# Ask the Icelandic dude **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629 "2008-09-08T16:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/121 "2008-09-09T20:39:46Z")
[QUOTE=WormTheRed] Which translates as: Nothing points towards the fact that children are worse off if they are raised by two fathers or two mothers. What matters the most is that a child is shown love and care and that, we are all capable of giving. PM of Iceland, Publich Speech 27. June 2006 [/QUOTE] Can you imagine that coming out of the mouth of a US president this side of Hell freezing over? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/122 "2008-09-09T20:54:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Can you imagine that coming out of the mouth of a US president _this side of Hell freezing over_? Which, all things considered, is a pretty good description of Iceland. (d&r) ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/123 "2008-09-09T20:55:17Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Can you imagine that coming out of the mouth of a US president this side of Hell freezing over? 😃 I suddenly got a picture in my head of Ahnuld saying that speach. Really weird picture. But on with the questions
 bring 'em on 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/124 "2008-09-09T20:57:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Which, all things considered, is a pretty good description of Iceland. > > (d&r) Pthrrrrrrr 😛 I’m not sure how to respond otherwise 😉 ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/125 "2008-09-09T21:48:26Z")
I just thought of another question. Finns, being inhabitants of a fairly small country off to the side of everywhere, seem to suffer from Small Country ‘They Noticed Us!’ Syndrome. In other words, there seems to be a HUGE brouhaha over everything that is said abroad about Finland or anything Finnish-related. When Conan O’Brien did the bit about looking like Finnish President Tarja Halonen, it culminated with an official visit to Finland complete with Presidential reception; nearly every time Pamela Anderson gets mentioned in the tabloids, they always remind everyone that she has Finnish ancestry; Ron Jeremy was just here to attend an erotica convention in Turku and he got almost as much publicity for being here to visit his Finnish cousins than, you know, the whole “being Ron Jeremy” thing. How about Iceland? Do you guys suffer from this same syndrome? How strong is your national sense of self-esteem? Does the press always run it to the ground if Iceland is mentioned somewhere? Do you walk around with ear-to-ear smiles whenever some Hollywood celebrity is revealed to have an Icelander or two in the family tree? Or is your country so effortlessly trendy that you don’t have to care what others think about you anymore? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/126 "2008-09-09T22:01:06Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > After a long google session I have still not found how they determine the last name
 I did however stumble upon this interesting piece from a speach by the PM: > > \*Ekkert bendir heldur til ĂŸess aĂ° börnum reiĂ°i verr af ĂŸĂłtt ĂŸau alist upp hjĂĄ tveimur pöbbum eĂ°a tveimur mömmum. ÞaĂ° sem mestu skiptir er aĂ° barni sĂ© sĂœnd ĂĄstĂșĂ° og umhyggja og um ĂŸaĂ° erum viĂ° öll jafnfĂŠr. > > Geir H. Haarde forsĂŠtisrĂĄĂ°herra. HĂĄtĂ­Ă°arrĂŠĂ°a 27. jĂșnĂ­ 2006\* > > Which translates as: > > Nothing points towards the fact that children are worse off if they are raised by two fathers or two mothers. What matters the most is that a child is shown love and care and that, we are all capable of giving. > > PM of Iceland, Publich Speech 27. June 2006 Yes, yes. I expected no less from a progressive, enlightened country. 🙂 I’m not letting you off the hook though. Is my son going to be named Stevesson, Garysson, or Stevenandgarysson? 😃 Will it come down to arm-wrestling? ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/127 "2008-09-09T22:04:18Z")
> [@auRa](#): > > I just thought of another question. Finns, being inhabitants of a fairly small country off to the side of everywhere, seem to suffer from Small Country ‘They Noticed Us!’ Syndrome. In other words, there seems to be a HUGE brouhaha over everything that is said abroad about Finland or anything Finnish-related. When Conan O’Brien did the bit about looking like Finnish President Tarja Halonen, it culminated with an official visit to Finland complete with Presidential reception; nearly every time Pamela Anderson gets mentioned in the tabloids, they always remind everyone that she has Finnish ancestry; Ron Jeremy was just here to attend an erotica convention in Turku and he got almost as much publicity for being here to visit his Finnish cousins than, you know, the whole “being Ron Jeremy” thing. > > How about Iceland? Do you guys suffer from this same syndrome? How strong is your national sense of self-esteem? Does the press always run it to the ground if Iceland is mentioned somewhere? Do you walk around with ear-to-ear smiles whenever some Hollywood celebrity is revealed to have an Icelander or two in the family tree? Or is your country so effortlessly trendy that you don’t have to care what others think about you anymore? 😉 Well, the suave, cool, effortlessly trendy WormTheRed would obviously answer that “nah, we get enough recognition as it is and people know about us anyway” But nope, that’s just not true. The local tabloids made a effin big deal about some Icelandic bimbo being at THE SAME party as Paris Hilton. They didn’t talk, they didn’t meet, they were just at the same party. Same thing when that late night comedy news show did a segment on Iceland withdrawing it’s troop (yes, thats a singular (and yes, I kinda know her)) from Iraq. That got major attention from all the newsies. But it was a fun segment 🙂 And when Tarrantino went on “The Late Show” and said how hot Icelandic women are - yeah. We caught that too 🙂 That’s how cool and suave we really are 😉 But really, honestly, we don’t care that much 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/128 "2008-09-09T22:09:59Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] I just thought of another question. Finns, being inhabitants of a fairly small country off to the side of everywhere, seem to suffer from Small Country ‘They Noticed Us!’ Syndrome. In other words, there seems to be a HUGE brouhaha over everything that is said abroad about Finland or anything Finnish-related. When Conan O’Brien did the bit about looking like Finnish President Tarja Halonen, it culminated with an official visit to Finland complete with Presidential reception; nearly every time Pamela Anderson gets mentioned in the tabloids, they always remind everyone that she has Finnish ancestry; Ron Jeremy was just here to attend an erotica convention in Turku and he got almost as much publicity for being here to visit his Finnish cousins than, you know, the whole “being Ron Jeremy” thing. How about Iceland? Do you guys suffer from this same syndrome? How strong is your national sense of self-esteem? Does the press always run it to the ground if Iceland is mentioned somewhere? Do you walk around with ear-to-ear smiles whenever some Hollywood celebrity is revealed to have an Icelander or two in the family tree? Or is your country so effortlessly trendy that you don’t have to care what others think about you anymore? [/QUOTE] This is actually New Nation syndrome, not Small Country Syndrome. Denmark (a sovereign nation since before viking times) doesn’t do it, but Norway (103 years old) does. Likewise, Finnland does it, but Sweden does it much less etc. If you you turn around a bit, America (clocking in at barely two centuries) does it too
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**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/129 "2008-09-09T22:11:39Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Yes, yes. I expected no less from a progressive, enlightened country. 🙂 > > I’m not letting you off the hook though. Is my son going to be named Stevesson, Garysson, or Stevenandgarysson? 😃 > > Will it come down to arm-wrestling? Well, my cousin says you weren’t that off with your mock-guess 😉 She claims it would be Steven-Garysson (and yes, you’d have to armwrestle on who gets first) I’m still trying to get it confirmed from another independent source, so stay tuned for more news. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/130 "2008-09-09T22:14:56Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > This is actually New Nation syndrome, not Small Country Syndrome. Denmark (a sovereign nation since before viking times) doesn’t do it, but Norway (103 years old) does. Likewise, Finnland does it, but Sweden does it much less etc. If you you turn around a bit, America (clocking in at barely two centuries) does it too
 We could start a club for admiring eachother and we’ll be sure to leave all those old, pesky, stinky, oldienations out of it 😉 It is an interesting theory, though (I really need another word for though) and one that seems to fit quite well. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/131 "2008-09-09T22:27:20Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > If you you turn around a bit, America (clocking in at barely two centuries) does it too
 We do? I thought we were mostly collectively oblivious to most of the world except maybe England. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/132 "2008-09-09T22:31:05Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > We do? I thought we were mostly collectively oblivious to most of the world except maybe England. If I figured the theory out correctly, t’was meant that the US\* always takes the chance to “show off” its accomplishments in a way older countries don’t do.\*\* - and Iceland, Norway, Finland and all other new countries. \*\*If we can talk about countries as persons, which we are. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/133 "2008-09-09T22:35:29Z")
Sure, but everything is “American” this and “America” that. The phrase “Hard-working Dane” sounds absurd in danish, but everybody over yonder seems to be going on about “hard-working Americans”. It’s the same thing. If you didn’t have New Nation Syndrome, it would be “hard-working people”. It’s the emphasis on being a sovereign nation. Only new nations bother. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/134 "2008-09-09T22:44:48Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > Sure, but everything is “American” this and “America” that. The phrase “Hard-working Dane” sounds absurd in danish, but everybody over yonder seems to be going on about “hard-working Americans”. It’s the same thing. If you didn’t have New Nation Syndrome, it would be “hard-working people”. > > It’s the emphasis on being a sovereign nation. Only new nations bother. Now I get it. Thank you for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/135 "2008-09-10T00:50:02Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Well, my cousin says you weren’t that off with your mock-guess 😉 > > She claims it would be Steven-Garysson (and yes, you’d have to armwrestle on who gets first) > > I’m still trying to get it confirmed from another independent source, so stay tuned for more news. So if my father was named William, and I took the Icelandic name ÞórĂ°ur, I would be ÞórĂ°ur Williamsson? And my sister Ingibjörg would be Ingibjörg Williamsdottir? And would William be more like Vilhelm or something? ÞórĂ°ur Vilhelmsson. I’m feeling craggier and more Nordic already. :: shifts battle axe on shoulder :: > [@WormTheRed](#): > > Same thing when that late night comedy news show did a segment on Iceland withdrawing it’s troop (yes, thats a singular (and yes, I kinda know her)) from Iraq. Classic. 🙂 > [@auRa](#): > > Do you guys suffer from this same syndrome? How strong is your national sense of self-esteem? Does the press always run it to the ground if Iceland is mentioned somewhere? Do you walk around with ear-to-ear smiles whenever some Hollywood celebrity is revealed to have an Icelander or two in the family tree? You’re secretly Canadian, aren’t you? I knew the fact that the landscape around Helsinki is very similar to that of the Canadian Shield–the Beautiful Land where my heart lives–wasn’t a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/136 "2008-09-10T01:02:22Z")
I narrowly escaped the name Jorunn Gudbjorg Geraldsdottir. I am glad that patronymic naming didn’t stick around after my grandparents came to Canada. Ginger Besettur im Ameriku ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/137 "2008-09-10T01:06:41Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > I narrowly escaped the name Jorunn Gudbjorg Geraldsdottir. I am glad that patronymic naming didn’t stick around after my grandparents came to Canada. You know a name like that only makes you hotter. 🙂 These days, anyways, though unfortunately not when your grandparents came over. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/138 "2008-09-10T01:19:33Z")
Actually, I do have another question for our esteemed Icelandic host
 Clothing. What kinds or styles of clothing are worn in Iceland? I presume ‘normal’ Western clothing, but is there anything unusual? Large fuzzy sweaters maybe? Are you in the position of importing all your basics like underwear from China? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/139 "2008-09-10T01:26:10Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Had a trial-account, which I let lapse. > > My cousin is Croesus - you might know who that is? Name doesnt ring a bell, but I can keep my eyes open next time I am in game=) Does Croesus also speak english? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/140 "2008-09-10T01:29:54Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I want an Icelandic name! My real name is Eleanor–lay one on me. > > It sounds fantastic and I want to go. Stupid no money or time
 grrrr. OOO I want a name also - My most common nickname is Aruvqan, my birthname is Marilyn 
 lay one on me too pretty please? I would love to come visit - I was watching the Travel Channel and dreaming about hot springs =) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629.md?page=8)