Norwegians have been using the word 'Texas' as slang to describe anything crazy

In America, we occasionally use Scandinavian countries like Denmark and Sweden in a sentence to describe an idealized, highly-efficient society that can never be attained here.

In Scandinavian countries, specifically Norway, meanwhile, ‘Texas” is being used to mean “crazy,” according to Texas Monthly’s Dan Solomon.

Solomon did some digging after spotting a Tumblr post that indicated “Texas” had entered the Norwegian lexicon as an adjective. He found multiple news articles in which individuals dropped in the term “Texas” to describe a chaotic, overwhelming situation.

For instance, last year a police chief described an onslaught of international truck drivers into the country as “absolutely Texas.”

Or below, you can literally see “Texas” appended to the URL of an article about a crazy fishing story involving a large swordfish:

“http://www.nrk.no/troms/_-det-var-helt-texas_-1.12445137”

“…It jumped out in the fjord. I got to see some of it before I took up the camera…It was totally texas!”

The word is usually used in the construction “det var helt texas,” which means, “It was completely Texas.” Googling this turns up numerous results. For instance, I found the adjective in an article about disorganized maternity wards:

“At the hospital, the expectant mother was moved hither and thither, of capacity reasons. ‘It was entirely Texas there,’ she said.”

Texas is not the only American locale to be repurposed as an adjective in a foreign language. The French have begun describing hipster-type things as “tres Brooklyn.”

But Solomon writes that use of “Texas” in Norway probably dates back decades. As you can probably tell it is basically used to connote the Wild West.

As a result, he is mostly proud of how it is used.

“When considering what “Texas” means to the world,” Solomon concludes, “it’s fascinating to realize just how far and wide our fabled culture spreads.”

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.