Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
carry coals to Newcastle
Norwegian translation:
gå over bekken etter vann
Added to glossary by
Roald Toskedal
May 12, 2004 16:49
20 yrs ago
English term
Perfect, price-right, punctual
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, English to German
carry coals to Newcastle
English to Norwegian
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
No context needed really. The Germans say "carry owls to Athens". It just means that you give someone something they already have. Can anyone out there help me fast with the Norwegian equivalent? I want to integrate it into a speech that will be given in English in Norway tomorrow.
Proposed translations
(Norwegian)
| 3 +1 | gå over bekken etter vann |
Roald Toskedal
|
| 5 | Man skal ikke bære mel til møllerens hus / - tømmer til Norge |
Tore Bjerkek
|
| 3 +2 | Selge sand til Sahara |
anebjordal
|
Proposed translations
+1
13 mins
Roald Toskedal
Norway
Norway
Native in Norwegian
Works in field
Norway
27 years of Engineering experience.
Native in: Norwegian
Works in: English to Norwegian, Danish to Norwegian, Swedish to Norwegian, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
gå over bekken etter vann
Admittedly, this is not a 100% equivalent saying, but it conveys a similar notion of something unnecessary/futile. Literally: "Crossing the stream/creek in search of water".
Reference:
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, I'll take this answer because I need sth fast and understand the (English) explanation."
14 mins
Tore Bjerkek
Canada
Canada
Native in Norwegian
Canada
Accurate-Professional-Diverse Experience
Native in: Norwegian 
Works in: English to Norwegian, Norwegian to English, Danish to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Man skal ikke bære mel til møllerens hus / - tømmer til Norge
An other expression for reduncancy could be
"å tisse i havet" men det passer vel ikke under alle omstendigheter.
Men man skal ikke selge hvetebrød til bakerens barn
eller bære lys til solen, vann til havet, tømmer til Norge, mel til møllerens hus, øl til München osv.
"å tisse i havet" men det passer vel ikke under alle omstendigheter.
Men man skal ikke selge hvetebrød til bakerens barn
eller bære lys til solen, vann til havet, tømmer til Norge, mel til møllerens hus, øl til München osv.
+2
1 hr
anebjordal
Ecuador
Ecuador
Native in Norwegian
Ecuador
15 years experience
Native in: Norwegian
Works in: English to Norwegian, English to Norwegian (Bokmal)
Selge sand til Sahara
ingen kommentarer
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Roald Toskedal
: Denne er bedre enn mitt forslag! :)
5 hrs
|
| agree |
LinguaLab.net
70 days
|
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