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[norwegianlearner]

Bli kjent med noen

-What is your name?

+ My name is …

- Hva heter du?

+ Jeg heter …, Mitt navn er …

- Can you spell it?

+ Of course!

- Kan du stave det?

+ Ja visst!, Selvfølgelig!, Seff!

- Where are you from?

+ I’m from …

- Hvor kommer/er du fra?

+ Jeg kommer/er fra …

- Where do you live?

+ I live in …

- Hvor bor du?

+Jeg bor i …

- How old are you?

+ I’m … years old.

- Hvor gammel er du?

+ Jeg er … år (gammel).

- What is your profession?

+ I’m a … How about you?

- Hva er ditt yrke?

+ Jeg er … Hva med deg?

- Nice to meet you!

+ You too!

- Hggelig å hilse på deg!, Hyggelig å møte deg!, Hyggelig å treffe deg!

+ I like måte!

[norwegianlearner]

- Welcome to Norway!

velkommen til Norge!

- Thank you

takk, tusen takk, mange takk, hjertelig takk, takk skal du ha

takk for hjelpen, takk for maten

takk for sist, takk for i går, takk for i dag, takk for meg, takk for nå

-You’re welcome

bare hyggelig, vær så god, ingen årsak, velbekomme, det var da så lite

- Here you go, go ahead

vær så god

- Please

vær så snill, er du snill, plis, vennligst

- Excuse me

unnskyld meg

- Sorry

unnnskyld, beklager, jeg er lei for det

- Come on!

kom igjen!

- Oh my god!

åh herregud!

- Thank god!

gudskjelov!

- Awesome! Unbelievable!

-fett! utrolig!

- Damn! Alas!

-farsken! akk!

- Look out!

se deg for!

- Oops! Oh no! Oh dear!

ups! åh nei! huff da!

-What’s the matter?

-hva er galt?

- No problem

ikke noe problem

- I don’t mind

jeg bryr meg ikke

- Okay! Cool! Fine!

greit!

- Indeed!

akkurat!

- Enjoy your meal!

god appetitt!

- Cheers!

skål!

- Don’t worry!

ikke bekymre deg!

- Take care of yourself

pass på deg selv

- Poor you!

stakkars!

- Bless you!

prosit!

- Get well soon!

god bedring!

- Congratulations! Congrats!

gratulerer! grattis!

- Yay!

hurra!

- Good luck!

lykke til!

- Happy birthday!

gratulerer med dagen!

- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

god jul og godt nyttår

- Happy Easter

god påske

[norwegianlearner]

Different ways to salute someone:

hei, hallo, halla, heisann, hei hei

hei på deg

hei alle sammen

mårn

takk for sist

lenge siden sist

god dag, god morgen, god formiddag, god ettermiddag, god kveld, god aften

Different ways to ask someone how they are:

+ hva skjer?

- ikke mye.

+ hva skjer’a?

- ikkeno, ass.

+ hvordan går det?

- det går bra, og hva med deg da?

+ hvordan har du det?

- ikke så verst, du da?

+ sjæl!

+ hvordan står det til?

- takk, bare bra.

+ hva gjør du?

- jeg slapper av.

Different ways to bid someone farewell:

oi, er klokka så mye?

ha det, ha det bra, ha det fint, ha det godt

ha en fin dag

takk for i dag, takk for meg, takk for nå

hei, adjø, farvel

mårna

vi ses, vi sees, vi høres, vi møtes

vi snakkes senere

på gjensyn

god helg

god tur

kos deg, kos dere

god natt, natta

sov godt, drøm søtt

[norwegianlearner]

Opposite Adjectives 2

sulten | mett hungry | full

hvit | svart white | black

lett | vanskelig easy | difficult

frisk | syk healthy | sick

vid | trang wide | tight

åpen | lukket open | closed

rett | feil right | wrong

fast | løs fixed | loose

bein | skjev straight | oblique

blid | sur cheerful | grumpy

bratt | slak steep | gradual

rask | sakte fast | slow

hurtig | treg rapid | sluggish

sliten | opplagt exhausted | freshened

energetisk | trøtt energetic | tired

riktig | gal correct | incorrect

tam | vill tame | wild

uklok | smart unwise | smart

stolt | flau proud | embarrassed

stram | slakk tight | slack

sjenerøs | gjerrig generous | stingy

grådig | velgjørende greedy | charitable

morsom | kjedelig funny | boring

modig | feig brave | coward

lik | ulik like | unlike

hyppig | sjelden frequent | rare

dyp | grunn deep | shallow

identisk | annerledes identical | different

bråkete | stille loud | quiet

våken | søvnig awake | sleepy

mektig | umektig powerful | weak

rolig | rastløs calm | restless

skyldig | uskyldig guilty | innocent

praktfull | grusom splendid | awful

trang | romslig narrow | spacious

solfylt | skyggelagt sunny | shaded

streng | mild rigid | mellow

subjektiv | objektiv subjective | objective

teoretisk | praktisk theoretical | practical

tilfeldig | planmessig random | systematically

tillatt | forbudt permitted | forbidden

vannrett | loddrett horizontal | vertical

variert | ensformig diverse | uniform

voksen | barnslig adult | childish

sta | medgjørlig stubborn | pliant

komisk | tragisk comic | tragic

konkret | abstrakt concrete | abstract

moderne | gammeldags modern | old-fashioned

naken | påkledd naked | dressed

positiv | negativ positive | negative

konstant | skiftende constant | volatile

aktiv | passiv active | passive

homogen | heterogen homogeneous | heterogeneous

først | sist first | last

arrogant | ydmyk arrogant | humble

flat | kupert flat | jagged

fysisk | psykisk physical | psychological

obligatorisk | frivillig compulsory | voluntary

kriminell | lovlydig criminal | law-abiding

beruset | edru intoxicated | sober

dynamisk | statisk dynamic | static

glatt | ru smooth | rough

fin | grov fine | rough

blek | brun pale | brown

fet | mager fat | skinny

generell | spesiell general | special

individuell | felles individual | collective

brå | gradvis abrupt | gradual

maksimal | minimal maximum | minimum

maskulin | feminin masculine | feminine

optimistisk | pessimistisk optimistic | pessimistic

spiss | butt pointy | pointless

skarp | sløv sharp | blunt

sentral | perifer central | peripheral

rund | kantete round | angular

naturlig | kunstig natural | artificial

informativ | intetsigende informative | inane

muntlig | skriftlig oral | written

pratsom | taus talkative | silent

innvendig | utvendig internal | external

profesjonell | amatørmessig professional | amateur

[norwegianlearner]

Resources For Learning Norwegian

A1/A2

Books

The Mystery of Nils -  “ We all hate text books that begin with “Hello, what’s your name?”, don’t we? “The Mystery of Nils” is a coherent story, which starts very simply, but develops into a fascinating novel.”

Norsk på 123 - has online exercises as well, don’t need a book to complete the exercises

Colloquial Norwegian - “provides a step-by-step course in Norwegian as it is written and spoken today. Combining a user-friendly approach with a thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Norwegian in a broad range of situations.”

På Vei - A1-A2, workbook and textbook, these are used by most courses in Norway to teach Norwegian as a foreign language to adults; online exercises 

Ordbøkene - dictionary, nynorsk og bokmål

Apps

Duolingo - usually a good place to start, great for a free resource

Babbel - subscription service, teaches grammar and vocab, has a speaking component

Drops - has a free version, only 5 minutes every 10 hours, vocab only, variety of topics, gameifies language learning

Memrise - I haven’t really used this, seems like you can choose different courses but I’m not sure about the quality of the courses, has a free version

Ordbøkene - app version of this dictionary

Sites

Klar Tale - meant for people with dyslexia or those learning Norwegian

Ordbøkene - dictionary, nynorsk og bokmål

Grammatikk.com - has PDFs with grammar explanations and some grammar drills (they need to be printed though)

Courses

Introduction to Norwegian (UiO) -  Learn to speak, write and understand basic Norwegian with this free four-week course. Can be followed with the Introduction to Norwegian 2

Norwegian for Beginners (NTNU) -  Master the basics of the Norwegian language. Gain confidence in speaking and understanding common phrases. Can be followed with Part 2 and Part 3

Podcasts

Norsklærer Karense - from a Norwegian teacher aimed at those who are learning

Klar Tale

Youtube

Norwegian Teacher Karin -  “This is absolutely free online Norwegian lessons. The language I’m teaching is not exactly Bokmål nor Nynorsk. It’s an east dialect and I don’t think you will have much problem with bokmål after this. :) And everyone will understand this“

Norsklærer Karense -  “Denne YouTube-kanalen har jeg laget for å hjelpe alle som lærer norsk til å bli flinkere i norsk. Ettersom jeg har jobbet lenge som norsklærer og undervist mange tusen elever, vet jeg hva som kan være vanskelig når man  lærer norsk.“

B1/B2

Books

Stein på Stein - B1, textbook and workbook, continuation of På Vei, online exercises here

Her på Berget - B2/C1, textbook and workbook, continuation of Stein på Stein;  online exercises

Sites

NRK- news site

Klart det! - B2, online exercises

Podcasts

Språkteigen - Her kan du høre om nye ord og gamle ord, ny forskning og rare språkfenomener.

Ekko - culture podcast on a wide range of topics; lots of interviews so dialects can be difficult; episodes are fairly short

Oppdatert - det lille du trenger for å henge med på sakene alle snakker om; fairly short episodes 

Gamle Greier - stories about historical artifacts found in the National Library; episodes are about 30 minutes

Nyhetsmorgen - a daily morning news podcast from NRK, great way to hear a variety of dialects; episodes are 90 minutes

Forklart -  De største nyhetssakene forklart på 15 minutter

*These are just a few - NRK has a ton of great podcasts on a variety of topics available here or on the NRK Radio app. Chances are they have something you are interested in!

C1

Books

I Samme Båt - workbook and textbook, this is the only C1 book I’ve found but I’m not sure it’s worth the money. It’s mostly vocab/phrases, but does have exercises too

at this level, you can pretty much read any book you want in Norwegian

Sites

Kompetanse Norge - practice for C1 test

Bergenstest.com - to prepare for the Bergenstest (B2-C1), paid

Sites to Test Yourself

Kompetanse Norge - site with information on the Norskprøve, has practice tests and exercises for A1-B2

Bergens Test examples - B2/C1

UiO 

ARealMe.com - test your vocab, compares the size of your estimated vocab to the general population

Language Trainers listening and language level

*updated March 28th, 2022

[norwegianlearner]

Opposite Adjectives

god | dårlig good | bad

lav | høy low | loud

ny | gammel new | old

død | levende dead | alive

stor | liten big | small

vanlig | rar usual | rare

rask | langsom fast | slow

samme | forskjellig same | different

ren | skitten clean | dirty

hyggelig | ekkel nice | gross

glad | trist happy | sad

gammel | ung old | young

lur | dum smart | stupid

pen | stygg pretty | ugly

sterk | svak strong | weak

modig | redd brave | afraid

tom | full empty | full

lang | kort long | short

høy | kort tall | short

bred | smal wide | narrow

rik | fattig rich | poor

trang | løs tight | loose

dyr | billig expensive | cheap

snill | frekk kind | rude

høflig | slem polite | mean

tung | lett heavy | light

mild | skarp blunt | sharp

overfladisk | grundig superficial | profound

vanskelig | enkel difficult | easy

tidlig | sen early | late

tradisjonell | moderne traditional | modern

varm | kald warm | cold

glovarm | iskald hot | frigid

lys | mørk light | dark

grov | glatt rough | smooth

søt | sur sweet | sour

fersk | moden fresh | raw

tørr | våt dry | wet

myk | hard soft | hard

tynn | tykk thin | thick

trygg | farlig safe | dangerous

alvorlig | barnslig serious | childish

interessant | kjedelig interesting | boring

ryddig | rotete tidy | messy

midlertidig | permanent temporary | permanent

åpen | stengt open | closed

privat | offentlig private | public

nær | fjern near | remote

ledig | opptatt available | busy

ekte | falsk real | fake

[norwegianlearner]

Norwegian cold & flu vocab list

Because I have a cold and I’m grumpy about it.

forkjølelse (en) - cold influensa (en) - flu infeksjon (en) - infection virus (et) - virus smittemåte (en) - route of infection smittsom - contagious

symptom (et) - symptom feber (en) - fever vondt i halsen - a sore throat rennende nese (en/ei) - a runny nose hodepine (en/ei) - headache tørrhoste (en) - dry cough slim (et) - mucus tap av appetitt - loss of appetite ømme muskler (en øm muskel) - sore/tender/aching muscles muskelsmerter (en muskelsmerte) - muscle pain frysninger (en/ei frysning) - chills

sliten - tired grinete - grumpy sur - sour/annoyed/upset/mad lei - fed up blek - pale

å bli (være) forkjølet - to get (have) a cold å bli (være) syk - to get (be) sick/to fall (be) ill å smitte - to infect å vare - to last å nyse - to sneeze å hoste - to cough å lindre - to relieve å miste stemmen - to lose one’s voice

jeg vil legge meg - I want to go to bed jeg vil sove - I want to sleep jeg orker ikke - I don’t have the energy/I don’t want to/I can’t be bothered jeg er så lei av å være syk - I’m so fed up of being ill jeg føler meg kvalm - I feel sick du ser litt blek ut - you look a bit pale du ser jævlig ut - you look terrible/you look like shit

[norwegianlearner]

🌸 å lukte 🌸 & 🍕 å smake 🍕

å lukte - "to smell"

My brain automatically inserts som when I use this verb, since my two native languages (German/English) would use an equivalent preposition: "Es riecht/duftet nach Orangen" & "It smells like oranges"

However, å lukte doesn't usually take a preposition if you’re describing how something smells:

Det lukter appelsiner.  It smells like oranges.

Du lukter sigaretter. You smell like cigarettes.

Some adjectives:

å lukte godt / vondt / rart to smell good / bad / strange

å lukte på - to smell (something), to sniff (something)

Use på when you refer to the action of smelling/sniffing something:

Du må lukte på alle blomstene. You have to smell all the flowers.  

Hun begynte å lukte på håret mitt. She began sniffing my hair. 

However, if one smells an aroma of something in general, don't use på:

An interesting article titled: Bier I Nederland ble trent til å lukte korona. Bees in the Netherlands were trained to smell Corona.

Hunden kan lukte frykt. The dog can smell fear.

Hai kan lukte blod på stor avstand. Sharks can smell blood at a great distance. 

Han lukter blod. He smells blood. (if you use på, it sounds like he found the blood and is sniffing it)

å smake - "to taste"

å smake (a sense strongly linked to smell!) also does not take som. You can see an example of both å lukte and å smake in this news article about a family noticing a gas leak in their home:

luktet sprittusj - smelled like permanent marker

smakte bensin - tasted like gasoline

It also includes the plural forms of the nouns for "smell" and "taste":

lukt (en) - smell Jeg elsker lukten av kokos og sjokolade. I love the smell of coconut.

smak (en) - taste Katter elsker smaken av fisk. Cats love the taste of fish.

Corrections/additions are welcome!

[norwegianlearner]

Hallo! Hvordan har du det? Do you know of any good beginner resources for learning norsk? I've been using Duolingo, but I want to get more practice in. Like trying to translate basic sentences and stuff. Takk og ha en god dag!!!

Hei! Jeg har det fint, takk! Hvordan har du det? :)

Here are some resources you might find helpful!

Memrise is another good app/website for learning Norwegian (I've linked you to level 1 of the main course, but there are loads of other courses and vocab lists too).

Lingohut has a ton of lessons.

Sissel Ofstad has texts for levels A1-B2 (I've linked you to the A1 texts. If translating simple sentences is what you're after, this is probably the link you're looking for!)

You can try following some of the instagram accounts I've linked here.

Norskkurset on Youtube is great. The teacher speaks slowly and you can add autogenerated subtitles (which as far as I'm aware are pretty accurate). There are both grammar videos and vlog posts.

I also recommend Norsklærer Karense's YT channel. Here's a link to her beginner videos (she speaks 100% in Norwegian, but she does speak slowly and clearly). She also has a podcast (again, it's entirely in Norwegian so it might be difficult if you're still very new to the language)

This post has a ton of resources you can try out.

CALST is good for working on spoken Norwegian (especially if there's a dialect you want to try out).

If you're willing to pay for a textbook, I recommend The Mystery of Nils. If you're not, the company that makes the book has a number of free resources, and you can access the audio files of each chapter for free as well. They also run a language café every Sunday, which I've yet to actually go to, but it's free! I think you have to sign up to their mailing list if you want to join in. You can also get a free preview of the book if you're not sure it's for you.

Norwegian's also available on the apps Drops and uTalk. I'm not really big on either - they only teach vocab and functional phrases without really explaining anything, and while they're both theoretically free they limit how much you can use them without paying - but you might find them useful as a little extra something.

Jeg håper det hjelper deg! Lykke til! <3

[norwegianlearner]

være skråsikker på noe

være helt/urokkelig sikker på noe, være (overdrevent) selvsikker i en sak

to be completely certain of something

Hun er skråsikker at det var hunden som spiste pølser fordi hunden kaster opp og gjemmer. She's certain it was the dog who ate the hot dogs because the dog is throwing up and hiding.

Origin

Førsteleddet i skråsikker har ikke noe med adjektivet 'skrå' (skjev, hellende) å gjøre. Det kan derimot være et gammelt substantiv 'skrå' (skinn, lovbok). Den opphavelige betydning av uttrykket skulle i alle fall være at noe var 'like sikker(t) som om det var skrevet og stadfestet i skråen.' En annen mulig forklaring er at førsteleddet har sammenheng med et forsterkende prefiks: skrubb (skrubbsulten). Den danske prefikset 'skrup-' ble opphavelig brukt om en rasende, sterk lyd og deretter kan det ha fått en rent forsterkende betydning.

The first part in 'skråsikker' has nothing to do with the adjective 'skrå' (crooked, sloping). It can, however, be an old noun 'skrå' (leather, law book). The original meaning of the expression would likely be that something was 'as certain as if it had been written and confirmed in the law book.' Another possible explanation is that the first part is related to a reinforcing prefix: 'skrubb' (skrubbsulten - exgtremely hungry). The Danish prefix 'skrup-' was originally used for a furious, strong sound and then it may have later acquired a purely reinforcing meaning.

*Source: Prikken over i-en

[norwegianlearner]

slå på tråden

to drop a line, to call

Meaning

ringe, telefonere

Slå på tråden dersom du har trøbbel. Call if you run into trouble.

Origin

Dette uttrykket brukes den i dag selv om ringingen både skjer trådløst og uten slag. Men det har sitt opphav i eldre tiders telefonering der en slo eller dunket på en knott på ringeapparatet for å gi ringesignal. Når en så fikk kontakt med den en ringte til, ''var en på tråden.'' Og vi sier fortsatt at vi ''er på tråden'' når vi snakker med hverandre over telefon.

This term is used today even though the ringing takes place both wirelessly and without hitting. But it has its origins in older telephones where one hit or knocked on a knob on the pager to give a ring signal. When you got in touch with the person you called, "someone was on the line." And we still say that we are "on the line" when we talk to each other over the phone.

[norwegianlearner]

ha/være skjeletter i skapet

to have skeletons in the closet

Meaning

ha skjulte hemmeligheter

Han virker som en snill person men jeg har hørt at han har skjeletter i skapet. He seems like a nice person but I have heard that he has skeletons in his closet.

Other Information

Skapet er her bilde på et oppbevaringssted for saker av familiær eller privat art som ikke tåler å komme for en dag, og som derfor holdes skjult. Samme uttrykk brukes også i engelsk: a skeleton in the closet/in the cupboard e.l., og her har det vært i bruk lenge. Det eldste eksemplet i The Oxford English Dictionary er fra Thackeray i 1845. Men av og til kan hemmeligheten komme for en dag, og da kommer skjelettene ramlende ut av skapet:

Regnskapsjuks avsløt... Lacson startet umiddelbart opprydningen i regnskapene og skelettene ramlet ut av skapet. (Aftenposten 26.04.2008)

The cupboard here is a picture of a storage place for cases of a family or private nature that can not stand to come into the light of day, and which are therefore kept hidden. The same term is also used in English: a skeleton in the closet / in the cupboard etc., and here it has been in use for a long time. The oldest example in The Oxford English Dictionary is from Thackeray in 1845. But sometimes the secret can come out, and then the skeletons fall out of the closet:

Accounting cheating revealed... Lacson immediately started cleaning up the accounts and the skeletons fell out of the closet.

*Fra boka Prikken over i-en

[norwegianlearner]

skyte fra hofta

to shoot from the hip

Meaning

uttale seg rett på sak, fyre løs eller kommentere en sak (uten å ha tenkt over mulige konsekvenser)

Når situasjon er som den er, er det kanskje like greit å skyte fra hofta, og derfor har jeg lyst til å stille noen spørsmål: Hva vil egentlig opposisjonen? (stortinget.hiof.no/scripts) When the situation is as it is, it may be just as well to shoot from the hip, and therefore I want to ask some questions: What does the opposition really want?

Origin

Uttrykket synes å ha blitt tatt i bruk i den overførte betydning i de nordiske språka omkring 1970. Forbildet er det engelske ''to shoot/fire from the hip.'' Til uttrykket ''skyte fra hofta'' er så videre uttrykket et ''skudd fra hofta'' og det sammensatte substantivet ''hofteskudd'' blitt dannet:

Du kom bare med påstander og hofteskudd uten argumenter, det er ikke noe diskusjon. (forum.kvinneguiden.no/) You only made allegations and hip shots without arguments, there is no discussion.

*Fra boka Prikken over i-en

[norwegianlearner]

gi (blanke) blaffen i noe(n)

to not care

Meaning

ikke bry seg om, ta hensyn til noe(n)

Jeg gir blaffen i hva du tenker, jeg skal gifte meg med ham uansett. I don't care what you think, I'm going to marry him anyway.

Origin

Substantivet et blaff brukes om et vindpust eller om noe som er kortvarig, f.eks. et høydepunkt eller et lite lyspunkt. Men det blaff som vi har i uttrykket har nok et ganske annet opphav. Sannsynlignis er det en forskjønnende (eufemistisk) omskrivning for det litt mer direkte ''å gi blanke fa(nd)en in noe(n).''

The noun ''et blaff'' is used about a gust of wind or about something that is short-lived, e.g. a highlight or a small bright spot. But the bluff we have in the expression has a quite different origin. Probably it is a beautifying (euphemistic) paraphrase for the slightly more direct ''å gi blanke fa(nd)en i noe(n).''

[norwegianlearner]

falle i god jord

to be well received

Meaning

bli godt mottatt, vinne anerkjennelse

Tror du at forslaget om a slutte å bruke engangsplast vil falle i god jord? Ja, Ja, vi tror det blir lite motstand. Do you think that the proposal to stop using single-use plastic will be well received? Yes, we believe there will be little resistance.

Origin

Uttrykket skriver seg fra lignelsen om såmannen i Bibelen. Han gikk ut for å så , og noe av såkornet falt ved veien og noe op steingrunn, men noe falt også ''i god jord og bar frukt: hundre foll, seksti foll, tretti foll'' (Matteus 13, 1-9). I overført betydning brukes det om tanker, ideer, forslag, osv. som blir godt mottatt.

The expression derives from the parable of the sower in the Bible. He went out to sow, and some of the grain fell by the road and some up rocky ground, but some also fell ''on good soil, where it produced a crop - a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown'' (Matthew 13:1-9). In a figurative sense, it is used about thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc. that are well received.

*Fra Prikken over i-en

[norwegianlearner]

Nok

Nok normally indicates that the speaker has an opinion or conviction that something is true, but isn't completely certain:

Det slutter nok snart å regne. It will probably stop raining soon. De kommer nok i morgen. I think they'll be here tomorrow.

A statement or a demand can be made less harsh by the inclusion of nok:

Du har nok misforstått. You have probably misunderstood. Dere må nok vente litt til. I'm afraid you'll have to wait.

Source: Exploring Norwegian Grammar by Kristi Mac Donald and Marianne MacDonald

[norwegianlearner]

ha en finger med i spillet to have a finger in the pie

Meaning spille en tilbaketrukket, men viktig rolle i noe, være (litt) medskyldig i noe

play a withdrawn but important role in something, be (a little) complicit in something

Haatuft har en finger med i spillet på det meste som rører seg i fjellbygden geilo. (6pack.no/nettguiden/)

Haatuft has a finger in the pie in most things that move in the mountain town Geilo.

History Uttrykket er belagt i engelsk så tidlig som i A Warning for Faire Women fra 1599. I Det gamle testamente er det ikke tale om å ha en finger, men en hånd med i spillet: Kongen spurte: Har ikke Joab hatt en hånd med i dette? (2. Samuelsbok 14,19)

The expression is found in English as early as in A Warning for Faire Women from 1599. In the Old Testament it is not a question of having a finger, but a hand in the game: The king asked, “Isn’t the hand of Joab with you in all this?” (2 Samuel 14:19)