What's a better response than "Uff da"?

August 19, 2009 10:23 PM

Norskfilter: Help me come up with an appropriate response to a Norwegian greeting on OkCupid

I emailed a Norwegian speaker and mentioned that I'd always been interested in the language. Her response to me was mostly in English, but the first line was: "Snakker du ikke norsk? Hmm. Jeg synes at du er veldig kjekk." So, I have two questions:

1. What exactly does that mean? I get the basic idea from the google translation, but I'd like to hear what someone who really knows the language makes of it.

2. What would be something clever to say back in Norwegian?

posted by Cogito to writing & language (7 comments total)

"Do you speak Norwegian? Hmmm...I think you are very good looking (hot)"

Done.

The answer should be in English. Unless you have a good line to translate into Norwegian, otherwise you might end up over your head.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 10:29 PM on August 19

oops...Misread, She said "You don't speak Norwegian? I think you are very good looking (hot) "
posted by Funmonkey1 at 10:30 PM on August 19

I just think it would be fun to respond in kind. Maybe something along the lines of "I'm afraid I don't speak Norwegian, but for a cute girl such as yourself, I'll make an exception." I'm open to ideas though.
posted by Cogito at 10:33 PM on August 19

How about: "My hovercraft is full of eels. Would you like to go back to my place, bouncy bouncy?"

In Norwegian, of course.

PS: don't do this!
posted by funkbrain at 11:14 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]

Beklager, jeg snakker ikke norsk, men du er så pent alt er mulig...

Translates literally to:

Sorry (Formal), I don't speak norwegian, but you are so beautiful everything is possible.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 11:30 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]

Beklager, jeg snakker ikke norsk, men du er så pen at jeg får lyst ;)

Sorry, I don't speak Norwegian, but you're so beautiful ("pen" isn't quite as dramatic, but it's neutral on the playful side in this sense) that I want to learn.
posted by flippant at 3:19 AM on August 20

Flippant has it for the win!
posted by Funmonkey1 at 3:44 AM on August 20