In Norwegian, "Texas" Is Slang for "Crazy"


(Photo: Kimberly Vardeman)

And as a Texan, I could not be more proud!

Dan Solomon of Texas Monthy researched this phenomenon. He found that this Norwegian term is several decades old and has its origins in old Western movies that have come to be symbolic of Texas. Solomon quotes Norwegian Tumblr user Qnneli:

The expression itself has to do with associations. It’s something that brings to mind chaotic, crazy conditions, like the “wild west,” and at least back when the expression was coined, the “wild west” held very strong Texas associations. Hell, even when I was a kid in the 80s, I thought that all American cowboys came from Texas, and that’s just how it was. Texas = land of the cowboys. And rodeos. And the wild west. A Western movie? Probably from Texas.

"Texas" is usually as an adjective. Solomon writes:

Usually, when the word “texas”—as an adjective, most often without capitalization—appears in Norwegian, the context involves the phrase, “det var helt texas,” which translates to, roughly, “it was totally/absolutely/completely bonkers.” You wouldn’t call a person “totally texas”—it usually describes a chaotic atmosphere.

In truth, Texas is not totally texas. But we're working on it.

-via Dave Barry


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That's Louisiana though, all the sane people living in Louisiana hate it there and leave. The fact that you lump all of the south together based on your experiences in one state says a lot more about you than it does about LA.
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We moved down south to Louisiana 7 yrs ago for job related purposes. It has been an adjustment I would have preferred never to have experienced. The racism, the covert comments trying to check me out to see where I stand on the 'racial issue' appalls me. My first yr in LA I went to a jeweler in Lake Charles to get a new battery for my husband's Swiss Army watch. The guy wanted to know my views about that 'new president' in charge and did I dislike him as much as he did? (He actually used the 'N' word instead of 'new president') wow! I was so offended by where he was going. I told him that I was not a racist, had voted gladly for Obama and that I did not want to discuss politics with him. Talk about an uncomfortable situation. I wish I could move back north. I do not like it down here...
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