# Norwegian: Meritter



## Grefsen

I've come across the Norwegian word *meritter *numerous times, but never attempted to look it up a norsk-engelsk *ordbok *before now.  I just assumed that it meant awards or honors or something else close to that.  I was a bit surprised that two of the dictionaries I checked didn't have anything for  *meritter* and a third book had "escapades" as the translation.  

The definition of "escapades" in one American English dictionary is:  adventurous, unconventional acts or undertakings. 

Usually when I see *meritter *in a Norwegian article it is followed by awards that an athlete has won such as Olympic medals, football medals and/or trophies.  Here is the link to one such example: 

Unni Lehns hjemmeside


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## Tjahzi

I'd say it does indeed translate to English "merit(s)", but that it's possibly slightly wider. It doesn't necessarily mean throphies won, but rather "achievements" in general.

I find it odd that you didn't find it in your dictionary, did you seach with the singular form ("merit"?)?


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## Pteppic

I checked my own dictionary - it didn't list "meritter", but did list "merittliste" ("list of achievements"), for some inexplicable reason. The German and Spanish dictionaries (from the same publisher) listed "meritter", though. Very peculiar.


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## Grefsen

Tjahzi said:


> I'd say it does indeed translate to English "merit(s)", but that it's possibly slightly wider. It doesn't necessarily mean throphies won, but rather "achievements" in general.



Whenever I see Meritter for a footballer the list I see that typically follows this is of championships that they have won with a team as opposed to individual  "achievements."  This is why I thought it meant medals or trophies. 

I don't recall ever seeing an individual "achievement"  such as "2006 top goalscorer in the league" listed under *Meritter.  *I'll keep my eyes open for any examples of '*Meritter *from other sports, especially individual sports and if I find anything interesting I'll post it here. 




Tjahzi said:


> I find it odd that you didn't find it in your dictionary, did you seach with the singular form ("merit"?)?



Yes, I checked for anything close to *merit*, but other than the translation of "escapades" for *meritter*, I came up empty.


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## Grefsen

Pteppic said:


> I checked my own dictionary - it didn't list "meritter", but did list "merittliste" ("list of achievements"), for some inexplicable reason. The German and Spanish dictionaries (from the same publisher) listed "meritter", though. Very peculiar.



I don't even have *merittliste* in any of my *ordboker* (BTW would this be the correct plural form for *ordbok*?).  

If *meritter *is a list of achievements, then I'm wondering what the translation of *umeritterte* would be in the following sentence?

*



			Dermed måtte 17 år gamle – og helt umeritterte Bente Nordby – forberede seg på at VM-debuten kunne komme i selve finalen.
		
Click to expand...

*
My translation attempt:

"Therefore must the 17 year old and quite unaccomplished/unachieved? Bente Nordby prepare herself for a World Cup debut that would come in the Championship match."


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## Tjahzi

Un-merited. Being without merits. As in, not having any experience of having played any big games or won ay big trophies. 

Actually, that word further illustrates the meaning or the Swedish/Norwegian word "merit" as being slightly broader than just "achivements".


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## Myha

Grefsen said:


> I don't even have *merittliste* in any of my *ordboker* (BTW would this be the correct plural form for *ordbok*?).


Ordbøker


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## Pteppic

Grefsen said:


> If *meritter *is a list of achievements,



I may have been a bit unclear about the meaning. "Merittliste" means "list of achievements" (or "achievement list"). Which is why it was odd that "meritter" wasn't listed at all.

I don't know why people don't put individual achievements on their achievement lists - maybe they think that as team members their team achievements are more important?


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## Grefsen

Myha said:


> Ordbøker



I knew that......


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## Grefsen

Pteppic said:


> I may have been a bit unclear about the meaning. "Merittliste" means "list of achievements" (or "achievement list"). Which is why it was odd that "meritter" wasn't listed at all.



When I look up "achievement" in one of my *ordbøker *the possible translations are: *bedrift, dåd, fullføring, prestasjon*



Pteppic said:


> I don't know why people don't put individual achievements on their achievement lists - maybe they think that as team members their team achievements are more important?



I think you are probably correct about this *Pteppic.*  I wonder too if the higher level you have achieved in a sport the higher the bar is set for what you can include on your *Merittliste? *

As an example I wonder if a track & field athlete can include a victories in individual meets as *meritter* up until the time they win events in the European Championships and perhaps even the Olympics.  Then after that level of achievement only the events they have won at these much higher levels of competition will be included as *meritter*.


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## Grefsen

I just came across the following *Meritter *list for in an article about Norwegian goalkeeper Bente Nordby:

  http://fotball.aftenposten.no/kvinner/article89622.ece



> *Meritter*
> Olympiamester 2000
> Verdensmester 1995
> Europamester 1993
> VM-sølv 1991
> OL-bronse 199
> EM-sølv 2005
> EM-bronse 2001
> Norgesmester med Asker 2005, seriemester med Kolbotn 2002.
> VM-sluttspill: Klar for sitt femte. Gull i Sverige 1995, sølv i  Kina 1991 (uten å få spilletid), 4.-plass i USA 1999 og  kvartfinale i USA 2003. Har spilt alle Norges 16 kamper i de tre siste  sluttspillene.



And right below the *Meritterliste *was the following:



> *Nordbys mesterskap*
> VM 1991: Sølv - spilte ikke
> EM 1993: GULL - spilte ikke
> VM 1995: GULL
> OL 1996 : Bronse
> EM 1997: Utslått i gruppespillet
> VM 1999: 4.-plass
> OL 2000: GULL
> EM 2001: Utslått i semifinalen
> VM 2003: Utslått i kvartfinalen
> EM 2005: Sølv



Is this second list included to show the major tournaments that Nordby's teams have competed in even if Nordby didn't have any playing time  or Norway did not get a medal?


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