I was at a festival in Germany last year, and me and a friend (Icelandic) were rambling around, when we saw a Faroese flag over one of the camps.
We decided that we would absolutely refuse to speak any English, and only use Icelandic with them. At first it was a bit awkward, but once we got used to their pronunciation, we had very few problems.
We did have some amusing incidents though, such as the word "sniðugur"; In Icelandic, it means clever or witty, in a positive way. That word also exists in Faroese, and also means clever or witty, but in a derogatory manner; So more like devious. I told one of the Faroese, "Þú ert sniðugur" (you are sniðugur), and his face dropped, and he was clearly insulted.
I think it's very interesting how words in different languages can essentially retain their meaning but develop entirely new subtexts.
doodeman13 karma
I was at a festival in Germany last year, and me and a friend (Icelandic) were rambling around, when we saw a Faroese flag over one of the camps.
We decided that we would absolutely refuse to speak any English, and only use Icelandic with them. At first it was a bit awkward, but once we got used to their pronunciation, we had very few problems.
We did have some amusing incidents though, such as the word "sniðugur"; In Icelandic, it means clever or witty, in a positive way. That word also exists in Faroese, and also means clever or witty, but in a derogatory manner; So more like devious. I told one of the Faroese, "Þú ert sniðugur" (you are sniðugur), and his face dropped, and he was clearly insulted.
I think it's very interesting how words in different languages can essentially retain their meaning but develop entirely new subtexts.
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