# Icelandic: undir fjögur augu



## Alxmrphi

"_Má ég eiga við þig orð undir fjögur augu?_"

This was said in a conversation where there are multiple people at a table, and I get the meaning about it being in private between two people, but is it a common expression? Does it basically just mean* einslega* / *í einrúmi*? Is the nuance more "in private", or "just between the two of us" ? Is this _under four eyes_ thing used in a more diverse range of expressions or just in a fairly fixed way like in this example? Like if you wanted to show someone something would you say _Ég vil sýna það þér bara undir fjögur augu_, or just for exchanging words/having conversations?

Takktakk 
Alex


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## sindridah

Oh, I don't know why but I hate this expression, It's silly. I wouldn't say it's common. It's basicly enough to say to the person "má ég aðeins tala við þig" (í einrúmi)". And no it's not used in a more or less diverse range. And nooo you wouldn't want to say: Ég vil sýna þér það bara undir 4 augu, You probably can but it's really wierd.


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## Alxmrphi

sindridah said:


> Oh, I don't know why but I hate this expression, It's silly. I wouldn't say it's common. It's basicly enough to say to the person "má ég aðeins tala við þig" (í einrúmi)". And no it's not used in a more or less diverse range. And nooo you wouldn't want to say: Ég vil sýna þér það bara undir 4 augu, You probably can but it's really wierd.


Ah I know what you mean.
We have a lot of sayings and words I really hate in English, but you just have to know them if you're a learner (but never use them ), so this seems to be like same thing.


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## TomTrussel

We have the same expression in Norwegian, I also hate it, and never use it. I did a search on "under fire augne" (Nynorsk) on Google and got a grand total of one - 1  hit, so I guess it's something we picked up from the Danes, as it's far more common in Bokmål. I personally find it's mainly used as a very "posh" way of asking someone to speak with in private.

TT


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## hanne

As Tom has already suggested, we have the expression in Danish too. But, unlike the guys, I don't have any problem with it at all. It's the normal and neutral way of saying that I want to speak with you in private. And speaking is pretty much the only thing you ever do "under four eyes". I find it more useful than "i enrum" because it can also be achieved by going away to a corner of a bigger room, when there are also other people and you just want to get out of their hearing range.


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## Alxmrphi

How's it written in Danish, hanne?
(These sort of comparisons where something is common to all/most Nordic languages I find quite interesting).


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## hanne

"under fire øjne"


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## Åvävvla

Alxmrphi said:


> How's it written in Danish, hanne?
> (These sort of comparisons where something is common to all/most Nordic languages I find quite interesting).



And in Swedish it would be _mellan fyra ögon_.


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## mosletha

TomTrussel said:


> We have the same expression in Norwegian, I also hate it, and never use it. I did a search on "under fire augne" (Nynorsk) on Google and got a grand total of one - 1  hit, so I guess it's something we picked up from the Danes, as it's far more common in Bokmål. I personally find it's mainly used as a very "posh" way of asking someone to speak with in private.
> 
> TT


Almost true, but the neo Norwegian variant is actually either "under fire augo" (conservative) or "under fire auge" (standard), which added up gives 364 hits. Only 9 of those are for the conservative form.


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## NoMoreMrIceGuy

_Undir fjögur augu_ does indeed mean privately between two people whereas _í einrúmi _means just privately (can be any number of people).

It's as far as I know only used in the context of speaking, so: _tala, spjalla, ræða við einhver undir fjögur augu_, never_ sýna, útskýra,_ or whatever else you can do privately.


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