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Orðabók

hvalreki

hvalurwhale
rekidrift, something washed ashore
whale drift

which everyone uses to mean a beached whale — and, figuratively, a windfall

On an island living close to the edge, a whale washing up was a genuine stroke of luck, and the word still carries that second sense.

animals · abstract

Literal glosses are a translator’s liberty, not a rule. This compound may have frozen centuries ago, with its pieces drifting since. If it is wrong, a correction from an Icelandic speaker is the whole point.

All words

Timo Zuther · Impressum · Privacy