Skol!

We are using Viking words daily and didn’t even know it: 12 examples

Image: hao qin

The English language has adopted words from multiple other languages into its daily lexicon, and Norse is not an exception. Many terms that we use every day come from very similar-sounding counterparts from our Scandinavian friends. The following 12 examples range from the obvious to the surprising ones. Which ones did you already know about?

Image: Kelly Sikkema

Once you see this one, it becomes almost impossible to unsee it: the word used to define the fourth day of the work week, Thursday, has a Norse origin, meaning "Thor’s day."

Image: REGINE THOLEN

In today's world, we usually associate the word "club" with more civilized instruments, like a golf club. But in its origin, the word was associated with heavy things used as beating weapons, a Viking specialty. The word club came from the Old Norse word of the same meaning, "klubba".

Image: Allef Vinicius

Unsurprisingly, another word that the Vikings gave us is the one used to describe the action of going through a place, stealing things, and causing damage: ransack. This word originates from the Old Norse term "rannsaka".

Image: Luke Jones

A common geographical landscape in England and Scandinavian countries is that shallow water bog with vegetation on its shores. The English word for mire comes from the Old Norse word "myrr".

Image: Knut Troim

The action of throwing an object into the distance is as old as mankind, but the word that the English language uses to describe it stems from the Old Norse word "kasta".

Image: Markus Winkler

The word used to describe the action of clipping something, usually with scissors, also has a Norse origin in the word "klippa".

Image: Pierre Bamin

Violent words are not the only word legacy from the Vikings: the word glitter, used to describe those shiny particles ubiquitous at parties everywhere, comes from the old Norse word "glitra".

Image: Creative Headline

Bags have been around for quite a long time now, but still, the word that the English language has settled on comes from the Old Norse word "baggin".

Image: American Heritage Chocolate

While the cakes from centuries past were probably not as decadent and spectacular as their modern equivalents, they still existed. The English word cake originated from the Old Norse word of the same meaning, "kaka".

Image: Duy Pham

A fellow is a person in the same position, involved in the same activity, or otherwise associated with another individual. This household word comes from the Old Norse word "felagi".

Image: engin akyurt

Whether it is justified or not, anger is a feeling that is easy to associate with Vikings, especially because of their cultural depictions and stereotypes. The word anger itself can be traced to the Old Norse word "angr".

Image: Thomas Curryer

The last entry on our list is the one that describes a married man considered in relation to his spouse. This word originated in a very similar-sounding Norse word: "husbondi".

Lost futures

We were promised jetpacks: 10 futures that never arrived

Image: isaac.

From jetpacks to robot servants, past generations had big dreams for the 21st century. Magazines, sci-fi writers, and even scientists once imagined a future far flashier than today’s reality. But many of these predictions never came true—or at least not in the ways they expected. Here's a roundup of 10 things we were supposed to have mastered by now… but haven’t.

Image: SpaceX

In the 1960s, Bell Aerosystems developed a working jetpack prototype, and the media rushed to predict that personal flight would soon be common.

The Bell Rocket Belt was even showcased at the 1964 World’s Fair, but its 21-second flight limit and high fuel consumption prevented it from achieving mass adoption. Modern versions exist but are expensive and impractical for daily use.

Image: MeSSrro

Popular Mechanics and other similar magazines predicted that flying cars would fill the skies by the turn of the millennium.

Despite prototypes like the quirky Aerocar of the 1950s and today’s advances in vertical takeoff and electric aviation, flying cars remain more dream than reality.

Image: NASA

Another 20th-century dream cut short: after the 1969 moon landing, many experts expected permanent lunar bases by the year 2000.

However, while NASA and many other space agencies proposed moon settlements, political and financial cuts halted long-term plans. Only robotic missions have visited our cosmic companion since 1972.

Image: Mick Haupt

Post-WWII futurists believed that humanity would eventually engineer the weather using satellites or ground tech. Projects like "Project Stormfury" attempted hurricane modification, but the results were inconclusive.

Cloud seeding exists, but its effectiveness is debated, and large-scale weather control remains out of reach.

Image: Possessed Photography

Since the 1950s, popular media such as The Jetsons have promised human-like domestic robots. While Roombas and virtual assistants like Alexa exist, most prototypes of humanoid home robots still struggle with dexterity, reliability, and cost.

Unfortunately, for now, the bulk of household cleaning still falls to humans rather than their long-imagined robotic helpers.

Image: Jerrick Castillo

Visionaries like Jacques Cousteau imagined thriving oceanic cities by the 21st century.

Though experimental habitats like Conshelf and SeaLab were tested, persistent challenges such as pressure and high costs of building make long-term underwater living largely unrealistic.

Image: Riku Lu

Sci-fi from the 1980s often portrayed people learning languages or skills in seconds with the aid of advanced technology.

Brain–computer interfaces do exist, but they remain in early developmental stages, and the idea of "downloading" information directly into the human brain is far beyond the capabilities of current neuroscience.

Image: Michael Pointner

Inspired by shows like Star Trek, people thought teleportation might be real by now.

Quantum teleportation has been achieved at the particle level, but it doesn’t move matter—only quantum states. For now, human teleportation remains firmly in the realm of fiction.

Image: Daniele Franchi

Einstein’s theories sparked dreams of real-life time travel by manipulating relativity.

While time dilation is a real phenomenon observed at extreme speeds and in strong gravitational fields, constructing a machine capable of traveling into the past remains impossible under our current understanding of physics.

Image: Ksenia Yakovleva

Mid-century futurists expected food to eventually be replaced with efficient tablets.

While nutrient pills and protein bars exist, actual meals still require bulk calories and texture, something a pill just can’t provide. Even in specialized environments—like astronauts aboard space stations—the idea remains highly impractical for real diets.