Customer Reviews

Norwegian Dictionary and Phrasebook: Norwegian-English English-Norwegian (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks)

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Does the author, who is apparently an English professor and married to a Norwegian, know Norwegian? From the looks of this volume, I'd guess 'no.' Does he have access to a Norwegian spell checker? I guess not. Did the publishers ask someone who does know Norwegian to proofread. Doesn't seem like it.

The spelling errors are legion. The choice of words to define is humorous at times, as are the definitions themselves. My favorite word he defines is "klunkeflaske" -- akevitt decanter that clucks when poured (p. 48). I don't use this word very often. Would you?:

The walking tour of Oslo is probably the best part of the book, but definitely does not make it any kind of good value.

Sure it's cheap, and surprisingly available in many physical bookstores (Hippocrene seems to excel at distributing its books!), but you can do much better, no matter which other dictionary you buy.

The only good use I've been able to come up with for the book is for a Norwegian class to take it on as a project to edit and corrent the contents. It would build up the students' confidence to see how much better they do than a published book!

Email me if you want more details, but don't waste your money. <janus005@umn.edu>