# Icelandic: Hvað liggur þér á hjarta?



## Alxmrphi

This appears on facebook, and I know I should just accept things, but I am finding it difficult to accept that this is the same as _"What's on your mind?"_ (what appears in the same box in the English version).

I can see it's literally _"What lies on your heart?",_ but that just seems way too poetic and I just wanted to double check its meaning, I can imagine it might not have been confirmed by a native (facebook has had a few translation blunders in the past).

So I am just checking this is the same as the English in its register and meaning, if I see someone sitting outside a pub who looks like their mind is wandering would I say this? (like I might say the English equivalent)? I would have believed it if I found a dictionary reference to it, but so far no luck.

Just checking.


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## hanne

It's not quite the same - at least not for Danish.
"Hvad ligger dig på hjerte?" is more like "was is it that you want to say to me?", as in some matter that you (strongly) wish to bring up or discuss, but that it may be hard to get started on.
Or in other ways, that some matter is close to your heart = is important to you.

So basically, if it's on your heart it's more important to you than if it's "just" on your mind.


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## Södertjej

It's the same in Swedish. It's a bit more intense than just "what's on your mind?" and probably not what you'd say to stranger sitting outside the pub but what you'd say to someone you know, who maybe looks troubled, when you have the feeling that person is concerned, it's an invitation to let things out... that kind of thing.


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## Alxmrphi

Thanks guys, 

What you've said makes perfect sense. I thought it was quite strong, I don't think the idea of the facebook thing is to desperately share a burning issue that lies on your heart etc, but rather the other thing.

I know how it's meant to be used and I can see the distinction between the English/Icelandic, I think I thought it was more odd than it was though, it seems to be a similar Nordic idea of expressing something, so thanks for helping me understand that as well!

- Alex


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## Södertjej

Alxmrphi said:


> What you've said makes perfect sense. I thought it was quite strong, I don't think the idea of the facebook thing is to desperately share a burning issue that lies on your heart etc.


Teens (and surprisingly enough those who should know better) can be rather dramatic, and all social networks are full of "dearest friends" "deep love" for people they've never met or had a 10 minute conversation with and (what I find embarrassing) details of their innermost feelings, so it wouldn't surprise me to find that kind of sentences. 

But it would surprise me if someone ever said that to me while sitting outside the pub.


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## missTK

In Norwegian, I don't think the equivalent expression is very dramatic or emotional at all. It simply means "What do you want to say?", rather than "What are you thinking about?", so it's not a huge stretch in the Facebook context. It's maybe a little old fashioned but you could definitely see it in an online newspaper asking for readers' comments, for example.


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## Alxmrphi

Hi missTK, thanks that's a good insight, I know what you mean about the online newspaper, like "Have your say." etc.
Ok I think my first impression was wrong, I judged it by what it meant to me in English which would be totally different as a literal translation (always a problem when learning new languages)

Thanks for all the input guys.
I'm glad to know it's a common Scandinavian thing to say as well


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## Pont neuf

Hvað liggur þér á hjarta is a rather formal way of saying or asking, What is worrying you? 
This phrase refers to something another person has on her or his mind but is hesitant to talk about, or needs some prompting to explain or to tell. Að liggja eitthvað á hjarta means that one is worried or concerned about something, usually a sensitive but important matter and that one is rather reluctant to open up about it. It is not much used in colloquial Icelandic as I know it, and is rather formal and poetic as somebody mentioned. 'Það var ekki fyrr en eftir langa stund sem ég skildi hvað henni lá á hjarta' is a good example in point.


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## Alxmrphi

Hi Pont,

Do you think it fits well with being on _feisbók_? 
Where it prompts you to say what you are thinking?



> It is not much used in colloquial Icelandic as I know it, and is rather formal and poetic as somebody mentioned. 'Það var ekki fyrr en eftir langa stund sem ég skildi hvað henni lá á hjarta' is a good example in point.


 
Skilið!


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## Pont neuf

Alxmrphi said:


> Hi Pont,
> 
> Do you think it fits well with being on _feisbók_?
> Where it prompts you to say what you are thinking?


I should think not. Prompting people to say what they are thinking would be, in direct translation: Hvað ert þú að hugsa um? Or: Um hvað ert þú að hugsa?


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