# Norwegian: spendthrift?



## astri

Is there a Norwegian equivalent to a "spendthrift?" I'm looking for a word or expression that refers to someone who spends too much money in a careless or wasteful way.


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## bicontinental

In Danish I'd say _en ødeland_, and it seems like the same word is used in Norwegian:


> ...en ødeland er en person som er fjollete med penger. Begrepet brukes for å representere mange områder av overforbruk, fra den impulsive shopper som bor litt utenfor sin måte til den personen som rett og slett ikke kan kontrollere hennes utgifter i det hele tatt.
> 
> En ødeland er generelt sett på som uforsiktig og sløsing når det kommer til penger, aldri bekymre deg i morgen, eller hvordan regninger blir betalt, eller hvor mye renter er samler på unødvendige kjøp. Shopping og forbruk overdådig er tvangshandlinger for ødeland. En slik person kan gå gjennom uanstendige mengder penger, men å ha svært lite eller ingenting å vise for det.



Ref:Hva er et ødeland? - kunnskap - notmywar.com

Natives? 

Bic.


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## JonTve

Sløser.


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## Ben Jamin

Ødeland was used by Ibsen, but this word is absent from modern Norwegian vocabulary.


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## raumar

This is a good question - maybe we lack a good noun that corresponds to the verb "sløse"?

My English-Norwegian dictionary does not use a single word to translate "spendthrift". It mentions "_ødeland_", but also (as Ben already has mentioned) that it is dated:


> en som sløser med pengene; en som bruker opp alt han har; _gammeldags_ ødeland



I think Jon's "_sløser_" is a better alternative, and it is listed in Bokmålsordboka. However, I am not sure whether this word is much used. It is certainly less used than the verb "å sløse".

I would say "_sløsekopp_" myself (parallel to "rotekopp", "masekopp" etc), but this word is not listed in Bokmålsordboka.

I am afraid that Bic's link in post #2 is unreliable. The text is full of errors. The heading "Hva er et ødeland?" is wrong;  "en ødeland" is a spendthrift, but "et ødeland" is a wasteland. The next sentence is absurd: "Som et sammensatt ord, med den siste halvdelen av ordet blir _sparsommelighet,_ mange mennesker forveksler betydningen av begrepet _ødeland."_ The second part of "ødeland" does not mean "sparsommelighet" -- but the second part of "spendthrift" does. This must be an English text about "spendthrift", which somebody has run through Google Translate.


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## Ben Jamin

A thouroghly confusing site, using texts translated to different languages by Google Translate, including the main text which on the whole is much more correct than an average Google Translation, but with some completeley absurd sentences.


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## bicontinental

Thanks for your input above. I'm actually not surprised that the word is considered somewhat dated in Norwegian; even in Danish it is past its former glory, but I still see it used occasionally. It's a good word, though, because it's specific. En ødeland is someone who squanders all his_ money_, someone who is careless about money i.e. a spendthrift...the opposite of en gnier (another word with one foot in the grave)

I have a question regarding _å sløse_ (in Norwegian): is the verb used specifically and exclusively about money (like en ødeland)? I'm asking only because the exact same word exists in Danish where it means to be careless in a more general sense, i.e. careless about your work, about time, about money etc. In other words, if someone says to me, han sløser or han er sløset, I wouldn't necessarily think it had to do with money. I suppose it's different in Norwegian?

Bic.


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## raumar

In Norwegian, you can certainly "_sløse med_" electricity, water (if you leave the tap running), or other kinds of resources. People can "_sløse bort_" a chance to do something (for example, to score a goal in a football match), or even "_sløse bort livet sitt_" if they spend all their time on something useless. It is not exclusively about money, but I think we can say that money is the "default option": unless something else is specified, we assume that "sløse" refers to money.


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## bicontinental

Ok, I see. Thanks raumar.


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