每日英語跟讀 Ep.K456: About Norway - Ikea Norway offers help with baby names after COVID-19 boom

Have you thought about Malm, Kivik or Trotten?

你可曾想過以馬爾姆、奇維克或卓登來命名？

Swedish retailer Ikea is known for the distinctive names of its flat-pack home products. The company’s Norway branch wants to use the experience to help parents.

瑞典家具零售商宜家家居的組合式家具，因擁有特殊名字而出名。挪威分公司希望運用這個經驗幫助天下父母。

Ikea Norway has built "a name bank" with more than 800 listings available on its website. The names are drawn from ones Ikea has given to its furniture since 1948.

挪威宜家家居已創建「名字銀行」網站，收錄超過800組名字，而這些名字都是該公司1948年後為家具產品取的名字。

Ikea usually names its products after Swedish towns, lakes and other geographical features instead of product numbers.

宜家家居經常以瑞典城鎮、湖泊和其他地理特徵為產品命名，而非使用編號。

The branch noted that while retailers saw both a shortage of raw materials and challenges with delivery times during the COVID-19 pandemic, "there is at least no shortage of children" in Norway.

挪威分公司提到，雖然零售業者在新冠肺炎期間遭遇原料短缺和配送時間挑戰，「但在挪威至少沒出現缺少小孩的狀況。」

Norway registered the births of 56,060 babies last year, or 3,081 more than in 2020.

挪威去年增加5萬6060名新生兒，比2020年多3081名。

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Norway tells conscripts to return underwear after service 挪威要士兵服役結束後歸還內衣褲

Conscripts in Norway have been ordered to return their underwear, bras and socks after the end of their military service so that the next group of recruits can use them.

挪威下令義務役人員在役期結束後歸還內衣褲、胸罩和襪子，以便下一梯次可以使用。

The Norwegian military said that it is struggling with dwindling supplies, in part due to the pandemic.

挪威軍方說，他們正苦於庫存減少的狀況，部分原因是疫情造成。

Until recently, the roughly 8,000 young men and women who every year do their military service returned their outer clothing but were allowed to leave barracks with the underwear and socks they were issued.

此前，每年約8000名年輕男、女性在服完兵役後，都被要求歸還外衣，但可以帶著獲配發的內衣褲和襪子離開軍營。

Military service is mandatory for both men and women in Norway and lasts between 12 and 19 months.

挪威的男、女性都有義務當兵，役期介於12至19個月之間。

NATO-member Norway’s national defense magazine, Forsvarets Forum, reported that it was not the first time that the Armed Forces had struggled with such shortcomings, with a spokesman saying it "has been a recurring problem" for years.

挪威是北大西洋公約組織（NATO）成員，其國防期刊Forsvarets Forum報導，這不是挪威軍隊第一次遭遇物品短缺，一名發言人還表示，這是多年來不斷發生的問題。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1541446 ; https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/paper/1516836