In Iceland we really don’t like copying foreign words. The Icelandic word for telephone is sími. When the first telephones came to Iceland, one of the first questions was what we should call it. Should we call it telefónur, hljóðþráður (sound swire), hljóðberi (sound bringer), málmþráður (metal wire), fréttaþráður (news wire), málþráður (speech wire) or simply wire. The word that soon was chosen was “sími”. Sími is a very old word that had fallen out of use. It’s original meaning was string or cord. Since the phone connected everybody with a thin cord, it seemed natural.
Another example of a successful new Icelandic word for modern technology is the word for computer. In Icelandic, computer is tölva. This is a conjunction of two words, tala and völva. Tala means number and völva is a witch or female fortune teller. Since the computer could make all sort of magic out of numbers, such as tumblr, this also seemed like a natural choice.
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really interesting subject. It can reveal...people who use it.
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just another reason why
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that’s pretty awesome.
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