fy

phew, shame; interjection expressing disapproval or disgust


mm

An onomatopoeia for a sound made by the human mouth.

mm, paien lukter himmelsk!

(onomatopoeia) An expression used to show contentment for something which smells or tastes good

mm, jeg er ikke helt sikker...

(onomatopoeia) An expression used to show thought, reflection or hesitation

mm, det er jeg helt enig i!

(onomatopoeia) An expression used to express agreement with something


nei

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


amen

Ultimately from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”).


ciao

From Italian ciao, from Venetan sciavo (“slave”), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), from Late Latin Sclavus (“Slav”) (as Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages), from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos), from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ. Doublet of slave and slaver.


ut

From Old Norse út, from Proto-Germanic *ūt.


takk

From Old Norse þǫkk, from Proto-Germanic *þankō, *þankaz. Equivalent cognates: Danish tak, Faroese tøkk, Icelandic þökk, Swedish tack.


prosit

Borrowed from Latin prōsit (“may it be good”), the third-person singular present active subjunctive of prōsum (“be good”)

bor+

bless you! exclamation said to someone who has just sneezed


å

From Old Norse ó, was used in the same sense.

Å, er det deg?

Å gud, for et dårlig vær det er.

Å, skitt, du har problemer!

Å, vær så snill, kan vi ikke dra?

Used to make the message more urgent, pleading, or to underline it, oh

Å ja, sier du det?

Hva skjedde? —Å, ingenting

Å, jeg er ikke så sikker på det.


helvete

Helvete, hva gikk galt?

Faen i helvete!

Dra til helvete!

Hva i helvetet er det du vil?


a

From Danish ah (“oh”), likely from German ach (“oh”), from Middle High German ach, from Old High German ah. Also see ah and akk.

a, for noe tøv!

a, det er bare noe drit til han terracottaen

1888, Herman Colditz, Kjærka, et Atélierinteriør:

oh, that is just some crap for that terracotta guy

a, det gjorde godt!

a, kunde vi bare gi «Fram» slige vinger

1897, Fridtjof Nansen, Fram over Polhavet I, page 345:

oh, if only we could give "Fram" wings like that

a jo, men hold nå fred!

a nej, det kan være det samme

1874, Henrik Ibsen, Fru Inger til Østråt, page 99:

a ja, lad Schirmer tegne staburet

1874–1878, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Brytnings-år I, page 25:

oh yes, let Schirmer draw the storehouse

verden er vakker, bestemor. Selv når det regner og blåser. A ja da.

1988, Arild Nyquist, Giacomettis forunderlige reise:

the world is beautiful, grandma. Even when it's raining and windy. Oh yes.

used with the words yes and no to give a sense of impatience or rejection


a

Mostly likely from Norwegian ad (“against, on”), from Danish ad (“by, at”), from Old Danish at, from Old Norse at (“at, to”), from Proto-Germanic *at (“at, toward, to”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“to, at”).

uff a meg!

huff a meg!

expression of anger or sorrow, especially with a personal pronoun


hei

hei!


nam

nam-nam (alternative)
nam nam (alternative)


sku

Contraction of the phrase så gud hjelpe meg, as are also Danish sgu and sågu.


quod erat demonstrandum

quod erat demonstrandum
quod erat demonstrandum#English


skål

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


faen

Contraction of fanden (“the Devil”), from late Old Norse fendinn, perhaps from Frisian with the original meaning "the tempter, he who tempts". Compare Old Norse fjándinn (“the enemy”), definite of fjándi (“enemy, foe, devil”). Cognate with Danish fanden, Icelandic fjandi, Faroese fanin and Swedish fan. See also djevel.

Fy faen!

Faen ta deg!

Fuck you!, Damn you! (literally, May the devil take you!)

Det var som faen!

Ikke faen!


dritt

Vi døde nesten, dritt!


jojo

An exclamation of disagreement or strongly reluctant agreement, often followed by a men (“but”) and a counterargument if the latter.


abrakadabra

NB - Pronunciation of Norwegian Bokmål «abrakadabra».ogg

From Late Latin abracadabra, a word used in magical writings, of uncertain origin, possibly from Thracian. Perhaps related to Abraxas (a Gnostic deity), and with various Aramaic or Hebrew terms, such as עברא כדברא (avra kedavra, literally “what was said has come to pass”), עַבְדָא כְּדַברָא (avda kedavara, literally “what was said has been done”); ארבע־אחד־ארבע (arba-eḥad-arba, literally “four-one-four”).

abrakadabra! Styrt i støvet! Der kommer skyen tilbage af sig selv paa min kommando

1852, Henrik Wergeland, Samlede Skrifter II,5, page 340:

abracadabra! Steered in the dust! The cloud comes back by itself at my command

Abrakadabra! Der lå den forsvunne hjerterkongen

Abracadabra! There lay the missing King of Hearts

abracadabra (used to indicate that a magic trick or other illusion has been performed.)


heia

Heia! heia! heia!

Heia Norge!

Encouraging shout used in competitions to spur the athletes on.


gakk

Onomatopoeia mimicking the sound a goose makes.


løype

From Old Norse hleypa (“make run”), from hlaupa (“run”).

cross-country skiing
cross-country skiing

Make way! or give way!; shout applied in cross-country skiing to make the skier in front vacate the ski track.


halleluja

From Biblical Hebrew הַלְלוּיָהּ (hal'luyáh, “Praise Yah”).


dikkedikk

Onomatopoeia; from archaic interjection dikk, originally tikk

(childish) Onomatopoeic phrase used by adults to incite laughter or a smiling response in a baby, often used in conjunction with tickling the baby.


niks

From Low German niks (“nothing”) and German nichts.


adjø

From French adieu, from à Dieu, "to God", in the sense "may God be with you." Same origin as Swedish adjö and Danish adjøs and adjø. Compare Spanish adiós.

Adjø, da!

Adjø så lenge.


særlig

From Old Norse sérligr. Cf. Norwegian Nynorsk særleg and Danish særlig. Related to Swedish särskilt. The Swedish and Danish word is never used as an interjection.


bæsj

Likely from æsj (“yuck, eek”), of onomatopoeic origin. The noun is a nominalization of the interjection.
Cognate with Swedish bajs and Danish bæ.

(colloquial) Used as an expression of disgust or contempt.


joda

emphatic of jo: Yes, yes indeed, of course; in disagreement with the last speaker's negative statement.


snikksnakk

From conflation of the German Low German or German term Schnickschnack (“bric-a-brac, ornament; empty talk”) with the Norwegian term snakk (“(loose) talk”).


vrinsk

From vrinske, from dialectal vrine (“neigh coarsely”). Compare Dutch wrensen (“to neigh, whinny”).

(onomatopoeia) The sharp neigh of a horse.


knall

From the verb knalle; compare with German Knall.


velkommen

welcome (greeting given upon someone's arrival)


forsvinn

From Norwegian Bokmål svinne (“to disappear, vanish”), from Proto-Germanic *swindaną. Cognate with Swedish försvinn. More at English swind.


beklager

Beklager, jeg har ikke tid akkurat nå.

I'm sorry, I do not have time right now.


føkk

From English fuck, with phonetic Norwegian spelling.


unnskyld

[ˈʉ̞nːˌʃʏlˑ]

excuse me (usually followed by a question or request)


bø

Unknown. Compare Latin boō (“to cry aloud, roar, shout”)

boo; a loud exclamation intended to scare someone, usually a child.


æsj

Æsj! For noe skit!


jo visst

sure thing (assuming a fact as predicable)


vær så god

/ʋæːrsɔˈɡuː/

From vær (“be”, imperative of være) + så (“so”) + god (“good”).

compound

imperative of <i class="Latn mention" lang="sv">være</i>

here you are, there you are (said when handing something over to someone)

you're welcome (response to a “thank you”)


jepp

jeg sager over kona mi – jepp!

du stoler på meg? – Jep. Det høres ut til at du har vært borti ganske mye sjæl

1978, Ebba Haslund, Behag og bedrag, page 72:

you trust me? - Yep. It sounds like you've been through quite a bit of soul

[han] kan se alt, sa John. – Alt? – Jepp

1984, Lars Saabye Christensen, Beatles, page 15:

[he] can see everything, said John. - Everything? - Yep

«Jepp!» svarte jeg kjekt

1996, Jon Ewo, Etterpå er du en helt annen mann, page 156:

har’ke du gått i sangkor a, fatter? – Jepp, i mange år, svarer jeg

Have you not joined the choir, father? - Yes, for many years, I answer


puss ta 'n!

[ˈpʰʉs ˈtʰɑːn]


hosianna

Ultimately from Biblical Hebrew הוֹשַׁע נָא (hōsha‘ nā, “please save”).


vips

From Middle Low German wips. Related to vipp and vippe.


pinadø

A minced oath of Jesu pine og død (“Jesus' pain and death”).

pinede (alternative)
pinadød (alternative)

(vulgar, colloquial, euphemistic) Expressing dismay or discontent


pinadød

pinede (alternative)
pinadø (alternative)


pinede

pinedø (alternative)
pinadød (alternative)


haloi

form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by halloi


dæven

Dæven, ikke hver dag man ser noe sånt.

Damn, not every day you see something like that.

an expletive used to express displeasure or for emphasis; damn!


vi sees

Similar to Danish and Swedish vi ses, Norwegian Nynorsk vi sest and Faroese vit síggjast.