The verb thorbjorning means to give someone their reward before they have accomplished what they set out to do. The verb was originally coined by New York Times columnist Yoni Brenner in 2009, when Thorbjørn Jagland, a Norwegian
politician and chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize to
Barack Obama for his good intentions rather than any actual accomplishments. The deadline for nominations for the prize was only
11 days after Obama was sworn in as President. Thorbjørn Jagland was ridiculed for his decision and described as a
fool by politicians like Alexander Downer and much of the world press, and the award as an embarassment to Obama. In the past Jagland was also often ridiculed in Norway for his statements and actions, including his ultimatum that his cabinet would resign if his party received less than 36.9% of the popular vote in 1997, which it subsequently did, and quotes like "We will come again, yes, we are here already", "We put the foot down and stand on it" and "I usually
don'
t look backwards, nor do i look forward".
