# Norwegian: Because you loved me



## Bails23

Hello,

I want to get a tattoo that says "Because you loved me" in Norwegian. If someone could help me translate that I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!


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## NorwegianNYC

"Fordi du var glad i meg" or "Fordi du elsket med" - same thing


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## KarenRei

While people in this forum are generally quite trustworthy, I strongly advise you against getting a tattoo in a language that you don't speak based on advice from random strangers on the net.  If it's meaningful to you that the tattoo be in Norwegian, don't you think that you should learn enough Norwegian to understand it - what each word means, why they're used as they are, why they're declined as they are, etc?  Don't you think you should know enough to at least be able to pronounce it?  I mean, how do you plan to respond if someone has a question about something about your tattoo - "Oh, I don't know, it's only something I had written permanently on my body, I know nothing about it apart from what some stranger on the net told me it meant."?

Case in point: http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/

Just some friendly advice.


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## myšlenka

NorwegianNYC said:


> "Fordi du var glad i meg" or "Fordi du elsket me*g*" - same thing


The same thing? These two phrases are used in very different situations and circumstances so I disagree. However, it is true that they can be used interchangeably in romantic relations but the second is much stronger. You could say that the second implies the first one, but the opposite implication does not hold.


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## NorwegianNYC

myšlenka said:


> The same thing? These two phrases are used in very different situations and circumstances so I disagree. However, it is true that they can be used interchangeably in romantic relations but the second is much stronger. You could say that the second implies the first one, but the opposite implication does not hold.


Hi Myslenka,

I believe this forum had a long and interesting debate on this not too long ago (http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2490792), and timtjf summed up the differences between "elsker" and "glad i" as the following: 



> I think the situation being described is
> 
> -both expressions are found all over Norway
> -within any dialect, one expression is likely to have a stronger meaning than the other, or different shades of meaning from the other
> -which way round it is, and how big the difference is, depends on the dialect
> -in some dialects the difference is so great that they're best considered to be separate meanings.


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## myšlenka

NorwegianNYC said:


> Hi Myslenka,
> 
> I believe this forum had a long and interesting debate on this not too long ago (http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2490792), and timtjf summed up the differences between "elsker" and "glad i" as the following:


I don't know your dialect background but I couldn't see anyone from Western or Central Norway confirm your claim in this thread. I am from the north and I live in the west and the so-called *e-word* is a concept both places. Words may have different meanings in different dialects of course, but I still wouldn't advise anyone to get a tattoo that said "fordi du elsket meg" unless a romantic relationship was involved.


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## NorwegianNYC

The president of the Norwegian Language Council, Sylfest Lomheim, famously stated in an interview, when asked how often he said "jeg elsker deg" to his wife:
"Aldri."
"Aldri?"
"Nei, der jeg kommer fra elsker du fisk, men er glad i kona di - og det sier jeg til henne hver dag"

My point (through this whole thing) is that in a good chunk of Norway, "elsker" and "glad i" are interchangeable. Some places you will say "elsker deg" to your child, your spouse, your mother, your grandparent, your sibling, your friend; whereas other places you will use "glad i" for some or all of them. You can ask yourself - do you use the same word for all of them? Do you know people who use one form where you would use the other? I am pretty sure you do, because whether "elsker" ranks "glad i" is based on your dialect.

You mention that you "wouldn't advise anyone to get a tattoo that said "fordi du elsket meg" unless a romantic relationship was involved". That is exactly my point. I think many, but not all Norwegians would agree with you. At the same time, I know people who say "jeg elsker deg" to their siblings, parents and children - which I personally find a little odd, but it obviously makes perfect sense for them.


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## myšlenka

I can  easily use "kjerring" to refer to any kind of human female, but I would never tell a foreigner that "kjerring" = woman, wife, girl, old hag etc just because my dialect allows it.



NorwegianNYC said:


> My point (through this whole thing) is that in a good chunk of Norway, "elsker" and "glad i" are interchangeable. Some places you will say "elsker deg" to your child, your spouse, your mother, your grandparent, your sibling, your friend; whereas other places you will use "glad i" for some or all of them. You can ask yourself - do you use the same word for all of them? Do you know people who use one form where you would use the other? I am pretty sure you do, because whether "elsker" ranks "glad i" is based on your dialect.


And I am not sure we have the same understanding of "interchangeable". You've described situations in dialects where you would use one or the other (not both), which to me sounds like that they are _not_ interchangeable.



NorwegianNYC said:


> You mention that you "wouldn't advise anyone to get a tattoo that said "fordi du elsket meg" unless a romantic relationship was involved". That is exactly my point. I think many, but not all Norwegians would agree with you. At the same time, I know people who say "jeg elsker deg" to their siblings, parents and children - which I personally find a little odd, but it obviously makes perfect sense for them.


The use of "elske" that I am used to in relation to siblings, parents and children is a) when someone has died. b) when you use it _about_ them, not _to_ them.

As for the tattoo in question, I agree with your comment in the other thread. "fordi du var glad i meg/fordi du elsket meg" does not really fit a situation where one's grandfather has passed away.


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## NorwegianNYC

myšlenka said:


> I can  easily use "kjerring" to refer to any kind of human female, but I would never tell a foreigner that "kjerring" = woman, wife, girl, old hag etc just because my dialect allows it.






> And I am not sure we have the same understanding of "interchangeable".


Yes - I was not being clear. I meant 'interchangeable' in the sense 'replaceable', and what I am saying is that in a thorough description of Norwegian, one has to make allowance for the fact that "elske" replaces "glad i", or vice versa, depending on where you are in the country. The inherent meaning of "elske" and "glad i" is relative and subjective, but it tends to be a dialectal thing.



> The use of "elske" that I am used to in relation to siblings, parents and children is a) when someone has died. b) when you use it _about_ them, not _to_ them.


Which makes more sense to me on a personal level, but I have definitely experienced cases where "elske" has more or less entered all sorts of use


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## myšlenka

Well, unless there are dialects where *elske* and *være glad i* have reversed roles (from my perspective), it seems still to be the case that using *elske* in the wrong context creates the more serious misunderstanding.

@Bails23, you are of course free to choose whatever tattoo you like, but I have to agree with KarenRei to some extent. A word-for-word translation is simple enough, but when you add context to it, the choice of words and their meanings can change radically.


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## NorwegianNYC

I completely agree with Myslenka. It is not wrong to use either form, but be careful - it is not as easy to say "love" in Norwegian as in English. You often have to qualify or quantify it!


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## Bails23

Thank you all so much! I appreciate your concern about me getting the tattoo but it is really important to me so if you are ever able to come up with a translation, I would greatly appreciate it!!!


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## NorwegianNYC

I am tempted to suggest: "Fordi du var så glad i meg" (but you should wait for second opinions before you break out the ink bottle)


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## KarenRei

Bails: Also, be sure you're not falling into:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18821_5-examples-americans-thinking-foreign-people-are-magic_p2.html

  As for suggestions, as people here have been commenting, the more context you can provide, the more likely they can give you a translation that's not wrong or embarrassing given the context that you're intending.


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## Bails23

Ok, the background is that all of my grandparents immigrated to the US from Norway and I was raised by one of my grandpa's since I was 12. If it weren't for him, I would be looking at a much more grim future than what I have now.  He basically saved me and gave me a chance to have a happy life and future. I want the tattoo in Norwegian because of the connection that it has, I am Norwegian, my entire family is Norwegian, it is something that I am very proud of and it was something that my grandpa was extremely proud of. I hope this helps!! Thank you all so much for your input already!


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## Bails23

If it helps, my last name is "Haugen" if that indicates where my grandparents came from and helps with what verb form I should use that would make sense.


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## myšlenka

Hi Bails23,
 as you can see from the discussion above, using the expression "fordi du elsket meg" would cause the more serious misunderstanding (given that it arises). However, in spite of your family being Norwegian, the tattoo in question with the context provided is not. If I saw someone with a tattoo saying "fordi du var glad i meg" and I was explained that it was in remembrance of his/her grandfather, I would personally find the tattoo odd and out of place.

NorwegianNYC's suggestion "fordi du var så glad i meg" is maybe better, but it still feels out of place. And just like NorwegianNYC pointed out in the earlier thread, the phrase "fordi du elsket/var glad i meg" sounds more like a lost love than a homage.

So, all in all: if you are happy with a simple word-for-word translation, then "fordi du var (så) glad i meg" is good enough. The words are certainly Norwegian, but keep in my mind that speakers of Norwegian probably will find it odd. If you want the words to fit the context too, I think you would need to find a different phrase without "elske/være glad i ".


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## NorwegianNYC

Hi myslenka and all the rest: I completely agree - "elske" is a quagmire of ambiguity.

How about: "Fordi du brydde deg (om meg)" or "Fordi du tok deg av meg"? I know we are drifting off the original phrasing, but it is perhaps better


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## myšlenka

NorwegianNYC,
I thought about the same thing. Part of the problem as I see it, is that the meaning of Norwegian words is relatively rigid.


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## Bails23

What does "Fordi du brydde deg (om meg)" and "Fordi du tok deg av meg" translate to? I care more about the meaning of the words than the exact translation so if that offers any other phrases, I would appreciate it! Thank you!


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## myšlenka

Fordi du brydde deg (om meg) - because you cared (about me)
Fordi du tok deg av meg - because you took care of me

    There are probably better and more creative ways of expressing what you want, but I am in no position to tell you what tattoo to get because it's a very private matter. I should probably not let my personal opinions interfere in this, but I suggest that you reconsider the Norwegian tattoo thing. If I were in the same position and wanted a tattoo in Norwegian like that, I would spend a lot of time on finding the perfect phrase.... and I speak the language.


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## torrobin

Hi Bails23, 
I was just reading this thread now and I have an input: what about simply tattooing only one word, the word 'Kjærlighet'? Which means 'love'. Then you'll get the word 'love' and you'll get a genuine Norwegian word. 

And the word 'kjærlighet' is as I find it, very inclusive. 'Kjær' means 'dear' and 'kjærlighet' is a word that I believe most Norwegians find endearing. 

<< YouTube links are not allowed [Rule 4].    >>

torrobin


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## Bails23

Thank you so much torrobin!!! That would work perfect!!!!


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## torrobin

Bails23 said:


> Thank you so much torrobin!!! That would work perfect!!!!



I'm glad you liked it!


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