the mood to go to work tomorrow.

(slang) I'm not in the mood to do this; I really have no interest in