(, literally "Spew (Vomit) Norwegian Murder List") is a

derogatory term A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

meant to disparage

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-N ...

, one of the two official standards of written

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

. It is a pun on , the title of the "New Norwegian Word List", a Nynorsk dictionary.

Background

was first published in 1938; the eleventh edition came in 2012. Learning to write both of the written standards of

, Nynorsk and

Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is an official written standard for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is the preferred written standard of Norwegian for 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. Unlike, for instance, the Italian language, there ...

, is compulsory in Norwegian schools. Among student users of Bokmål in some areas, mockery of Nynorsk became widespread toward the end of the 20th century. For example they would use a pen to change the cover title of to "".

Significance

Anthropologist

Thomas Hylland Eriksen Thomas Hylland Eriksen (born February 6, 1962) is a Norwegian anthropologist. He is currently a professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo, as well as the 2015–2016 president of the European Association of Social Anthropologist ...

, in his 1993 book (Typical Norwegian), suggested "" as being among typical Norwegian cultural traits—meaning that the term has a certain connotation for many Norwegians. The term has also been used in politics. In the run-up to the 2005 parliamentary election, the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician Harald Victor Hove from

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

gained some attention for burning a copy of as a part of his campaign. He referred to the book as "'', as we used to call it". During debates in the city council of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

—a Bokmål stronghold—the term has also been used. Progress Party politician Anette Elseth spoke to limit compulsory school writing to one of the written standards only, and added that she and others used to change the name of the dictionary to "". In another debate, Conservative politician Øystein Sundelin claimed—rhetorically—that "regrettably, more than half" of the school attenders in Oslo have written "" on their dictionaries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spynorsk Mordliste Nynorsk Norwegian culture Norwegian words and phrases Norwegian language Pejorative terms