12-30-2004, 03:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-30-2004, 03:49 PM by [wcip]Angel.)
A while back we had a thread on the misconceptions of strange terms and words when we were youngsters, and I just remembered one:
The English word "Skyscraper" has a Norwegian equivalent: "Skyskraper". Basically, it's the same word. However, whereas "sky" in English means the whole sky, the Norwegian "sky" is the equivalent of "cloud" in English. So when I heard the word "skyskraper" for the first time, I imagined a gigantic airborne snowplough-like machine pushing clouds away, either to prevent rain on those who didn't want it, or to provide rain for peasants who needed it to grow crops.
The English word "Skyscraper" has a Norwegian equivalent: "Skyskraper". Basically, it's the same word. However, whereas "sky" in English means the whole sky, the Norwegian "sky" is the equivalent of "cloud" in English. So when I heard the word "skyskraper" for the first time, I imagined a gigantic airborne snowplough-like machine pushing clouds away, either to prevent rain on those who didn't want it, or to provide rain for peasants who needed it to grow crops.
