Íslenzka.net ~ An Icelandic Journey

This lesson comes from the “Heilsa” section of the dv.is website. We learn about a home remedy for ear infections that uses garlic oil, as well as information on just how healthy almonds are 🙂 And if you ever wanted to know how to say “monounsaturated fat” in Icelandic, keep reading!

Hvítlaukur gegn eyrnabólgu
Garlic against ear infection

Eitt gamalt og gott húsráð við eyrnabólgu er að nota hvítlauk. Búin er til hvítlauksolía með því að merja 1 rif á móti 1 matskeið af ólífuolíu og láta bíða í um sólarhring eða stinga gat á hvítlaukshylki. Olían er svo sett í bómull sem er sett í eyrað og höfð þar góða stund. Þetta húsráð hefur reynst vel við eyrnabólgu en varast skal að nota það ef gat er á hljóðhimnunni.

One old and good folk remedy for an ear infection is to use garlic. Garlic oil is made by crushing one clove of garlic in one tablespoon of olive oil and letting it sit for one day, or poke a hole in a garlic capsule. The oil is then put on a cotton swab, which is placed in the ear and held there for good while. This remedy has worked well with ear infections but be careful using it if there is a hole in the ear drum.

hvítlaukur (m) – garlic singular plural nom hvítlaukur hvítlaukar acc hvítlauk hvítlauka dat hvítlauk hvítlaukum gen hvítlauks hvítlauka

að merja – crush, squash present past ég mer marði þú merð marðir það mer marði við merjum mörðum þið merjið mörðuð þau merja mörðu

The literal translation of garlic in Icelandic is “white onion” – hvít meaning white, and laukur the word for onion.

While not so similar as to be confusing, I thought the commonalities between the words gat and gata were interesting:

gat (n) – hole, opening singular plural nom gat göt acc gat göt dat gati götum gen gats gata

gata (f) – street singular plural nom gata götur acc götu götur dat götu götum gen götu gatna

It took me a while to figure out that hylki meant capsule, as in a vitamin or medicinal context.

bólga f                inflammation, swelling
gat n                  hole, opening
hylki n                case, holder
bómull f               cotton
hljóð·himna f          eardrum

…

Möndlur eru hollar og góðar
Almonds are healthy and good

Ofurfæða sem má nota á ýmsa vegu
Super-food that can be enjoyed in many ways

Möndlur eru eitt það hollasta sem hægt er að borða. Þær eru meðal hitaeiningalægstu hnetum sem til eru, en í um 30 grömmum af möndlum eru aðeins 160 kaloríur.

Almonds are one of the healthiest things you can eat. They are among the lowest calorie nuts there are – 30 grams of almonds are only 160 calories.

The prefix ofur- is used the way super- is used in English so

ofur·menni – superman
ofur·skál – Super Bowl

Þær innihalda einnig meira kalsíum en nokkrar aðrar hnetur auk þess að vera bæði prótein- og trefjaríkar en í einum skammti af möndlum eru um níu grömm af einómettuðum fitusýrum, sex grömm af próteini og 3,5 grömm af trefjum.

They also contain more calcium than most other nuts, in addition to being rich in both protein and fiber. One serving of almonds contains about nine grams of monounsaturated fat, six grams of protein and 3.5 grams of fiber.

að innihalda – contain present past ég inniheld innihélt þú inniheldur innihélst það inniheldur innihélt við innihöldum innihéldum þið innihaldið innihélduð þau innihalda innihéldu

hneta (f) – nut singular plural nom hneta hnetur acc hnetu hnetur dat hnetu hnetum gen hnetu hneta

So let’s have fun with einómettuð fitusýra! If you break it down, the first part is ein – one, single – mono. Next comes mettaður, from the verb metta – to satiate or saturate. The prefix ó negates it to give us unsaturated. Fitusýra is made up of fita – fat – and sýra, which literally means acid.

fæða f                 food, nourishment 
hita·eining f          calorie
hneta f                nut
trefjar f pl           fiber
skammtur m             portion, serving