I remember the first time I visited Skåne, in the south of Sweden. I flew to Malmö airport and boarded the bus to the city. As I boarded, the driver looked up at me and spoke. Now, I thought I could speak Swedish, but I didn’t understand a word the driver said.
I asked him to repeat. He repeated. And I still didn’t understand a thing.
You see, he wasn’t speaking Swedish. Well not as I know it. He was speaking Skånish -the dialect they have in this part of Sweden. And to me, it was indecipherable.
He might as well have speaking Swahili.
Now many years later, after 3 years of living in Skåne and very many visits, I can understand the dialect a little better. But still, it is really difficult. I always get my partner to make phone calls to plumbers, electricians and the like when we need help around the house. I know I probably won’t be able to understand a thing they say to me.
To help me in my language development, a friend gave me a dictionary. It is a Swedish-Skånish dictionary, and I recommend it to anyone venturing into this part of the country and to anyone who thought they could speak Swedish.
Here are some gems:
Potato
Potatis (Swedish), Pantoffel, Pantålla (Skånish)
Penis
Penis (Swedish), Koddastake (Skånish)
Strong coffee
Starkt kaffe (Swedish), Rävegift (Skånish)
Garden
Trädgård (Swedish), Have (Skånish)
Clothes
Kläder (Swedish), Töj (Skånish)
Skåne used to be a part of Denmark, so they use some danish words, like “have” and “töj”. “Rävegift” literally means “fox poison”.
I live in Skåne and agree that the dialect takes some getting used to! However, I have never heard any of the words you’ve mentioned! I will need to listen out a bit more!