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dugnad

English translation: Maintenance Day; Community Day


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15:52 Jun 3, 2010
Norwegian to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Norwegian term or phrase: dugnad
Looking for a good English (US) word for the Norwegian all-descriptive "dugnad".

Sentence: "XXX plikter å være med på to dugnader i året"

My sources propose "voluntary community work" or just "volunteer work", but I don't think these properly cover the term. It is also a bit comical to state that a person "is obliged to do volunteer work".

Any suggestions?
Karin Berling
Local time: 06:21
English translation:Maintenance Day; Community Day
Explanation:
This is one of those terms highly dependent on context. Here in America, I've seen "maintenance days" for daycare clean-up duties, mulching, etc, and "community days" for other organizations. You're right, saying "obliged" to do volunteer work is an oxymoron!
Selected response from:

Jennifer Andersen
Local time: 06:21
Grading comment
I used a combination of your and Charles' suggestions. My final conclusion was "Communal Maintenance Event", which is both descriptive and fits with "is obliged to participate in". However, I am sure the debate is not over ;-)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1volunteer work or charity seviceAndrew Alix
4 +1"working bee"
jeffrey engberg
4voluntary communal effort
Charles Ek
4 -1neighbourhood clean-up days
Dawn Nixon
3 -1Maintenance Day; Community DayJennifer Andersen
2 -1Community serviceeodd


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


33 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
"working bee"


Explanation:
This is another English metaphor for a neighborhood clean-up action.
and remember, in America "neighbour" is spelled "neighbor", without the "u"...
although I personally prefer the old-english variant with our...

jeffrey engberg
Norway
Local time: 12:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 28
Notes to answerer
Asker: I really like this suggestion, but I have never heard it before...


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jennifer Andersen: That could work too. I don't recall seeing it much but we definitely have "quilting bees" in America so folks should get it.
10 mins
disagree  lingo_montreal: Sounds too much like something between a "worker bee", and a "spelling bee"... Have never heard of this usage. Why not stick with something a bit less euphamistic, as in Dawn Nixon's suggestion?
6 hrs
agree  William [Bill] Gray: This was an extremely common term where I come from, New Zealand. The only difference was that it was usually a church or club, not the characteristic Norwegian neighbourhood actiity, which we now love! Better than "Why doesn't the council DO something!
21 hrs
neutral  Erik Matson: I see it in the Clue dictionary, but after 25 years in the United States (divided over East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, and South) I have never heard this prior to here.
3 days21 hrs
  -> It's as American as apple pie! See the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_(gathering)
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42 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Maintenance Day; Community Day


Explanation:
This is one of those terms highly dependent on context. Here in America, I've seen "maintenance days" for daycare clean-up duties, mulching, etc, and "community days" for other organizations. You're right, saying "obliged" to do volunteer work is an oxymoron!

Jennifer Andersen
Local time: 06:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
I used a combination of your and Charles' suggestions. My final conclusion was "Communal Maintenance Event", which is both descriptive and fits with "is obliged to participate in". However, I am sure the debate is not over ;-)
Notes to answerer
Asker: I used a combination of your and Charles' suggestions - Communal Maintenance Event. I think it is descriptive, and I think it fits with "in obliged to participate in a certain number of". However, I am sure the debate is not over ;-)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Erik Matson: Nope, gotta disagree with you there, b/c both your definitions are too specific. Indeed, these are examples of "dugnad", but "dugnad" can be so much more than that...anything from cleaning a neighborhood park for a day, to rebuilding a house that burned..
3 days21 hrs
  -> I agree with you that "dugnad" can be for almost anything involving pitching in and getting something done. The original context here is for being a paid member of a sports organization. She also didn't want "voluntary" because it's not.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Community service


Explanation:
While I understand "dugnad" to be community volunteering, I wonder if community service is what is meant here, as XXX is being compelled to do this.
From the reference below: "some people who provide community service are not doing it of their own free will; they are compelled to do so by:
their government as a part of citizenship requirements, in lieu of military service (such as the practice of Zivildienst in Germany);
the courts, in lieu of, or in addition to, other criminal justice sanctions;
their school, to meet the requirements of a class, such as in the case of service learning or to meet the requirements of graduation, or, in the case of parents, required to provide a certain number of hours of service in order for their child to be enrolled in a school or sports team.

There are also people providing community service who receive some form of compensation in return for their year of commitment to public service, such as AmeriCorps in the USA (who are called members rather than volunteers)."


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_service
eodd
Local time: 11:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: I think this term, while valid, sounds a bit too punitive...?


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  lingo_montreal: This choice has too punitive a connotation in N. America, whereas the "dugnad"s I participated in (when I lived in a borrettslag arrangement) had to do with cleaning up around our property and neighbourhood, various gardening activities, and similar.
5 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
voluntary communal effort


Explanation:
See the link for Google results for "voluntary communal effort". A pairing with "dugnad" is at the second link.

http://apps.husbanken.no/boligbasen/filbase/stig.pdf


    Reference: http://tinyurl.com/276lory
    Reference: http://apps.husbanken.no/boligbasen/filbase/stig.pdf
Charles Ek
United States
Local time: 06:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: I like the term, except the "voluntary" part doesn't really fit since the member is obliged to participate in this event. I ended up using part of yours and Jennifer's answer.

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23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
volunteer work or charity sevice


Explanation:
Did a lot of this when I was in Norway for 20 years. We always called it 'dugnad'. When applied in general, it was volunteer work for anything done, whether community service or private.

Andrew Alix
United States
Local time: 05:21
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Again, I like the suggestions, except that they involve "volunteer" and "charity", which sounds odd when paired with "is obliged to participate in"


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Erik Matson: ABSOLUTELY, no question.
2 days23 hrs
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22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
neighbourhood clean-up days


Explanation:
Or 'neighborhood' for a US term.
Many examples on the internet

E.g. two neighborhood clean-up days.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2010-06-08 08:54:50 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Just to add that I posted this term before I knew it was a sports centre, thank you for your feedback Karin :)


    Reference: http://www.rustletheleaf.com/0806_Lesson.pdf
    Reference: http://www.communitygroup.co.uk/cleaning-up-your-neighbourho...
Dawn Nixon
Norway
Local time: 12:21
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: I like this term, but the neighborhood part does not apply to the sports team in question :-)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  lingo_montreal: This a readily understandable and well-used concept in Canadian communities. You get my vote.
6 hrs
  -> Thank you :)
disagree  Ingrid Thorbjørnsrud: In the context of the sports club membership, dugnad can mean other activities than clean-up.
15 hrs
disagree  Erik Matson: Indeed...that is too specific for a general term.
3 days21 hrs
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Changes made by editors
Jun 3, 2010 - Changes made by Karin Berling:
Language pairEnglish to Norwegian => Norwegian to English
FieldMedical => Other
Field (specific)Medical: Instruments => General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters


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