# Errr.. does anyone speak Icelandic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016 "2009-04-22T20:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![unclelem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ac91a4/32.png) [@unclelem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclelem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/61 "2009-04-27T02:21:06Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Glögg and lutefisk. That sounds like Sweden. (Or Minnesota) I would think that the Icelanders would spend it on sheep heads and rotted shark meat. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/62 "2009-04-27T02:44:15Z")
> [@unclelem](#): > > That sounds like Sweden. (Or Minnesota) Icelandic elves need holidays too! > [@unclelem](#): > > I would think that the Icelanders would spend it on sheep heads and rotted shark meat. That’s _why_ the Icelandic elves need holidays. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hadrian\_s\_Wall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hadrian\_s\_Wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian_s_Wall)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/63 "2009-04-27T12:52:38Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Glögg and lutefisk. Fermented Shark sounds especially great right about now. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/64 "2009-04-27T12:55:28Z")
Can’t you people ever be serious about _anything?_ ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/65 "2009-04-27T13:00:05Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Can’t you people ever be serious about _anything?_ About punctuation: In post #60 your use of an apostrophe in “it’s” is uncalled for. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/66 "2009-04-27T13:14:11Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > About punctuation: In post #60 your use of an apostrophe in “it’s” is uncalled for. What! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/67 "2009-04-27T13:16:08Z")
“its faults”, not “it’s faults”. You don’t need an apostrophe with possessive pronouns. Hence, “his”, not “hi’s”, “hers”, not “her’s”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/68 "2009-04-27T13:21:44Z")
Though that does depend on one’s definition of pronoun. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/69 "2009-04-27T13:42:58Z")
How so? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/70 "2009-04-27T13:49:18Z")
“One’s” is a type of pronoun. English is inconsistent — the personal pronouns are apostrophe-free, and the genitive of “who” is “whose” (relative pronoun), but most of the other types do take an apostrophe if they can take the genitive at all. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/71 "2009-04-27T14:02:56Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > I ljos hefur komið að ekki hafa verið greidd lifeyriðgjold i samr\*mi (Sam Raimi!) við skattskyldar tekjur arið 2007. I could have bought the theory that it’s a bill for porn, but what kind of person would voluntarily watch Sam Raimi porn? ---
**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:** [April 27, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/72 "2009-04-27T14:14:56Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I could have bought the theory that it’s a bill for porn, but what kind of person would voluntarily watch Sam Raimi porn? Never forget [Rule 34 of the Internet](http://xkcd.com/305/). ---
**Author:** ![Hadrian\_s\_Wall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hadrian\_s\_Wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian_s_Wall)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/73 "2009-04-27T20:30:54Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Never forget [Rule 34 of the Internet](http://xkcd.com/305/). You beat me to it! But suppose we put it on a [treadmill](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2638/an-airplane-taxies-in-one-direction-on-a-moving-conveyor-belt-going-the-opposite-direction-can-the-plane-take-off)… ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/74 "2009-04-27T21:14:27Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > About punctuation: In post #60 your use of an apostrophe in “it’s” is uncalled for. If you want my apostrophe you’ll have to take it from My Cold Dead Hands. Same to you **Really Not All That Bright**. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/75 "2009-04-27T23:32:02Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > If you want my apostrophe you’ll have to take it from My Cold Dead Hands. > Same to you **Really Not All That Bright**. > 😉 We all know what you keep in your cold dead hands, **mangeorge** , and you oughtta be ashamed, cause it makes the Baby Jesus cry, & besides, you’ll go blind. ---
**Author:** ![Hadrian\_s\_Wall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hadrian\_s\_Wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian_s_Wall)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/76 "2009-04-27T23:50:30Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > If you want my apostrophe you’ll have to take it from My Cold Dead Hands. > Same to you **Really Not All That Bright**. > 😉 \*There is supposed to be a comma between cold and dead, at least in the Charlton Heston version in thus manner: [“I’ll give up my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands.”](http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/052100nra-gore.html) You can thank me later 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/77 "2009-04-27T23:54:04Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > If you want my apostrophe you’ll have to take it from My Cold Dead Hands. I’m all for apostrophes, so long as they are used responsibly. I think we all understand the carnage that can ensue when they aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/78 "2009-04-28T00:31:40Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > I’m all for apostrophes, so long as they are used responsibly. I think we all understand the carnage that can ensue when they aren’t. So I see! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/79 "2009-04-28T00:32:40Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > We all know what you keep in your cold dead hands, **mangeorge** , and you oughtta be ashamed, cause it makes the Baby Jesus cry, & besides, you’ll go blind. I’ll get lasik. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016/80 "2009-04-28T00:35:15Z")
> [@McLuhan's Thunder](#): > > \*There is supposed to be a comma between cold and dead, at least in the Charlton Heston version in thus manner: > [“I’ll give up my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands.”](http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/052100nra-gore.html) > > You can thank me later 🙂 Yes, thank you for that. You almost get a :rolleyes: as reward. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errr-does-anyone-speak-icelandic/494016.md?page=5)