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Glossary entry

Norwegian term or phrase:

å se til

English translation:

by appearance

Added to glossary by brigidm
Jan 9, 2009 13:48
15 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Norwegian term

å se til

Norwegian to English Other Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
This is a quote by Maria Hamsun, writing about her husband in his final years:
"Når vi satt slik en godværsdag i haven denne sommeren, kunne han være like tilfreds å se til som hin vismann Diogenes."

My immediate interpretation of "å se til" was "to look after/tend to/take care of", but it doesn't make sense (at least not at the point of writing this) why HE would be "tilfreds". Am I missing something here? Could it be a local variation that gives a different meaning? ("...he seemed/looked/appeared as content as...."?)
Proposed translations (English)
5 by appearance
4 looks satisfied

Discussion

brigidm (asker) Jan 11, 2009:
I stand corrected... Selvsagt er det flertallsformene, Egil. Jeg skulle gjerne høre deg når du uttaler den setning, for å se om jeg endelig klarte å høre forskjellen....Men takk for at du forsøker, i alle fall!
Egil Presttun Jan 10, 2009:
Bønner og bønder Skjønner hva du mener Brigid, men her må vi snakke om bønner og bønder i flertall. Det heter 1 bonde, 2 bønder. Jeg sier bønder med tydelig d, så det er ikke like vanskelig med alle dialekter. Men det går an å be en bønn, og hvis man har flere bønner, og skal sammenligne dette med bønner i tomatsaus og bønder som dyrker bønner så blir det nok vanskelig.
brigidm (asker) Jan 10, 2009:
Yes, you're right, Per, the difference is not as subtle as is the case in the textbook example of bønne-bønde. If I had actually heard this sentence, I would not have been in doubt, and now that you've explained it, it seems SO obvious... Perhaps I should start reading my texts out loud.... ;-)
Per Bergvall Jan 10, 2009:
Tonemer... It's kind of like tonemer, but these are usually applied to a single word expressed differently. Here, it's a verb and a preposition - stressing the verb gives one meaning, stressing the preposition another. Compare 'trikken kjørte fra meg!' with 'trikken kjørte fra holdeplassen'. Tilfreds å se til would be exactly mirrored by tilfreds av utseende, or even synlig tilfreds. No doubt furriners struggle with this as well - and so they should. How would we otherwise recognise them as such?
EC Translate Jan 9, 2009:
...good to look at... Det var min forståelse også. Cluet ligger kanskje i resten av teksten (om han så dårligere ut når de ikke var i hagen eller det ikke var sommer) og i hin vismann Diogenes aktiviteter/utsagn... ;o)
Egil Presttun Jan 9, 2009:
Not a local variation, but somewhat old fashioned It's mostly old people who speak like this. Normally it's "fin å se til" or stygg/nydelig/vakker etc. You will find many such phrases in Google.

Proposed translations

17 mins
Selected

by appearance

Subtle stuff, this - SE til is how something appears visually, while se TIL is to make sure or take care of as you rightly observe.
Note from asker:
Aha - da er vi inne på dette vi tonemer (bønne vs. bønde), som ingen utlending jeg kjenner klarer å høre! Takk for det, Per.
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3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I didn't chose this actualy phrase, but it gives a good indication of the sense of this verb. Thanks also to Egil for the useful instruction in spoken Norwegian!"
15 mins
Norwegian term (edited): tilfreds å se til

looks satisfied

He looks satisfied. He looks like that when you look at him.

Example:
"Hadde jeg ikke vært så stygg å se til, så skulle jeg ha vurdert å bli Gigolo jeg også"
http://veggavisen.origo.no/-/bulletin/show/98461_litt-morro-...
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