Two government surveyors asked Ole if they could survey his farm. Ole agreed, and his wife Lena served them coffee.
The next fall they stopped by and told Ole that they came to personally tell him that they discovered his farm was not located in Minnesota but in North Dakota.....
Ole turned to Lena and said, "That's the best news I have heard in a long time! Why, I just said this morning, I don't think I can stand another cold winter in Minnesota."
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| Photo from Nature's Desktop |
We are going to have to introduce our kids to Ole and Lena. :)
Love it! So funny. I hope everything is going well with your packing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh! Enjoy next winter! Oh wait, you may still have snow when you move in a few weeks so enjoy the rest of this Winter!
ReplyDeleteGreat! Now some would say, "How ignorant." I say ...."whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be content." Thank you for a bright moment and a little smile.
ReplyDeleteYa, sure!
ReplyDeleteAnd Lena's reply would have been, "Uff da!" (That's part of your new MN vocabulary, make sure you teach it to your kids so they'll fit in.) :-)
Hope things are going well--we're praying for you!
That is too funny!!! I know your kids will love the winters.
ReplyDeleteLol, I can see you must have a MN language book you are studying up on -- you will fit right in my dear. Don't forget to make a "hotdish"!
ReplyDeleteIntroducing them to Ole and Lena is fine....just don't introduce them to Lutefisk. ;-)
ReplyDeleteLOL! No danger of that, Michelle!
ReplyDeleteAnd Wendy, isn't "uff da" a mildly coarse word? I think we'll leave that out of our vocab until I find out otherwise. ;)
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ReplyDeleteI removed this comment because I couldn't figure out how to make part of it BOLD. Where you see the caps below, I am not yelling at you. :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, here it is, from Wikipedia:
"Uff da is often used in the Upper Midwest as a term for sensory overload. It can be used as an expression of surprise, astonishment, exhaustion, relief and sometimes dismay. For many, Uff da is an all-purpose expression with a variety of nuances, and covering a variety of situations. The expression has lost its original connotation, and it is increasingly difficult to specify what it means now in America. Within Midwestern culture, Uff da frequently translates into: I am overwhelmed. [Or "rats" or "oops" or "oh no" or any number of things.] It has become a mark of Scandinavian roots, particularly for people from North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois Iowa, Minnesota, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. UFF DA CAN OFTEN BE USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR MANY COMMON DAY SWEAR WORDS.
It's probably harmless, but it's a euphemism for other words we wouldn't use. :) Okay, scratch that one from our lesson book.
Huh, I never knew the swear word alternative definition, but I never use it anyway...too hokey. I thought of it more in the "exhaustion or relief" terms. Maybe they swear in Scandinavian in ND? haha
ReplyDeleteMy Grandpa always prayed in German, I never knew what he was praying...but that's off topic.
Having grown up with the term I can assure you Uff Da is NOT a coarse word. But is IS an essential part of being truly Minnesotan. :) Welcome to Minnesotan dialect!! :)
ReplyDeletelol!!! That is just too cute! :)
ReplyDeleteCute joke, Sally! I'm coming back later with a "real" comment, but more immediately, I needed to connect Emily and Savannah. Emily's blog seems to be open only by invitation. Can you invite me, and later Savannah once I set up her blog, so that she and Emily can keep in touch? Many thanks, and of course, you can contact me offline at belinda.bullard@blessedheritage.com
ReplyDeleteI assure you that no one in this area considers Uff Da a swear word. It is purely Scandinavian and heard frequently within the local Evangelical Free Church.
ReplyDeleteI don't say Uff Da - but then I'm German only married to a Swede. :)