Spennufall

So I have been working unbelievably long hours with rather little help for the last two or three months, and the last two weeks have been especially wearing. But still today I went to work, tried to get a few more things done. One lady flat out refused to meet with me today, said I must be having a spennufall and it could wait. 

I like this Icelandic word spennufall, and I think it is doing its linguistic job very well, because it is making something that is only sort of a vague idea in English -- a combination of overworked and let down and need a break-- into a single noun, a concrete thing. Such that everyone in Iceland wholly expects that at some point in time, I will stop being so energetic, and just collapse. 

Damn Faeroese fish bones. They are simply too insulted to not be on display for me to let them wait any longer than necessary. And thus I will go in again at 9am tomorrow, spennufall or not.

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