What are these Norwegian monks saying?

October 5, 2006 7:43 AM

It's easy to figure out what's going on in this YouTube video titled "Help Desk," but I'm sure it would be even funnier if I knew what they're saying. (Monks speaking Norwegian, one trying to explain to the other how a book works.)
posted by Joleta to writing & language (3 comments total)

Funny stuff!

I'll leave the actual translation (they're mostly just talking about what they're doing) to a norwegian, but until one comes along; the second book they bring out is the manual. That's one of the few things that I suppose one could miss by just looking at the sketch.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 10:17 AM on October 5, 2006

Hilarious. The manual won't open.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:38 AM on October 5, 2006

out of laziness, this is somewhat rough... anyway, it's a hilarious piece.

techie: what's this about?
user: well, it's this thing. i haven't been able to do anything all morning.
t: yeah, things take time, we're in the process of transferring to a new system, and everyone needs help at the same time, you know.
u: right.
t: so... you can't get in, or...?
u: right, yeah, it just lies there.
t: ok, hmm, have you tried opening it?
u: well, obviously.
t: ok, well, just do it like this... (opens the book) -- there! now you're ready to go.
u: well, sure, i came that far too. but then it stopped, and i was afraid that some of the text might disappear, so i didn't dare go any further.
t: oh, ok, well you see, in here, there are possibly several hundred pages stored. so, to go further, you grab on to one of these sheets, and then you "turn the page" like this and then the text will continue on the next page.
u: (baffled) i... "turn the page"...? okay.
t: right, "turn the page."
u: but... what if i want to go back?
t: well then you turn the page backwards, you grab hold here and then turn the page... so now you're back to the text you had earlier.
u: ok, so... it ends here... and then... (turns the page) oh it continues here! wow, ok.... but... when i want to finish, what do i do then?
t: oh, you put the covers together like this. now it's closed and everything lies stored in there.
u: ok so i'm not risking losing any of the text now, right?
t: no no, it's all in there... unless you set fire to the whole thing...
u: right... yeah it's just, you know, when you've been working a lot with papyrus, it takes a while to convert to this idea of "turning pages" in a book, you know?
t: right, sure.
(the techie is about to leave)
u: oh just one thing before you leave...
t: yes?
(the user then walks through all the steps again with the techie there to make sure he understands, they happily conclude he's got it, but then right as the techie leaves, the user blurts out:)
u: oh hey, wait, crap, look... now it's like that again! now i'm back to not being able to open it. (the user unsuccessfully attempts to open the book to demonstrate the dilemma)
t: you're doing it on the wrong end. you have to open it from the other side.
u: oh so they're not the same??
t: no, you have to open from this side, like this. now, it's open.
u: ooooooohkay!
t: have you read the manual, or...?
u: the manual?
t: you're supposed to have a manual... there it is.
u: oh, that one. right. yeah, but you see, this thing has the same problem. it doesn't open!!
t: hmm, we should have considered that.
posted by edlundart at 5:59 PM on October 5, 2006 [1 favorite]