lífsspursmál

From líf (“life”) +‎ spursmál (“problem, question, issue”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlifsˌspʏr̥s.mauːl/

lífsspursmál n (genitive singular lífsspursmáls, nominative plural lífsspursmál)

1. matter of life and death, something very urgent or pressing, an important issue
   • 1946, Halldór Laxness, Sjálfstætt fólk ("Independent People"), chapter 67, page 471:

     Það glöggvar ykkur nú samt, bændurna, að heyra deilt um lífsspursmálin, sagði alþíngismaðurinn. O ekki kalla ég það að deila um lífsspursmál, þó menn segi hverjir öðrum að éta skít í góðu veðri á sunnudegi, einsog stórhöfðingjar gera nú á dögum.

     It nevertheless enlightens you, the farmers, to hear arguments about the existential questions, said the Member of Parliament. Oh, I don't call it arguing about existential questions, though people may tell each other to eat shit in good weather on a Sunday, like fat cats do nowadays.

• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “lífsspursmál”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “lífsspursmál” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)