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From: ceejl@cee.hw.ac.uk (Joachim Lous)
Subject: Re: Dialling (was Re: Is '#' a "pound sign" or what?)
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Date: Mon, 4 Mar 1996 14:17:41 GMT
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Quoth Edward Rice:
: Smorgas + bord, sandwich + table (in Swedish).  In Danish, at least, and
: probably in Swedish as well, the samwiches themselves are called
: "smorrebrod," or spread bread.
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think 'buttered bread' is a more likely interpretation.
The word in Norwegian is simply "smrbrd" which is quite unambiguous:

"brd"(no & dk): n. bread.
"smr"(no & dk): n. butter.
"smre"(no)/"smrre"(dk): v. Spread, smear, lubricate, butter (as in 
    "buttering toast". This is probably the original usage).

My guess is that the English 'smear' v./n. is related to this 
(or a common origin) too.

As has been noted, the Swedes do indeed call a sandwich a "smrgs",
and I have no clue why (buttered goose?).


For the ISO 8859/1 challeged:
 = 'o' with a slash through it. Pronounced like the 'ea' in 'pearl'.
 = 'a' with a small circle above it. Pronounced like the 'o' in 'bored'.

                   
-Joachim "Will butter bread for food" Lous.
