# Norwegian: en overskuelig mengde



## Clemica

Hei!

Hva betyr overskuelig i frasen "en overskuelig mengde"? Det er ingen kontekst igjen, frasen illustrerer ordet "overskuelig" med betydning "oversiktlig" i ordboka, men jeg har det vanskelig å forstå hvordan en mengde kan være oversiktlig... Betyr det at den ikke er så kompakt/den er ganske spredt?

Det er et annet eksempel med "overskuelig": "overskuelig fremtid" = fremtid som kan forutsees = som kommer snart. Så kan det være at mengden in eksemplet ovenpå er synlig?

Takk for hjelpen!


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## Ben Jamin

Clemica said:


> Hei!
> 
> Hva betyr overskuelig i frasen "en overskuelig mengde"? Det er ingen kontekst igjen, frasen illustrerer ordet "overskuelig" med betydning "oversiktlig" i ordboka, men jeg har det vanskelig å forstå hvordan en mengde kan være oversiktlig... Betyr det at den ikke er så kompakt/den er ganske spredt?
> 
> Det er et annet eksempel med "overskuelig": "overskuelig fremtid" = fremtid som kan forutsees = som kommer snart. Så kan det være at mengden in eksemplet ovenpå er synlig?
> 
> Takk for hjelpen!



Uten kontekst er meningen litt vanskelig å forstå. Sammenkoblingen av “overskuelig” og “mengde” virker litt rart. Det eneste jeg kan tenke meg er en mengde man kan klare å vurdere om ikke telle (ca 10 / ca 50 stk for eksempel).


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## bicontinental

Hi Clemica,
The verb ‘skue’ means _to see, to look at, to behold._ The combination with ‘over’ in the verb 'overskue' implies that you can see the end of something…you can “see all of it” and “see it completely” (frequently in a figurative sense of the word.)


  The corresponding adjective, ‘overskuelig’ is used to describe something that is well structured, of a limited size/number, or uncomplicated and easy to grasp conceptually. It frequently collocates with ‘fremtid’. ‘_I overskuelig fremtid’  _means a future that is within view and within reach. In English is would be ‘in the foreseeable future’ or ‘in the not too distant future’.


  An example from Google:

_Det er også viktig at oppgavene deles opp i __*overskuelige*_ bestanddeler. (... are divided into well-structured parts, easy to mentally visualize)


  The antonym is (not surprisingly ) ‘*u*overskuelig’:

_Til sammen var det rundt 45-50 voksne og en __*uoverskuelig mengde*__ barn – dette i tillegg til de 15-20 som vanligvis kommer til gudstjeneste. (… _here essentially a large group of kids, too many to ’overskue’, to manage and keep track of, if you will).


I hope this makes sense.


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## Ben Jamin

bicontinental said:


> Hi Clemica,
> The verb ‘skue’ means _to see, to look at, to behold._ The combination with ‘over’ in the verb 'overskue' implies that you can see the end of something…you can “see all of it” and “see it completely” (frequently in a figurative sense of the word.)
> 
> 
> The corresponding adjective, ‘overskuelig’ is used to describe something that is well structured, of a limited size/number, or uncomplicated and easy to grasp conceptually. It frequently collocates with ‘fremtid’. ‘_I overskuelig fremtid’  _means a future that is within view and within reach. In English is would be ‘in the foreseeable future’ or ‘in the not too distant future’.
> 
> 
> An example from Google:
> 
> _Det er også viktig at oppgavene deles opp i __*overskuelige*_ bestanddeler. (... are divided into well-structured parts, easy to mentally visualize)
> 
> 
> The antonym is (not surprisingly ) ‘*u*overskuelig’:
> 
> _Til sammen var det rundt 45-50 voksne og en __*uoverskuelig mengde*__ barn – dette i tillegg til de 15-20 som vanligvis kommer til gudstjeneste. (… _here essentially a large group of kids, too many to ’overskue’, to manage and keep track of, if you will).
> 
> 
> I hope this makes sense.



But the expression combining "overskuelig" and "mengde" is a special one, I have never heard or read it in 30 years.


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## basslop

Ben Jamin said:


> But the expression combining "overskuelig" and "mengde" is a special one, I have never heard or read it in 30 years.



Bicontinental wrote a "oversiktlig forklaring". I agree with Ben Jamin that it's a bit unusual but it's not wrong. Using that expression could make some Norwegians raise their eyebrows but it would be fully understandable.


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## Clemica

I think I get the idea, what Ben Jamin said makes sense, but now I have to find a way to say this in French! "une quantité chiffrable" or "appréciable" could work. We have an equivalent to the contrary that Bicontinental mentionned, that would be "incommensurable".
In any case, thank you all for your input, it is really helpful to understand the nuances of the language and those unusual dictionary examples!


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## bicontinental

Hi basslop and Ben Jamin,

  I know this is a Norwegian language question, so I’ll try to control my urge to make too many comparisons with Danish…


  But in my experience the term ”*u*overskuelig mængde (dansk)/mengde (norsk)” is more frequently used [in Danish] than the opposite, although I don’t find “overskuelig mængde” rare or unusual at all. I can´t and shouldn´t speak for the Norwegian usage of the same expression, but it is indeed listed as one of two examples in this dictionary: http://no.thefreedictionary.com/overskuelig 


  In addition, I had no problems finding examples of it, when I did a quick Google search:


_‘For min egen del prøver jeg å ha en __overskuelig mengde__ ting i ønskelista, så jeg ikke går helt i spinn.’_
_’Hyperkompleksitet blir da en __overskuelig mengde__ elementer som blir tilført så mange elementer...’
_(It could be argued, that ‘et overskueligt antal’ (Danish) might have worked a little better, at least in the first example).

 I am just curious to know if these examples seem awkward or alien to you? 

All my best,
Bic.


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## Ben Jamin

bicontinental said:


> Hi basslop and Ben Jamin,
> 
> I know this is a Norwegian language question, so I’ll try to control my urge to make too many comparisons with Danish…
> 
> 
> But in my experience the term ”*u*overskuelig mængde (dansk)/mengde (norsk)” is more frequently used [in Danish] than the opposite, although I don’t find “overskuelig mængde” rare or unusual at all. I can´t and shouldn´t speak for the Norwegian usage of the same expression, but it is indeed listed as one of two examples in this dictionary: http://no.thefreedictionary.com/overskuelig
> 
> 
> In addition, I had no problems finding examples of it, when I did a quick Google search:
> 
> 
> _‘For min egen del prøver jeg å ha en __overskuelig mengde__ ting i ønskelista, så jeg ikke går helt i spinn.’_
> _’Hyperkompleksitet blir da en __overskuelig mengde__ elementer som blir tilført så mange elementer...’
> _(It could be argued, that ‘et overskueligt antal’ (Danish) might have worked a little better, at least in the first example).
> 
> I am just curious to know if these examples seem awkward or alien to you?
> 
> All my best,
> Bic.



Hello!
I never said that expression is awkward or incorrect, it was just only unknown for me, hence my conclusion that it is relatively rarely used. "Uoverskuelig" on the other hand, is quite common (though a little bookish).


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## bicontinental

Ben Jamin said:


> Hello!
> I never said that expression is awkward or incorrect, it was just only unknown for me, hence my conclusion that it is relatively rarely used. "Uoverskuelig" on the other hand, is quite common (though a little bookish).



Thanks, Ben Jamin. I guess I was a little unsure as to what you meant by "the combination of 'overskuelig' and 'mengde' being a special one" in post #4.This clarifies it.

Bic.


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## NorwegianNYC

One can, however, say "i overskuelig framtid", and that is relatively common


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## aaspraak

Ben Jamin said:


> But the expression combining "overskuelig" and "mengde" is a special one, I have never heard or read it in 30 years.



It is more common to use _overskuelig_ together with _framtid_ than with _mengde_. _Overskuelig mengde_ is still not something I find strange or very special. I've found a few examples of the use that may help Clemica understand the word.

"Et viktig poeng er at man har større sjanse for at enkelttekster blir lest dersom man har en _overskuelig mengde_ med tekster liggende ute."
"For min egen del prøver jeg å ha en _overskuelig mengde_ ting i ønskelista."
"Dette vil gi foreningens medlemmer en godt definert og overskuelig mengde titler å forholde seg til i forhold til hva det skal søkes om eksporttillatelse for."


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## NorwegianNYC

Hi aapraak - you beat me to it, but I just wanted top say that by googling "overskuelig mengde" a number examples come up, although the total number is low (36).


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## Clemica

Hei igjen,

Takk for esemplene, de er veldig nyttige!


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