Questions about Norwegian Songs/Rhymes “Comin a man” and “Panneben”

Jennifer wrote…

My mom’s Norwegian father taught her two little ditties and I would love to know if we have them correct and what the correct spelling is. I’m going to spell phonetically…

Comin a man
Loppin a stoppin
Ca-sis ta-baggin
ta-bick-en ta-boose (tickle, tickle)

and

Panabene (point to forehead)
Oyestene (point to eyes)
Nasatip (point to nose)
Monalip (point to lip)
Hagafip (point to chin)
(tickle under chin

Thank you! Jennifer – granddaughter of Tobias Trygsland

Please comment below if you can help Jennifer.

Thanks!

Lisa

Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Norway Page for Norwegian songs and rhymes.

This article was posted on Sunday, May 7th, 2006 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Languages, Norway, Norwegian, Norwegian Nursery Rhymes, Nursery Rhymes, Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

17 Responses to “Questions about Norwegian Songs/Rhymes “Comin a man” and “Panneben””

  1. Tor Gisvold Says:

    I’m unable to do the first ditty – but the second I actually remember Panneben, øyesten, øreflipp, nesetipp, munnelipp, hakeslipp og dikkedikkedikk!

    Tor-Arne

  2. Lisa Says:

    Thanks for the quick response!

  3. Jennifer Says:

    Yes, thank you. It’s neat to have the correct spelling and pronounciation and we even missed “ears” :)

    Another question is if oye means eye what is the “sten” part and the same for all the other words. We looked in Nor/Eng dictionary without answers.

    Thanks in advance if you know :) J.

  4. Tor Gisvold Says:

    Sten literally means “stone” – so the whole thing can probably better be translated as “Apple of my eye”. Do bear in mind that in parts of Norway we traditionally have a dish which is half a sheeps head, including the eye. The center of the eye looks very much like a stone, and can’t be eaten, this is where I believed that the “stone” part came from as a kid.

  5. Madspoon Says:

    I am writing some blogs on Norway at the moment… was just searching to see if this sheeps head was true and it is!!!

  6. Lisa Says:

    If you ever taste it, you’ll have to let us know what it’s like!

  7. Lisa Says:

    I was able to find these English translations for the Norwegian words for Panneben…

    Panne = forehead
    ben=bone
    øye = eye
    sten = stone
    øre = ear
    flipp = ?
    nese = nose
    tipp = tip
    munn = mouth
    elipp = ?
    hake = chin
    slipp = ?
    og = and
    dikkedikkedikk = ? = I assume this is a nonsense word you say while tickling.

    Here’s what I came up with as an English translation, taking into account the English definitions above, and trying to keep the sounds like the original Norwegian version…

    Forehead bone,
    Eye stone,
    Ear flap,
    Nose tip,
    Mouth lip,
    Chin slip,
    And tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle!

    I welcome any help, comments or suggestions!

    -Lisa

  8. Lisa Says:

    Monique wrote me, I’ve searched for this rhyme on the internet, and for the last word, many have “hakesnipp” and “snipp” is “collar” = goatee. I also found that øreflipp = earlobe.

    This is the best Norwegian dictionary I’ve found at…

    http://www.freedict.com/onldict/nor.html

  9. Alex Says:

    Hey lisa, i need some help with something. Im trying to find some noregian nursery rhymes that i can copy onto a cd for my sisters girl scout world day thing and i cant find any.Could you help

  10. Siri Trygsland Solås Says:

    This is a message to Jennifer, the granddaughter of Tobias Trygsland. If you read this, please contact me and send a mail to siritrygsland@hotmail.com. I would like to get some information about your family. I live in Norway and am a relative of you.

  11. Howard Says:

    Mother mother often repeated that to me when I was little. She was Danish. From what I remember, I would spell the phrases phonetically exactly as Jennifer did (including leaving the ears/earlobes out.)

  12. Christopher Says:

    The first one reminds me of one that begins like this…

    Det kommer en mann,
    krypendes, kravlendes,
    (….)
    (….)tickle tickle.

  13. Kaylah Says:

    How to you spell and pronounce “sisters” in Norwegian?

  14. Katherine Andersen Says:

    Hello! My grandfather taught me this ditty as a young child as well. Except, he ended the song with sisabear, sisabear, sisabear. I am so thrilled to find someone else who has heard this song before! Does anyone know what part of Norway it came from or how old it is? Thanks so much! Kate Andersen

  15. G. M. Johnson Says:

    I hadn’t heard this, byt my Uncle Guy Johnson (born 1893 in Yellowmedicine County Minn.) told all of his children the names of the fingers and toes.

  16. Siri Randem Says:

    Hi, I know two similar rhymes in Norwegian:

    Det kom en rev A fox came
    luskendes, labbendes slinking along, pawing his way
    oppover bakken up the hill
    med gåsa på nakken with a goose on his neck
    og tok en liten mus and caught a little mouse
    som sa: “pip, pip” who said: “pip, pip” (under the chin)

    Det kom en mann A man came
    løpende, stoppende a-running, a-stopping
    oppover bakken up the hill
    med sekken på nakken With the sack (rucksack) on his back (neck)

    Tickle-rhymes.

    Best regards,

    Siri Randem

  17. Lisa Says:

    Can anyone help with this question below about a Norwegian song?

    “The only parts of the song I remember from my grandpa is: saga saga soscavignoga I think that’s how its spelled can you please help me I want to sing it to my grandkids to keep our heritage alive. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance.”

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