Blame it on the rodeos, the enormous cowboy hats, the passion for high school football or the Bush dynasty: Texas is so nuts it's become synonymous with "crazy" in Norway, according to a Tumblr thread discussing use of the word first reported on by Texas Monthly.
The pub compiled multiple instances of Norwegian speakers using the word online, including a police chief describing a situation concerning reckless foreign truck drivers as, roughly translated, "absolutely Texas" and a story about a fisherman's uncommon swordfish sighting being, also roughly translated, "totally Texas."
Often used in the context of the phrase "det var helt Texas," loosely meaning "it was totally/absolutely/completely bonkers," the term specifically refers to a chaotic atmosphere, Texas Monthly reports.
Anne Ekern of the Norwegian consulate in Houston suggested its use goes back to "watching cowboy movies and reading literature about the wild West," according to NPR.
By now, it's such a widely known phrase that Norwegian restaurant Dolly Dimple's used the "helt Texas" sentiment to describe its pizza deal in a fun and bizarre cowboy-themed commercial.
The second most populous state in the US, Texas is home to 27 million people (estimated), according to a US Census press release published in late 2014.
