jólaköttur

Icelandic

FWOTD – 5 January 2019

Etymology

From jól (“Christmas”) +‎ köttur (“cat”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈjouːlaˌkʰœhtʏr/

Noun

jólaköttur m (genitive singular jólakattar, nominative plural jólakettir)

  1. (mythology) the Yule cat: a monster known for eating children who do not receive clothes for Christmas.
    Fékkstu ný föt í jólagjöf eða ferðu í jólaköttinn í ár?
    Did you get new clothes for Christmas or are you going in the Yule cat this year?
    • 2004 December 12, Elínrós Líndal, “Jólaföt á smáfólkið”, in Morgunblaðið‎[1], →ISSN, →OCLC:
      Í slíkum undirbúningi skiptir máli að fjölskyldan fjárfesti í huggulegum hátíðarklæðum, til að komast hjá því að lenda í bíræfnum klóm jólakattarins.
      In such preparations it is hugely important that the family invests in cozy festive clothing, in order to avoid landing in the audacious claws of the Yule cat.

Declension

Declension of jólaköttur (masculine, based on köttur)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative jólaköttur jólakötturinn jólakettir jólakettirnir
accusative jólakött jólaköttinn jólaketti jólakettina
dative jólaketti jólakettinum jólaköttum jólaköttunum
genitive jólakattar jólakattarins jólakatta jólakattanna

Derived terms

  • fara í jólaköttinn (“not getting new garments for Christmas”)

References

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