kamelåså

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

The term is a nonsensical word which was made up by Atle Antonsen for the 2003 Norwegian sketch comedy TV-show Uti vår hage, along with the two other comedians Harald Eia and Bård Tufte Johansen.

The word is used in a specific, well-known sketch making fun of the Danish language from a Norwegian perspective, portraying it as difficult to understand, so much so that Danish people are not even able to understand each other. The point in the sketch, which takes place in a hardware store, is that the customer (Antonsen) constructs the word on the spot so as not to lose face — it sounds Danish, and the clerk does not dare to admit to the customer that he does not understand what the customer is asking for.

The word itself has no inherent meaning, although in a later interview it is said to mean “bike tire” - the components being kamel (camel) and lås (lock) and the idea being that if one locked together the humps of a camel, it would create a vaguely round shape which would convey the idea of a bike tire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kamɛˈloːsɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːsɔ
• Hyphenation: ka‧me‧lå‧så

Noun

kamelåså

1. (humorous) a nonsensical word making light-hearted fun of the Danish language from a Norwegian perspective
   • 2019 April 5, “Shitstorm på dansk”, in Bjørn G. Sæbø, editor, Rogalands Avis, volume 117, number 81, page 4:

     Svaret til danskene bør være et høylytt og unisont "KAMELÅSÅ!"

     The answer to the Danish should be a loud and joint "KAMELÅSÅ!"

   • 2020 May 25, Markus Gaupås Johansen, Sturle Vik Pedersen, Randi Liodden, “Familiefar frykter Danmark-ferie ryker i år: – Må snakke tulledansk i egen stue”, in Satiriks‎^[1], NRK, archived from the original on 2 March 2024:

     – Men dette her, det er mye verre. Jeg kjenner jo han ene som jobber på Rema. Og hvis pappa går inn og snakker om harde morgenbrød eller kamelåså...

     "But this, this is much worse. I know the one guy who works at Rema. And if dad goes in and starts talking about hard morning bread or kamelåså..."

   • 2022 September 26, Sigrid Mathisen, Espen Stedje, Tone Trøen, “Nei vi kan ikke bare ta det på engelsk!”, in Harstad Tidende, volume 136, number 222, page 15:

     Når vi vet alt dette, da tåler vi litt "kamelåså" i samtalen, eller? For det er ingen som dør av språklig forvirring!

     When we know all this, we can tolerate a bit of "kamelåså" in our conversations, right? No one's gonna die from linguistic confusion!