Tag: language

How I have been Swedified 

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes


After my last blog about Swedish geography, somebody commented that it is hysterical that there is a place in Sweden called Norrbotten. 
This got me thinking. 

When first moving to Sweden and learning the language, I saw all sorts of funny words which made me giggle. Now, some two decades later, I don’t even see those funny words any more – I have been Swedified. 

  • ‘Plopp’ to me is a chocolate bar, and nothing else
  • ‘Puss’ is a kiss and not a little kitty or a body part
  • ‘Kiss’ isn’t a romantic exchange between consenting people. Kiss is urine
  • ‘Slut’ is simply the end of something
  • ‘Avfart’ on a motorway is just the exit 
  • ‘Rea’ is a sale and not an old British singer 
  • ‘Kök’ and ‘kock’ are the kitchen and the chef, not a body part
  • I don’t even see the squidginess of the ‘slutspurt’ any more. All I see is that it’s the end of the sale. 
  • I don’t titter any more when someone says ‘shit’ to describe the putty around the window or the number six is the same as ‘sex’. 
  • ‘Prick’ is a dot and not an insult 

It is with a smidgen of regret that I guess I have been integrated – at least linguistically! 

Swedish farts

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Infart

One of the fun things about learning a foreign language are the words that are rude, or funny in your own language.

Swedish has a few of them: slut, kräpp, plopp, kock, spurt

But the funniest one is probably the most purile; it is the ever prevailing ‘fart’, especially when you see it on street signs. This is the word that has most visitors to Sweden holding their sides with laughter.

Even after all these years, I can still have a little giggle when I think about the word ‘fart’ and its various usages in Swedish. In Swedish, ‘fart’ can mean a lot of things such as speed, drive, route, pace, spirit, vivacity, rate. But it is when it is put together with another word that it becomes amusing. Childish, I know…but here we go…

  1. utfart – ‘out fart’ – exit from a building
  2. uppfart – ‘up fart’ – driveway
  3. infart – ‘in fart’ (sounds painful) – entrance
  4. avfart – ‘of fart’ – exit from a motorway
  5. framfart – ‘forward fart’ (quite an accomplishment) – progress
  6. fartkamera – ‘fart camera’ (didn’t know these existed) – speed camera
  7. kringfart – ‘circular fart’ (also sounds painful) – causeway
  8. fartfylld -‘full of fart’ (know a few people like that) – speedy
  9. krypfart – ‘crawl fart’ – crawl
  10. luftfart – ‘air fart’ (the worst) – air travel
  11. fartrand – ‘fart stripe’ – go faster stripe on a car
  12. maxfart -‘maximum fart’ – top speed
  13. farthållare – ‘fart holder’ (dangerous) – cruise control
  14. blixtfart – ‘flash fart’ – flash speed
  15. fjärrfart -‘distant fart’ – transocean traffic
  16. halvfart – ‘half fart’ – half speed
  17. snigelfart – ‘snail fart’ – snail speed
  18. förbifart – ‘passing fart’ – ring road
  19. fartgräns – ‘fart limit’ – speed limit
  20. marschfart – ‘marching fart’ (like a hit and run!) – cruise speed
  21. överljudsfart – ‘supersonic fart’ (impressive!) – supersonic speed
  22. fartblind – ‘fart blind’ (although deaf is probably preferable) – when you become desensitised to the speed you are driving and stop noticing it

 

 

 

Top ten English words originally from Swedish

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

moped

As we all know, language is organic and we constantly borrow and interchange words between languages. The word kiosk is for example originally Turkish, restaurant is French, gnu is African Knoisan and alcohol is Arabic.

But what words has Sweden contributed with that have been adpoted into English, and even into other languages?

Well, there are a few…

  1. Moped – comes from ‘trampcykel med motor och pedaler’
  2. Smorgasbord – from the Swedish ‘smörgåsbord’ meaning buffet
  3. Gravlax – from the Swedish ‘gravad lax’ meaning cured salmon
  4. Ombudsman – a Swedish word meaning representative
  5. Orienteering – from Sweden’s ‘orientering’
  6. Tungsten – Heavy stone in Swedish
  7. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday – ok, technically Norse but partially Sweden!
  8. To glean – from the Swedish dialectal verb ‘att glena’
  9. Gauntlet – from Sweden’s ‘gatlopp’
  10. Canoodle – debated, but likely to be from Sweden’s word for fornicate – ‘knulla’

This list is probably incomplete. Any other words you would like to add?

The top 10 most satisfying Swedish words to pronounce

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

mumsfillibababba

I’ve spent over 20 years struggling with the Swedish language. Grammar is always a challenge for me – but it is pronunciation that still continues to drag me down.

That said, there are a few Swedish words that I just love to say. They have to be the most fun words in the Swedish language. Here, in no particular order, are my top 10.

  1. Mumsfilibaba – a hysterically satisfying way to say that something is really delicious
  2. Sjuksköterska – the Swedish word for nurse – try saying it after a couple of beers – it’s really fun
  3. Kackerlacka – the Swedish word for cockroach is somewhat onomatopoeic – the perfect way to describe these disgusting little bugs
  4. Sura uppstötningar – horrible to experience acid reflux but really fun to say the word
  5. Smidig – a useful word that’s fun to say and that means everything from easy and adaptable to flexible and pliable and even loose-limbed.
  6. Yxskaft – the handle of an axe – ok not a word that you say very often, but enromously satisfying when you get the chance
  7. Grönsaksbuljongtärning – a long word for a vegetable stock cube. Sometimes I go inte a supermarket and ask a shop assistant where to find them just so I get a chance to say it.
  8. Toppen – an uplifting way to say that all is good
  9. Hjärnsläpp – the Swedish word for drawing a blank. But it doesn’t matter if you can’t remember what you were going to say – because then you get to say ‘hjärnsläpp’ instead.
  10. Bajskorv – childish I know, but the Swedish word for ‘poo sausage’ is just hysterical.

 

Other Swedish words I love are ‘ångestframkallande‘, ‘slickepott’, ‘snöslask’, ‘oroväckande‘, ‘knäckebröd‘, ‘mångata’ and ‘underrättelsetjänsten‘.

What are some of your most satisfying Swedish Words to pronounce?

Let me know in the comments below….

 

 

Trump in Swedish

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

The other day I heard a new Swedish word. I guess it stuck in my head because it felt contemporary. I was so amused by the word that I had to look it up. And imagine my pleasure when I found its definition! 

The Swedish word I’m referring to is ‘trumpen’. Contemporary for obvious reasons, the word is an adjective and translates as the following: 

  • Glum
  • Moody
  • Morose
  • Stuffy
  • Surly 

Could it be more appropriate?! 

Cleaning up the Swedish language

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

  

Every year, SAOL, the Swedish Academy Ordlista (word list), is published. This list includes new additions to the Swedish language and removes or updates old words that are no longer in use. 2015’s list is due to be released next month, and this time, the Academy have made suggestions that clean up the Swedish language by suggesting that we do not use offensive and controversial words. 

Instead of ‘neger’ (nigger), they are suggesting Swedes say ‘black’

Instead of ‘Lapp’, they are recommeding ‘Same’

Instead of ‘zigenare’ (gypsy), they are suggesting ‘Roma’

For me, this is a no-brainer. It is extraordinarily old-fashioned and offensive to continue to use the three listed words above.  I would hope in 2015 that we had come further than this. There are people who will defend the use of these words by saying that they have the right to use what vocabulary they want. Of course, they are correct. That’s called freedom of speech. But having the right to do something doesn’t mean doing it. If by exercising my right I am violating or oppressing others, then I would suggest we make other choices. 

Dirty Swedes and their bad language

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Image

When watching the aftermath of the long-distance skiing on the TV, one of the participating in skiers described the track as difficult. A lot of snow had suddenly come and the interviewee described it as ‘kräksnö’. Directly translated this means ‘vomit snow’ – big flakes that dump into piles on the floor.

What is it with the Swedish fascination for creating emphasis by adding disgusting words to other words???

Other examples are:

 – ‘Snordyrt’ – Snot expensive

 – ‘Asfult’ – Cadavre ugly

– ‘Skitroligt’ – Shit fun

– ‘Knullrufs‘ – Fuck hair

– ‘Kukjävel’ – Cock idiot

– ‘Fisförnäm‘ – Fart noble (snobby)

 

And you thought Swedes were politely spoken?!  

Swedes number one in the English-speaking league – but at what cost?

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

In a recent survey, Swedes came out as having the best English in Europe (as a foreign language). They were in the number 1 position, together with Malta, who have English as an official language. Today, a national newspaper presented school results which showed that Swedish students score higher in English than they do in Swedish. In fact, Swedish results are in decline.

I guess this isn’t surprising when you think of how much English is used in daily life in Sweden. Very often, an English word is thrown into the conversation even if there is a perfectly good Swedish word to use. This, coupled with music and media, reflects the fact that English knowledge is on the up.

I think this is a good thing. The world is more and more globalized and today’s kids are tomorrow’s workers, and many of them will be operating in a world of languages other than Swedish. The most worrying part of this development is that Swedish results are down. Every year, small languages become extinct around the world – is this something we can expect of Swedish in centuries to come?