7 ways to say that you're NOT doing fine!

Nei, det går IKKE bra!

So, you probably know the basic answer to the question "hvordan går det (med deg)?" and "hvordan har du det?"  "det går bra" / "jeg har det bra".

But what if you've had a really cr*ppy day, someone passed away or you're just not happy? How can you express this in a discrete way that doesn't make you look like a whiner? 

If somebody asks you "hvordan går det?", here are some suggestions, my friend :)

1. Sånn passe
-> Litterally "approximately fitting" (which doesnt't make a lot of sense in itself). This very commen answer means "it's going (or I'm doing) not too good"

2. Tja, det kunne gått bedre
-> "Tja" is a word that expresses the hesitation between "yes" and "no". The rest means "it could be going better" or "it could have been going better".

3. Jeg kan (vel) ikke klage
-> "Vel" here means "I guess". "I guess I can't complain."

4. Det går (helt) greit.
-> "It's going (barely) OK". The "helt" in this context is an indicator that it's going "barely" OK (not more, not less than OK). In others contexts, "helt" means "completely".

5. (Joda), det går (nå). 
-> "At least it's going". The "nå" in this phrase means "at least". The "joda" indicates an attempt to add some false optimism about the situation.

6. Sånn midt på treet. 
-> "Approximately on the middle of the tree" (I'm ok). 

7. Nei, hva kan jeg si? 
-> "Well, what can I say?" If the other person knows about your situation and what you're going through, this is a good answer to tell the person that things are not going well because of your (known) situation, and that it might be a bit difficult for you to talk about it. 

As you can see, in dialogs, you'll find a lot of small words that tell you something about how the person is feeling about what he/she is saying ("joda", "nå", "vel", "tja"). This kind of words might also have other literal meanings that don't make any sense here.

If you find this difficult, don't worry! You'll definitely hear these sentences and words over and over again when you talk to Norwegians. You'll learn them eventually ;) 

Have a nice week! Take care!
Ha ei fin uke! Ta vare på deg selv!