Um ærsl, busl og usl í orðasamböndum

Abstract

<b>On ærsl, busl and usl in Icelandic idioms</b>
In Icelandic literary sources, idioms containing the word pairs <i>ærsl</i> og <i>busl</i> or <i>usl</i> og <i>busl</i> are found (always with different determiners). Examples almost exclusively stem from the 19th century, the oldest (<i>ærsl og busl</i>) dating from 1802.

At present, these idioms seem to have been almost universally forgotten, even though <i>usl</i> og <i>busl</i> is found in the latest edition of Íslensk orðabók (2002). In the paper, the story of these idioms is traced and remarks on the nature of such idioms and some their properties are included.