It feels like it has rained for ever in Stockholm this summer. We awaken to rain, we walk in the rain, we come home in the rain, and we go to bed to the sound of the rain. Around the country, rivers have broken their banks, streets are flooded, roads collapsed and trains derailed.
I guess to some degree the wetness is positive as it is replenishing the water magazines that have dried out, and soaking the forest beds to prevent any potential fires.
In English, we have lots of words for rain, with some fun ones such as drizzle, mizzle, sleet, spit and ‘ache and pain’.
So I became curious about how many Swedish rain-related words there are – other than the word for rain – ‘regn’. Here are 18 that I found:
- Duggregn – a light rain, spit
- Dusk – drizzle
- Snöblandad regn – sleet
- Hällregn – heavy rain, pouring down
- Ösregn – torrential rain
- Skyfall – sudden heavy rain, a cloud burst
- Skur – shower
- Störtregn – heavy rain, a downpour
- Skval – constant, uninterrupted rain
- Sommarregn – light, summer rain
- Regnby – rain shower
- Slagregn – heavy rain, a deluge
- Glopp – rain with large snow flakes in
- Arlaregn – refreshing morning rain
- Strilregn – steady rain
- Nederbörd – precipitation
- Dagsregn – precipitation
- Rotblöta – a large amount of rain, usually in the summer
- Spöregn – very heavy rain
So the next time, look out of the window and see what word best describes the rain outside. It might at least give you a few seconds of distraction in this wet drudge.
Any other Swedish words for rain that you’d like to add to the list?
Watching the Swedes 