A guy whose girlfriend is from Norway shared ’10 Norwegian quirks the British mind can’t understand’ and it’s an eye-opening culture clash for the ages

Poke Staff. Updated November 3rd, 2026

Have a couple of add ons to this:

Everyone say’s «hi» to each other when hiking

Every year we sell toilet paper to each other to fund tournament-participation for our kids Football-teams

— Espen Knoph Svendsen (@YungSvendsen) October 9, 2024

That's it!

Hope you enjoyed.

I'll be sharing more observations on Norwegian culture going forward as I integrate into this fascinating society. pic.twitter.com/bwhgUDwYvO

— Thomas Hornall (@Thomashornall) October 9, 2024

Thomas’ post ended up going viral, leading to a discussion about British quirks on Sara Cox’s show on Radio 2.

My thread made @BBCRadio2.

Inspired segment on “British Quirks” after I listed Norwegian oddities.

The “Glaswegian-Norwegian” is taking off

Thanks @sarajcox for this fun bit! pic.twitter.com/HNz5xrMYdT

— Thomas Hornall (@Thomashornall) October 10, 2024

And here’s just some of the love for Thomas’ thoughts.

When I was in Finland I got drunk with my finnish friend. Next day he mentioned about „speaking norwegian” after the party. Then he explained that „speaking norwegian” means vomiting in Finland 😀

— Emil (@Emilnowak123) October 9, 2024

Haha, I can relate to some of those. My partner is Danish. We constantly debate how to tell the time correctly, and why they leave babies outside cafes in their prams. 🙈 She speaks multiple languages and is better at English than me. 😂 Key word in our house is Hygge ☺️

— CopelandC (@CopelandViews) October 9, 2024

Had some Norwegian family friends stay over this week. They brought us brown cheese and a cheese slicer as gifts, and we discussed how my friend kept his kids in a pram in the cold when they were babies. Are we/they a stereotype..? 👀 https://t.co/nNuyhGMNJQ

— Emily Hodson (@e_hodson) October 9, 2024

The biggest thing I struggled with when I lived in Norway was their hatred of small talk 😭 a Norwegian friend told me that I was upsetting cashiers by asking about their day etc. also didn’t like that I would raise my hand to thank cars at crossings and asked if it was a tic !!

— 🌸 kira 🌸 (@matty_murdock) October 9, 2024

This has convinced me to move to Norway https://t.co/vgxAZ9wwgL

— Resident Sad Girl 🎃🕸 (@emmakatehate) October 9, 2024

Most of those quirks are common all around the Nordic countries, especially in Sweden, Finland and Norway.

— Harri Vasara (@harrivasara) October 9, 2024

– “Halv to” messed me up multiple times.
– Still don’t understand pålegg
– Bags on the grocery store cost money, but the grocery store keeps roll of free recyclable bags outside
– Hei and Hallo aren’t the same, Hallo is sort of stern or rude

— William (@iChuloo) October 9, 2024

I was raised and schooled in Norway. Great list. Add: funny names for things (like grønnsaker – green things (vegetables), kjempevesp-giant wasp (hornet)) and salt liquorice. Vile. As is brunost. Hated it. Packed for school lunches at least once a week. Picked it out every time.

— Elizabeth Roberts (@docrobertsdiet) October 10, 2024

The American mind cannot comprehend having an Outside Baby™️

— T Money (@AlwaysPlayerToo) October 9, 2024

Source @Thomashornall

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