# Norwegian: at least for that



## torrobin

Hei, her er en setning som jeg er usikker på betydningen av. 

"The power would not be corrected until after the Christmas break. For Jennifer, news that the end of the world was nigh could not have been more devastating. _At least for that her mother-in-law would probably stay away._ Phillip's efforts to calm her down did not go down well. "

Betyr det at svigermoren ikke vil komme på grunn av strømstansen - eller betyr det at Jennifer er glad for at svigermoren kanskje ikke kommer?

Takker for innspill.


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## Havfruen

torrobin said:


> Hei, her er en setning som jeg er usikker på betydningen av.
> Betyr det at svigermoren ikke vil komme på grunn av strømstansen - eller betyr det at Jennifer er glad for at svigermoren kanskje ikke kommer?


Ja, helt rigtigt. Hun er en smule glad at svigermoderen ikke kommer, men Jennifer er alligevel i det hele taget meget utilfreds med sagen.
Yes. She's relieved that her mother-in-law won't be coming, but Jennifer is still very displeased with the overall situation.


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## torrobin

Havfruen said:


> Ja, helt rigtigt. Hun er en smule glad at svigermoderen ikke kommer, men Jennifer er alligevel i det hele taget meget utilfreds med sagen.
> Yes. She's relieved that her mother-in-law won't be coming, but Jennifer is still very displeased with the overall situation.


That's how I understood the sentence, too. But it bewildered me because a few paragraphs before it says: 

_For the first time, she would be producing a pigeon within a pheasant within a goose within a turkey. Many times she had pictured the perfect cross-sections of meat, each layer a different but complementary colour. It would be magnificent and she glowed in anticipation of her mother-in-law’s exclamation of surprise. _

So, in light of her anticipation of getting praise from her mother-in-law, it seemed strange that she would be relieved she wouldn't come. 
...or maybe it just shows the complexity of a mother-in-law relationship...


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## Havfruen

torrobin said:


> _For the first time, she would be producing a pigeon within a pheasant within a goose within a turkey. Many times she had pictured the perfect cross-sections of meat, each layer a different but complementary colour. It would be magnificent and she glowed in anticipation of her mother-in-law’s exclamation of surprise. _



I don't believe it's possible to put these four birds inside one another like Russian dolls. (But if someone is a cooking expert and has other information, please correct me.) I read this as sarcasm or a joke saying it was impossible to please her mother-in-law.


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## sendintheclowns

torrobin said:


> Hei, her er en setning som jeg er usikker på betydningen av.
> 
> "The power would not be corrected until after the Christmas break. For Jennifer, news that the end of the world was nigh could not have been more devastating. _At least for that her mother-in-law would probably stay away._ Phillip's efforts to calm her down did not go down well. "
> 
> Betyr det at svigermoren ikke vil komme på grunn av strømstansen - eller betyr det at Jennifer er glad for at svigermoren kanskje ikke kommer?
> 
> Takker for innspill.



The way I read it, she was upset, specifically because her mother-in-law would not be able to come, in light of the power outage. And that makes more sense in light of the preceding sentences that you described subsequently. She was upset, because she was going to make this exotic dish, and her mother-in-law -- whom I'm sure she really wanted to impress -- would not be there to admire it.  

It is indeed an existing dish, in some variation or other. In the US, the more common version is a "turducken": A turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. Replace the chicked with a pigeon, and voila! I have heard that in Marocco, a traditional wedding dish is a camel stuffed with a goat, stuffed with a quail, or something like that... 

Now, how she is supposed to cook this without power, I don't know...


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## NorwegianNYC

I am with sendintheclowns her. Turducken, which is a portmanteau of *tur*key, *duck* and chick*en*, is indeed a dish. Perhaps Jennifer is heart-broken because she wanted to impress her mother-in-law with this complicated dish, but now, because of the power outage, she will not be able to come, and her moment of triumph is ruined.


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## Dan2

torrobin said:


> "The power would not be corrected until after the Christmas break. For Jennifer, news that the end of the world was nigh could not have been more devastating. _At least for that her mother-in-law would probably stay away._ Phillip's efforts to calm her down did not go down well. "
> 
> Betyr det at svigermoren ikke vil komme på grunn av strømstansen - eller betyr det at Jennifer er glad for at svigermoren kanskje ikke kommer?


Neither, I believe.  As I read this paragraph, the "that" I've made red refers to the preceding red phrase.  Jennifer would almost WELCOME news that the world was ending, because in THAT case, her mother-in-law would stay away.  In the case of a minor disaster like a power failure, on the other hand, the mother-in-law will, unfortunately, still come.


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## NorwegianNYC

Perhaps, but wouldn't that take comma? {For Jennifer, news that the end of the world was nigh could not have been more devastating. _At least for that, her mother-in-law would probably stay away}_


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## Dan2

I consider a comma optional here.  However the important point is that even without the comma, I see no other possible interpretation.


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## torrobin

sendintheclowns said:


> The way I read it, she was upset, specifically because her mother-in-law would not be able to come, in light of the power outage. And that makes more sense in light of the preceding sentences that you described subsequently. She was upset, because she was going to make this exotic dish, and her mother-in-law -- whom I'm sure she really wanted to impress -- would not be there to admire it.
> 
> It is indeed an existing dish, in some variation or other. In the US, the more common version is a "turducken": A turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. Replace the chicked with a pigeon, and voila! I have heard that in Marocco, a traditional wedding dish is a camel stuffed with a goat, stuffed with a quail, or something like that...
> 
> Now, how she is supposed to cook this without power, I don't know...


Thanks, sendintheclowns! Yes, I see it that way too now; she's not that into her mother-in-law, but with all the tedious preparation of this dish, she do want her to come - so that she can receive her mother-in-law's admiration. 

Thanks for the additional information too. Now that wedding dish would be something to see...


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## torrobin

NorwegianNYC said:


> I am with sendintheclowns her. Turducken, which is a portmanteau of *tur*key, *duck* and chick*en*, is indeed a dish. Perhaps Jennifer is heart-broken because she wanted to impress her mother-in-law with this complicated dish, but now, because of the power outage, she will not be able to come, and her moment of triumph is ruined.


Hi, I overlooked your mail - I saw it now, after writing essentially the same thing.


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## torrobin

Dan2 said:


> Neither, I believe.  As I read this paragraph, the "that" I've made red refers to the preceding red phrase.  Jennifer would almost WELCOME news that the world was ending, because in THAT case, her mother-in-law would stay away.  In the case of a minor disaster like a power failure, on the other hand, the mother-in-law will, unfortunately, still come.


Hi Dan2, I see that it can be read that way. But I don't think that's the author's intention, based on the rest of the story. So I'd rather say that the author have _unintentionally_ written this in a way that can be interpreted/read in the way you're suggesting.


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