 | ||
Ola Nordmann is a national personification of Norwegians, either for individuals or collectively. It is also used as a placeholder name. The female counterpart is Kari Nordmann, and collectively they are referred to as Ola og Kari Nordmann.
Contents
As a national personification
The media often uses "Ola Nordmann" to describe trends in the population.
For example: A headline in a newspaper that reads Norwegians consume less milk could just as well read Ola Nordmann drinks less milk.
Caricatures of Ola Nordmann as a national personification of Norway usually depict him as a blond-haired man dressed in bunad-like traditional folk clothing and wearing a woollen red top cap - the traditional headwear of a Norwegian gnome or nisse. This headwear was also worn by the traditional Norwegian farmer, mostly in the old Norwegian farm culture. In the romantic national period, the farmer often came to represent the Norwegian people as a whole, hence the representation.
As a placeholder name
Ola Nordmann is also used as a default name in examples used to guide people in how to fill in forms etc.(Similar to John Doe or John Q. Public). In legal examples, Peder Ås is often used as a placeholder name instead.
Etymology
Ola is a common male first name in Norway (derived from Olav/Olaf), and Nordmann is a demonym for a Norwegian, i.e. "Ola Norwegian".
Kari Nordmann
The female equivalent or variant is personified as Kari Nordmann, "Kari and Ola Nordmann" is often used together to describe the archetypical Norwegian family or household.
In popular culture
The Norwegian group Plumbo sang "Ola Nordmann" during the 2012 Melodi Grand Prix in a bid to represent Norway in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The song talks about the Ola Nordmann character. Although reaching the Final 4, the song failed to qualify as the winning song for Norway.