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Takk for Sist

English translation: We had a good time / any idiomatic greeting / nice weather, isn't it?


03:57 Feb 1, 2005
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Norwegian to English translations [Non-PRO]
Social Sciences - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Norwegian term or phrase: Takk for Sist
Rec'd in letter.
Susan Sparapani
English translation:We had a good time / any idiomatic greeting / nice weather, isn't it?
Explanation:
This is a fixed polite phrase that is impossible to translate literally.

as a formal phrase - on a note or in a phone call to the hosts - something like 'Thank you for inviting me' is appropriate.

If it was a meeting where guests were not personally invited, many English people might say 'I enjoyed last Tuesday, didnt't you?' to fellow guests or attendees of whatever the gathering was, not just the organisers.

Then they often go over to discuss something completely different.

To the hosts or organisers they might say 'You pulled that off really well!' or 'We thought you did a great job' or 'We had a lovely time on Tuesday' (about a party) or 'It all went very well, didn't it?' about a meeting etc.

It is used the next time people meet in person, not only to the hosts or organisers of a good gathering/party/ meeting/ outing. Fellow guests or others who were there are greeted in the same way.

It means 'thanks for your company' or you time as much as 'thank you for inviting me'.

Often there is no exact equivalent in English. Having said 'takk for sist' as a pure formality, Scandinavians may simply go on to the next thing they want to talk about. The English really do say 'nice weather, isn't it?' - or groan if there is a gale blowing! Or say 'How are you doing?' / How's your Mum? / ask about some other common interest.

Often it is simply a friendly conversation-opener, and it depends entirely on context.

Danes call out to each other across the road if they meet in town - then it simply means 'Hi!' before they go off in their different directions.
Selected response from:

Christine Andersen
Denmark
Local time: 21:10
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5We had a good time / any idiomatic greeting / nice weather, isn't it?
Christine Andersen
5 +2Thank you for (that lovely time we had when we met) last time; Thank you for last time (we were toge
Sven Petersson
3Thank you (for inviting me, etc)hirselina


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


41 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Thank you (for inviting me, etc)


Explanation:
I suppose it means the same as "tack för senast" very common in Swedish. it is a formula used to thank for invitations of all kind after the "event" took place.

In English it is not very common to thank in that way. Depending on the type of invitation, you might use a general "Thank you" formula or be more specific.

hirselina
Local time: 21:10
Works in field
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Thank you for (that lovely time we had when we met) last time; Thank you for last time (we were toge


Explanation:
Thank you for (that lovely time we had when we met) last time; Thank you for last time (we were together)


    Reference: http://www.nordiska.su.se/komloss/Fraser.htm
    Reference: http://www.sofn.com/norwegianculture/languagelessons/Lesson0...
Sven Petersson
Sweden
Local time: 21:10
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Per Bergvall
1 min
  -> Thank you very much!
agree  Daphne b
1 hr
  -> Thank you very much!
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
We had a good time / any idiomatic greeting / nice weather, isn't it?


Explanation:
This is a fixed polite phrase that is impossible to translate literally.

as a formal phrase - on a note or in a phone call to the hosts - something like 'Thank you for inviting me' is appropriate.

If it was a meeting where guests were not personally invited, many English people might say 'I enjoyed last Tuesday, didnt't you?' to fellow guests or attendees of whatever the gathering was, not just the organisers.

Then they often go over to discuss something completely different.

To the hosts or organisers they might say 'You pulled that off really well!' or 'We thought you did a great job' or 'We had a lovely time on Tuesday' (about a party) or 'It all went very well, didn't it?' about a meeting etc.

It is used the next time people meet in person, not only to the hosts or organisers of a good gathering/party/ meeting/ outing. Fellow guests or others who were there are greeted in the same way.

It means 'thanks for your company' or you time as much as 'thank you for inviting me'.

Often there is no exact equivalent in English. Having said 'takk for sist' as a pure formality, Scandinavians may simply go on to the next thing they want to talk about. The English really do say 'nice weather, isn't it?' - or groan if there is a gale blowing! Or say 'How are you doing?' / How's your Mum? / ask about some other common interest.

Often it is simply a friendly conversation-opener, and it depends entirely on context.

Danes call out to each other across the road if they meet in town - then it simply means 'Hi!' before they go off in their different directions.

Christine Andersen
Denmark
Local time: 21:10
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Daphne b: Excellent explanation; covers everything :-)
17 mins
agree  Richard Lawson: Formulaic polite phrase, as you illustrate, usually requiring slightly more creativity in English, if expressed at all. In Norway, it is usual to thank fellow guests (as well as hosts) when parting (Takk for nå!) and when meeting again (Takk for sist!).
1 hr
  -> Thanks! Exactly as in Denmark - 'Tak for i dag/ i aften' and 'Tak for sidst' next time they meet.
agree  Pernille Chapman: Yes, lovely to see such an in-depth "analysis"! I've just spent a couple of days with other translators of Scandinavian languages, and we discussed that exact phrase (with the same conclusion - it doesn't have a direct equivalent in English).
4 hrs
  -> Thanks - sometimes I wish we did have a handy expression like 'tak for sidst' ...
agree  lone
5 hrs
agree  Robert M Maier: i might not know a lot about norwegian, but i remember an article (in Nordlys, i seem to remember) mentioning this as THE hard-to-translate thing for scandinavian in general.
1 day8 hrs
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PRO / non-PRO		PRO (1): Sven Petersson


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