Cows on Ice and Owls in the Bog: The Weird and Wonderful World of Scandinavian Sayings

by Katarina Montnémery

Scandinavians are cooler, sexier, and more stylish than the rest of us. They have a higher standard of living, greater economic opportunity and equality, the world's best restaurants, and moody TV dramas involving murders and sweaters.

But did you know, amidst the obsession with hygge, IKEA, and lagom, that Scandinavian sayings are absolutely BIZARRE?!

Take the Swedish 'Skita i det blåa skåpet', which roughly translates as 'You've done a poop in the blue locker' ('You've really messed things up now'). Or, in Norway, 'Født bak en brunost': 'He was born behind a brown cheese' (this chap is a bit slow on the uptake). In Denmark you might say instead: 'Han har roterende fis i kasketten' (he's got rotating crap in his cap!).

This witty, enlightening book will give you 50 phrases you never knew you needed in your life, explaining their origin and literal translations, with fun color illustrations throughout.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Scandinavian Literature, Swedish Literature

144 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2019

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The English language is filled with many turns of phrase that don’t literally convey their intended meaning. I always thought these unique phrasings took the cake for most ludicrous, but it turns out the Scandinavians also have bizarre but amusing sayings they use to express themselves. With its easy-breezy entertaining style, this quick and witty read will educate you on the true meaning of those unusual Scandinavian sayings. I would recommend this to students of Scandinavian languages as a good way to learn some idioms of the respective language.

[Milda Stasaitytė · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely beautiful cute read with mesmerising illustrations for anyone in love with the Scandinavian cultures and/or language art in general.
With every little page of it, you’ll get an idiom from either of the cultures (Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian ir Danish) with a witty explanation of its meaning and origins, as well as an amazing illustration to look at and grin.
Read it with your significant other or a friend while sipping on wine and guessing which culture the idiom comes from. I did that and wished it was 150 pages longer.

[Seili · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selline tore vahepala ilukirjanduse lugemisele. Võtsin ette tegelikult seetõttu, et juhtusin sirvima ja need kohad mis avanesid olid lõbustavad. Päris palju oli selliseid väljendeid, mis meilgi on kasutuses (nt „lusikat nurka viskama” ja „nagu kass ümber palava pudru käima”) kuid oli ka selliseid mida ma isegi ette ei oleks osanud kujutada, et väljend võiks olla (nt. „puhub poolt pelikani” või „suure jala peal elama”).
Ei saa väita, et kõiki nüüd usinalt kasutama hakkan aga ühte kindlasti ja see on minu meelest lõbusaim ja minu lemmik tervest raamatust : „ Kõik muumid ei ole orus” 😃

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

she’s out cycling if you catch my drift…. not all the moomins are in the valley…. a fox behind her ear

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute delight!

[Levas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Languages are beautiful. Especially the ones that clicks with you. Nordic family languages (yes, Finnish is an exception, but it is a very beautiful exception) are the ones that I am used to hear in various nordic noir crime movies, but it's the language people speak everyday. Idioms are these tiny treasures of each of languages in the world that are (mostly) unique to that single geocultural entity and that would make people raise their eyebrows when used in ordinary speech.
This is a wonderful collection of idioms + cute illustrations + tiny bits of explanation on what is what and possibly why. And you can even feel the pulse of these people, using the idioms. If it's owl, blood or potato - it's Finland. If it's wind or bicycle - it's Denmark. An absolutely wonderful thing to bring with these parts of the world and such books could be mandatory for every language.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that looks into the concept of idioms from the Scandinavian region. As a result it is also a look into the construction of Scandinavian culture, language and a snapshot of the lifestyle that so many of us are unfamiliar with.

The book gives a two-page spread for each idiom that it explores. Each English translation is the page header while this is then followed by the country where it comes and the idiom in that country's language. Following this is a paragraph or two that gives some history about the idiom, the meaning behind it or even some pop culture.

Each of these spreads is also given a very basic illustration. Although there are plenty of colors they aren't a bright presentation and most of these illustrations lean towards the more neutral range of their color scale. The characters themselves weren't what you would call classical art and hold more of a basic sketch.

All in all if you are interested in idioms than this is a nice little book to get you started on Scandinavian idioms and maybe it will encourage you to also find other interesting ones from other countries as well.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in the library in one go.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little book explaining various Scandinavian idioms with adorable minimalist drawings to accompany each. I needed something to breeze through to get out of a reading slump and this worked. A few, including the one about the blue cupboard, are quite funny.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives some insight into approx. 50 different Scandinavian sayings. Each saying is listed in the original language with an English translation, some background information to help explain the meaning behind the saying, and an illustration.

The title page of the book states the sayings are compiled by Katarina Montnémery and the illustrations are by Nastia Sleptsova.

Overall the sayings are great and I love the little backstories. I've heard quite a few of them in actual use as well which just adds to the fun.

Here are some favorites:
Dumber than the train - Dummare än tåget (Swedish)
Have a shit in the blue cupboard - Skita i det blå skåpet (Swedish)
Not all the Moomins are in the valley - Ei ole kaikki muumit laaksossa (Finnish)
Out cycling - Ude og cykle (Dannish)

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This charming book provides a series of delightful Scandinavian idioms. Each has a brief history/explanation and a drawing to capture the imagery presented. Similar to the English “raining cats and dogs”, these amusing sayings show a unique perspective on these cultures. Some of the standouts include “no cows on the ice”: nothing to worry about, “caught your beard in the letterbox”: equivalent to the English “caught red-handed”, “born behind a brown cheese”: not very bright, and the funny “poop in the blue cupboard”: make a fool of yourself. This is a short, but entertaining read.

[Teresa Biggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sub title is the weird and wonderful world of Scandinavian sayings......each saying is presented in English and Scandinavian , the background of the saying and an illustration. The illustrations were wonderful and the backgrounds were interesting.... not sure I will be able to adopt any of them LOL

[Poe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations and really fun to read! Non-native but living in Sweden, I've heard some of these sayings without really knowing what they meant. Also, interesting to get comparisons to other languages.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun quick read of Scandinavian sayings with adorable pictures. Really neat to see the similarities and differences between these cultures in the ideas they think are important or just silly. 🇫🇮🇩🇰🇳🇴🇸🇪
Read for Nordic Book Club at Augustana College.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Väga ilusa kujundusega raamat, mis võiks alati olla riiulis ülelugemiseks või lihtsalt imetlemiseks! Sõbraga tekkis küll arutelu, kas kõik väljendid on veel kasutusel (nt taanikeelne "ude og cykle"), aga eks väljenditega ongi nii, et mõned vajuvad unustusehõlma ja uued tekivad juurde.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming and fun! Love to hear how the meanings go back, or the ones that don't make sense anyway.

[Kati Polodna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gotta incorporate some of these into my everyday life!

[Renee Wiedmeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute and clever

[Ying LU · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely lovely book with simple but nice illustrations for each expressions. (If it’s not not willing to tear apart the book, I might frame each page as a collection) The explanations go quite smoothly with light humor inside.

[Mari-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book with delightful illustrations to bring the sayings to life. Definitely going to be trying some of these out and see if I can make them catch on in English!

[Katherine Medbery-Oleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful book of “The weird and wonderful works of Scandinavian sayings” this was!

Even small pots have ears - “även små grytor har öron" p.28

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were so many sayings I'd never heard before. Wacky ones! The illustrations were nicely done.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun. Delightful, amusing.

[Mirinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75⭐️

[ronia barzani♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the cutest books

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not familiar with Scandinavian context, yetthis book is easy to read and understand!