When you think of the word "Texas" i'm sure you think the following:

  • Lone Star
  • Whataburger
  • Dr. Pepper
  • Cowboys (the team and the actual ranchers)
  • Big ranches
  • Blue Bonnets
Willard
Willard
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You probably also get the urge to yell out "yee-haw" when thinking of the great state of Texas. However, if you're Norwegian, when you think of the word "Texas" you may think "that's crazy".

That's because in Norwegian, Texas is used as a slang term. But what slang term would be appropriate for the word "Texas"? How about "awesome" or "amazing"? That would make sense, right? Well, you would be wrong!

Pete Alexopoulos via Unsplash
Pete Alexopoulos via Unsplash
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In Norwegian, they use the word Texas as a slang word for "crazy" or "wild"!

Texas Monthly did a whole deep dive on it back in 2015- which is weird that I'm barely stumbling upon it! In an effort to express how crazy or wild something is, Norwegians are known to say "det var helt texas!" or "that was totally Texas!".

Side note: Texas is used as an adjective in Norwegian slang, so there is no need to capitalize it.

But why use "texas" as a slang word? Well, according to Texas Monthly, who took to Tumblr to find out the reasoning; for decades now, Norwegians associated the wild west with Texas; so it only made sense that Texas is used to describe wild or crazy situations.

The Most mispronounced town name in Texas
Courtney Rose via Unsplash
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It's not necessarily meant as a bad thing; nor is it meant to shade Texas in any way. I actually think it's kind of fitting; Texas can be wild or crazy at times- so I'd like to think that Texans have a sense of humor and accept this use of slang! That's so texas, right?

How Texas Sizes up Across the World

This is how the size of Texas compares to other parts of the world based on thetruesize.com.

Gallery Credit: Emily Claire

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