# Norwegian: å holde seg til siden



## cebranco

Hi guys, 

I was reading a book and the following sentence came up. I know what the rest means, but how would you translate the 'hold seg til siden' part?
Thanks for helping!



Han var kledd i dress,* holdt seg til siden* og hadde
et rødt tørkle rundt panna.


----------



## Ífaradà

Kept to the side (of the street).


----------



## myšlenka

cebranco said:


> I was reading a book and the following sentence came up. I know what the rest means, but how would you translate the 'hold seg til siden' part?
> 
> Han var kledd i dress,* holdt seg til siden* og hadde
> et rødt tørkle rundt panna.


 Ífaradà suggestion in #2 is a possible translation, but in this context, it seems more natural that the meaning is that he held a hand on the side of his body (as if he was in pain).


----------



## Ífaradà

myšlenka said:


> Ífaradà suggestion in #2 is a possible translation, but in this context, it seems more natural that the meaning is that he held a hand on the side of his body (as if he was in pain).


Yeah, I thought about that, but wouldn't it be more natural to use "på" instead of "til" if that was the case? Really not sure though, too vague. Actually, scrap that.

You're right.


----------



## raumar

myšlenka said:


> Ífaradà suggestion in #2 is a possible translation, but in this context, it seems more natural that the meaning is that he held a hand on the side of his body (as if he was in pain).



Without any context, Ífaradà's translation seems to be the best. I agree that "kept to the side" seems a bit strange in this context. But if myšlenka's explanation is right, I would have expected the author to write "holdt seg *i* siden". 

Cebranco, could you provide some more context?


----------



## Ífaradà

raumar said:


> Without any context, Ífaradà's translation seems to be the best. I agree that "kept to the side" seems a bit strange in this context. But if myšlenka's explanation is right, I would have expected the author to write "holdt seg *i* siden".
> 
> Cebranco, could you provide some context?


Googled it, and it seems as if people use holdt seg til siden both when refering to holding a hand somewhere on the body or standing on the side of say a street. Seems rather odd to me though.


----------



## Svenke

I agree with: 'held his hand against the side of his body'.


----------



## basslop

I agree that some context is needed. However I have some  thoughts about "holde seg til/i/på siden". It's all about preposition:

Keeping to a side of the street. In Norwegian you can use both "til" and "på" here.
Holding a hand on the side of one's body (as if in pain). Using "til" here would work to, but I think it is slightly old fashioned. In more modern Norwegian "i" would be preferred.

So cebrano, if depends on both the context and when the story was written.


----------



## cebranco

Thanks a lot for the answers, everyone! 
I really appreciate it. It's been a great help! 

In this case, I think the 'pain' option is indeed the most likely one, because a few pages later he writes: 

'Hva er det du har der?!'
Han løftet hånden *han hadde holdt seg i siden med*, rørte ved det ene øret hennes. 

 I don't know why the author chose to use 'til' and then use 'i'. Maybe he didn't even notice it. But anyways, it makes much more sense now.

Thanks again for the help!


----------



## Ben Jamin

cebranco said:


> I don't know why the author chose to use 'til' and then use 'i'. Maybe he didn't even notice it.



Spontaneous writing?


----------

