r/norsk • u/dwchandler • Sep 20 '20

Søndagsspørsmål #350 - Sunday Question Thread

This is a weekly post to ask any question that you may not have felt deserved its own post, or have been hesitating to ask for whatever reason. No question too small or silly!

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u/Koekoeksklok Sep 22 '20 edited Sep 22 '20

How do you use neiggu/neigu and jaggu? I'm trying to see if I can make a mental connection to a similar word in my native language (Dutch), so an example or a situation in which you would use it would be helpful!

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u/Laughing_Orange Native speaker Sep 22 '20

I've never heard neigu, so don't use that. I've heard jaggu, but this is the first time I've seen it written.

I don't know how to explain it's use.

1

u/Koekoeksklok Sep 22 '20

I came across these words in Harry Potter! I think it's Ronny who's saying it, I'm not sure which accent/dialect he's supposed to speak in the Norwegian edition of HP.

https://i.imgur.com/3iHKamX.jpg

2

u/Klart_ Sep 25 '20

I believe his accent is supposed to reflect his family being working class and quite poor, rather than a regional accent. Makes me think of an old fashioned, working class, Oslo east side dialect. Or some old fashioned east norwegian countryside dialect. Neiggu/næggu and jaggu seem natural to me personally, but I don't use them if I'm not trying to make some point :)

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u/knoberation Native speaker Sep 22 '20

I can definitely see neiggu being usable, but as with the above poster I can't recall if I've ever actually heard it.

Both of these words to me are kind of wonky or maybe a bit old fashioned. I think they've largely been replaced by new slang terms. As for meaning, I guess you might use them when trying to infer some amount of surprise at the information you're reacting to. Otherwise that you are more positive or negative in your response than usual.

Anyway, I would probably just not use them.