But to Norwegians, it is also a word that frequently crops up in everyday conversation - often in the phrase "Der var helt texas!" [That was very completely/totally texas!].

 

The word is slang for "crazy" or "wild" and is used to refer to a chaotic¹ atmosphere, Texas Monthly first reported.

 

It became part of the language when Norwegians started watching cowboy movies and reading Western literature, according to Daniel Gusfre Ims, the head of the advisory² service at the Language Council of Norway.

 

"The genre³ was extremely popular inNorway, and a lot of it featuredTexas, so the word became a symbol of something lawless and without control," he says.

 

Its first usage dates back to 1957, when it appeared in a novel by Vegard Vigerust called The Boy who wanted to buy Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The author writes "he would make it even more texas in the village?".

 

Nowadays, the word is widespread all overNorway. It's frequently used in the phrase "helt texas" [completely crazy], which has appeared in Norwegian newspapers 50 times this year, he says.

 

It's often used negatively, but not always. "It could be a party out of control, a class out of control, or traffic. It could also be used by someone who had sold many products," he says.

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