# Norwegian: tålte nok en støyt



## betulina

Hi!

I don't speak Norwegian yet, but I have a novel in Norwegian and its translation into English and I'm sort of comparing them a bit with the help of a dictionary. I found this sentence in a context in which a man sitting in a bar describes the waitress:

_Men hun hadde et godt smil. *Tålte nok en støyt*. Hun forsvant og han tok den første slurken..._

The translation in English: _But she had a nice smile. *Could knock back a drink **or two*. She left and...

_I might not be understanding the English sentence right, but I would like to know if that is what it means for you, because I can't quite understand it.

Takk.


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## pcongre

Tåla = stand (as in e.g. "stand physical pain")
nok = "enough", or, in this case, "probably" (reminds me of "prou" in catalan  a little, e.g. "prou que ho sap que...", although the secondary meaning is different and way more usual in Scandinavian languages)
støyt = slurk/sip, knock back (a drink), etc

Both the author and the translator are omitting the personal pronoun "han/he". So it simply means he could stand a drink, or possibly that he could do with a drink, if there is no previous reference to it.

Salutacions!


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## betulina

Takk, gràcies, pcongre! It's much clearer now.


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## Lemminkäinen

pcongre said:


> støyt = slurk/sip, knock back (a drink), etc



Støyt, from Bokmålsordboka.

When I read through it, I interpreted it as the first meaning, i.e. being able to stand a difficult, hard, tough (&c) situation - to me, that's the only interpretation possible on the expression _å tåle en støyt_. The second meaning, a sip of alcohol, is not one I would've though of, but perhaps others read it that way. 



> Both the author and the translator are omitting the personal pronoun "han/he". So it simply means he could stand a drink, or possibly that he could do with a drink, if there is no previous reference to it.



I have to disagree; it seems to me that he's talking about the waitress (and her abilities) - in other words, it's the pronoun "hun/she" that's omitted.


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## aaspraak

I agree with Lemminkäinen. _Å tåle en støyt_ means being able to stand a difficult situation. 

_Støyt_ means a sip of alcohol in expressions like _ta seg en støyt_ or _en støyt alkohol_, but if I see the word in isolation I think about the first meaning. 

I read _nok_ in _tålte nok en støyt_ as meaning probably.


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## betulina

Takk, Lemminkäinen og aaspraak 

This meaning of _støyt_ is the one I had found, that's why I couldn't relate it to _drink_. 
I agree that the omitted article should be _hun/she_, as it is the last one to appear and omitting articles is not a common feature of the text.

That makes sense, thank you all!


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## pcongre

I also want to thank you for correcting me, it is now clear that I was basing my assumptions on a context that was nowhere but in my imagination


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## oskhen

I too would immediately read "tåle en støyt" as being able to handle tough situations or the like, but perhaps more context could make it clearer? I think the expression seemed a bit odd in the little context I've seen.

And yes: to me there's no doubt that the pronoun omitted is "hun"/"she"


(100-post jubilee!)


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## betulina

Thank you, Oskhen! Sorry, I'll give more context to make it clearer: it's just a short description of the waitress. He (actually, the narrator, although speaking about the man's thoughts) talks about her age and how years have treated her:

_Alderen hennes var ubestemmelig, men han tippet på et sted mellom trettifem og førti. Og hun så ut som hun hadde levd de årene vel så hardt som klientellet _[those are old men] _hun serverte. Men hun hadde et godt smil. Tålte nok en støyt.

_After that, he changes subject. 

Tusen takk.


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## oskhen

betulina said:


> _Alderen hennes var ubestemmelig, men han tippet på et sted mellom trettifem og førti. *Og hun så ut som hun hadde levd de årene vel så hardt som klientellet* _[those are old men] _hun serverte. Men hun hadde et godt smil. Tålte nok en støyt._


 
The bold part (which I suppose you already have in English translation), confirms what I thought; The book basically says that she seems to have led a hard life, but also seems to be able to handle it well (the comment about the good smile seems a bit misplaced, though, but perhaps it means that the fact that she's able to smile like that, shows that she handles her life well?).


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## betulina

Great, thank you, Oskhen! It's all crystal clear now. 

Btw, I'm getting very fond of your language! Tusen takk.


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