normal for Norfolk
- idiom
- Offensive
:
típico de Norfolk (ofensivo)
- Seeing a man in a tutu riding a bicycle is normal for Norfolk.
Examples
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It's just normal for Norfolk to have a cow wandering down the street.
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The mechanic's odd way of fixing things was considered normal for Norfolk by the locals.
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They shrugged at the unusual tradition, saying it's simply normal for Norfolk.
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Whenever something bizarre happens in that village, people just call it normal for Norfolk.
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The locals said that his unusual way of talking was normal for Norfolk.
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She laughed, saying that the strange decoration in their garden was just normal for Norfolk.
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In that town, having a duck as a pet is considered normal for Norfolk.
Surface Forms
Morphology
A learner who knows 'normal', 'for' and 'Norfolk' can readily derive the basic literal meaning 'typical for Norfolk' (i.e., something is common in that place). However, the ironic/disparaging stereotype — that the phrase marks something as odd elsewhere but unsurprising in Norfolk — is culturally specific and pragmatically nuanced, so the full evaluative sense is not fully predictable.
Etymology
Normal for Norfolk may come from a simple local joke: people thought life in Norfolk was quiet and a bit old-fashioned, so things that seem 'strange' elsewhere were treated as normal there. That's why today people use it to say something is odd for most places but not surprising for that area.
