We’ve got gas
A veritable GAS! craze has gripped Nicelandic society, with the cops’ GAS! GAS! GAS refrain from the other day being the expression du jour. It’s everywhere. First there was that hilarious ringtone, then it started appearing in newspaper ads for gas barbecues, and during a recent celebration downtown [First Day of Summer or May 1, can’t remember] popular rock band Sprengjuhöllin started shouting it in the middle of one of their songs, and the crowd went wild. It’s effectively replaced the most popular phrases thrown around in Niceland over the past couple of years, namely ‘Sæll!’* and ‘eigum við að ræða það eitthvað?’** - both expressions frequently – and incomparably – uttered by a total loser of a character in the sitcom Næturvaktin [The Night Shift] that absolutely everyone loves up here [think ‘The Office’ set in an all-night gas station]. So completely has the GAS! expression infiltrated Icelandic society that people are reportedly shouting it at home if they’re in a bad mood, in order to disperse the rest of the household peeps.
Gasman himself has remained decidedly mum about the craze he so unwittingly unleashed; however, according to today’s Fréttablaðið a bunch of sites have already been established in his name, on MySpace, Facebook and such. I can’t decide whether I should laugh or cry about this total absence of respect for authority amongst the irreverent Icelanders, although I’m leaning heavily towards the former. There’s something excellent about living in a society where something that is supposed to evoke the greatest fear instead evokes the greatest hilarity.
Or maybe there was just laughing gas in those cans.
IT’S BEEN A GLOOMY DAY
With heavy clouds and masses of rain. There was a slight wind when I went out earlier, but then it will be a cold day in hell when there is NO wind where I live, in the baddest wind-ass area of Reykjavík. Talked to my lovely stepdaughter on Skype earlier so I can tell you it’s currently 27°C in New York City. Here in Reykjavík 11°C [52F] and sunrise was at 4:42 am, sunset due for 10:09 pm.
* “Hello” [to a man]
** “Do we need to discuss this?”
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
except for the general friendliness of saying “hello”, why would “saell” be such a popular catchphrase? of course, we say “howdy y’all” down in these parts. like you couldn’t have figured that one out
doug
austin, texas
I think any country that can have a riot (sort of) and then laugh about it, is worthy of great praise and accolades. Maybe there is hope for civilization. Maybe…
Doug, - and well you may ask! It’s one of those things that don’t translate well … it’s just the way this particular character says it … literally speaking it’s ‘hello’, but he uses it more to express astonishment or awe. Guess you have to be there.
Jon, amen!
teh fellow translatoress, she surely knows that “Gas!” is already a jargon interjection in the English language ..
you could have simply stolen it, but obviously with the purity and all, it needed a riot. :>
I love the GASGAS thing (am even thinking of investing in one of those). The establishment fears ridicule, and every country needs the establishment fearing the people, not the other way round
I agree with Hildigunnur.
Hildigunnur, that is excellent! And your comment about the establishment is spot on.
mary, me too. Absolutely.
[…] in the form of Iceland’s Finest, who undoubtedly will charge at him with cans of mace yelling GAS! GAS! GAS! at the top of their […]
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