Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Jan 9, 2009 13:48
15 yrs ago
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Norwegian term
å se til
Norwegian to English
Other
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
This is a quote by Maria Hamsun, writing about her husband in his final years:
"Når vi satt slik en godværsdag i haven denne sommeren, kunne han være like tilfreds å se til som hin vismann Diogenes."
My immediate interpretation of "å se til" was "to look after/tend to/take care of", but it doesn't make sense (at least not at the point of writing this) why HE would be "tilfreds". Am I missing something here? Could it be a local variation that gives a different meaning? ("...he seemed/looked/appeared as content as...."?)
"Når vi satt slik en godværsdag i haven denne sommeren, kunne han være like tilfreds å se til som hin vismann Diogenes."
My immediate interpretation of "å se til" was "to look after/tend to/take care of", but it doesn't make sense (at least not at the point of writing this) why HE would be "tilfreds". Am I missing something here? Could it be a local variation that gives a different meaning? ("...he seemed/looked/appeared as content as...."?)
Proposed translations
(English)
5 | by appearance | Per Bergvall |
4 | looks satisfied | Egil Presttun |
Proposed translations
17 mins
Selected
by appearance
Subtle stuff, this - SE til is how something appears visually, while se TIL is to make sure or take care of as you rightly observe.
Note from asker:
Aha - da er vi inne på dette vi tonemer (bønne vs. bønde), som ingen utlending jeg kjenner klarer å høre! Takk for det, Per. |
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I didn't chose this actualy phrase, but it gives a good indication of the sense of this verb. Thanks also to Egil for the useful instruction in spoken Norwegian!"
15 mins
Norwegian term (edited):
tilfreds å se til
looks satisfied
He looks satisfied. He looks like that when you look at him.
Example:
"Hadde jeg ikke vært så stygg å se til, så skulle jeg ha vurdert å bli Gigolo jeg også"
http://veggavisen.origo.no/-/bulletin/show/98461_litt-morro-...
Example:
"Hadde jeg ikke vært så stygg å se til, så skulle jeg ha vurdert å bli Gigolo jeg også"
http://veggavisen.origo.no/-/bulletin/show/98461_litt-morro-...
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