Tag: translation

25 Swedish False Friends

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Sorry to potentially disappoint you but this post isn’t about the deceitful nature of Swedish people. It’s about a linguistic concept known as the ‘false friend’.

When we are learning a foreign language, there are many words that are similar in our own language and in the language that we are trying to learn. In some cases, these words have the same meaning and that’s all good. In other cases, these similar-sounding words have different meanings and trick us into a fake sense of security – these words are called bilingual homophones or ‘false friends’.

The origin of the term is as a shortened version of the expression “false friend of a translator”, the English translation of a French expression introduced by linguists Maxime Kœssler and Jules Derocquigny in their 1928 book, ‘False Friends, or the Pitfalls of the English Vocabulary’.

So prepare yourself. Here are 25 false friends between Swedish and English:

    ‘Eventuellt’ in Swedish does not mean ‘eventually’ in English. It means ‘possibly’.
    ‘Smälla’ (pronounced smella) in Swedish means ‘burst’, not ‘smell’
    ‘Advokat’ in Swedish does not mean ‘advocate’, it means ‘lawyer’.
    ‘Vrist’ is your ‘ankle’, not your ‘wrist’
    ‘Ansvar’ is responsibility, not ‘answer’
    ‘Nöt’ (kött) is not ‘nut’, it is the Swedish word for ‘beef’. ‘Biff’ isn’t ‘beef’, it’s more of a burger or a beef steak
    ‘Blankett’ in Swedish doesn’t mean ‘blanket’. It is the word for a ‘form’ that one fills in.
    ‘Kind’ (pronounced shind) isn’t ‘chin’ or ‘shin’. It is the Swedish word for ‘cheek’.
    ‘Kock’ is the Swedish word for ‘chef’. Say no more. ‘Chef’ is the Swedish word for ‘manager’.
    ‘Konkurrera’ does not mean ‘concur’. Quite the opposite in fact, it means ‘compete’.
    ‘Kostym’ isn’t ‘costume’. It means ‘suit’.
    ‘Delikat’ means ‘delicious’, not ‘delicate’.
    ‘Fabrik’ means ‘factory’, not ‘fabric’
    ‘Familjär’ sounds like it would mean ‘familiar’. But it doesn’t, it means ‘intimate’ in English.
    ‘Grind’ doesn’t mean ‘grind’ in English. It is the Swedish word for a ‘gate’.
    ‘Hammock’ sounds like it would be ‘hammock’ in English but it isn’t – it is the word for a ‘porch swing’.
    ‘Hugga’ won’t get you a hug in Swedish, it’ll get you a ‘stab’
    ‘Kiss’ isn’t a loving kiss in Swedish. It is the word for pee/piss. Something altogether different.
    If you ask for a ‘pensel’ in Sweden, you won’t get a ‘pencil’ – you’ll get a paintbrush,
    ‘Recept’ means ‘recipe’ or ‘prescription’ – not ‘receipt’
    ‘Stol’ is not a ‘stool’. It’s a chair.
    ‘Vikarie’ isn’t ‘vicar’. It’s a stand-in or a replacement.
    ‘Blinka’ is not ‘blink’, it is ‘to wink’. And ‘vinka’ is ‘to wave’.
    ‘Necessär’ isn’t ‘necessary’. It is what Swedes call their ‘toiletary bag’ or ‘wash bag’.
    If you give somebody ‘dricks’, you are giving them a ‘tip’, not a drink.

What others can you think of?

Swedish False Friends

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Sorry to potentially disappoint you but this post isn’t about the deceitful nature of Swedish people. It’s about a linguistic concept known as the ‘false friend’.

When we are learning a foreign language, there are many words that are similar in our own language and in the language that we are trying to learn. In some cases, these words have the same meaning and that’s all good. In other cases, these similar-sounding words have different meanings and trick us into a fake sense of security – these words are called bilingual homophones or ‘false friends’.

The origin of the term is as a shortened version of the expression “false friend of a translator”, the English translation of a French expression introduced by linguists Maxime Kœssler and Jules Derocquigny in their 1928 book, ‘False Friends, or the Pitfalls of the English Vocabulary’.

So prepare yourself. Here are 25 false friends between Swedish and English:

    ‘Eventuellt’ in Swedish does not mean ‘eventually’ in English. It means ‘possibly’.
    ‘Smälla’ (pronounced smella) in Swedish means ‘burst’, not ‘smell’
    ‘Advokat’ in Swedish does not mean ‘advocate’, it means ‘lawyer’.
    ‘Vrist’ is your ‘ankle’, not your ‘wrist’
    ‘Ansvar’ is responsibility, not ‘answer’
    ‘Nöt’ (kött) is not ‘nut’, it is the Swedish word for ‘beef’. ‘Biff’ isn’t ‘beef’, it’s more of a burger or a beef steak
    ‘Blankett’ in Swedish doesn’t mean ‘blanket’. It is the word for a ‘form’ that one fills in.
    ‘Kind’ (pronounced shind) isn’t ‘chin’ or ‘shin’. It is the Swedish word for ‘cheek’.
    ‘Kock’ is the Swedish word for ‘chef’. Say no more. ‘Chef’ is the Swedish word for ‘manager’.
    ‘Konkurrera’ does not mean ‘concur’. Quite the opposite in fact, it means ‘compete’.
    ‘Kostym’ isn’t ‘costume’. It means ‘suit’.
    ‘Delikat’ means ‘delicious’, not ‘delicate’.
    ‘Fabrik’ means ‘factory’, not ‘fabric’
    ‘Familjär’ sounds like it would mean ‘familiar’. But it doesn’t, it means ‘intimate’ in English.
    ‘Grind’ doesn’t mean ‘grind’ in English. It is the Swedish word for a ‘gate’.
    ‘Hammock’ sounds like it would be ‘hammock’ in English but it isn’t – it is the word for a ‘porch swing’.
    ‘Hugga’ won’t get you a hug in Swedish, it’ll get you a ‘stab’
    ‘Kiss’ isn’t a loving kiss in Swedish. It is the word for pee/piss. Something altogether different.
    If you ask for a ‘pensel’ in Sweden, you won’t get a ‘pencil’ – you’ll get a paintbrush,
    ‘Recept’ means ‘recipe’ or ‘prescription’ – not ‘receipt’
    ‘Stol’ is not a ‘stool’. It’s a chair.
    ‘Vikarie’ isn’t ‘vicar’. It’s a stand-in or a replacement.
    ‘Blinka’ is not ‘blink’, it is ‘to wink’. And ‘vinka’ is ‘to wave’.
    ‘Necessär’ isn’t ‘necessary’. It is what Swedes call their ‘toiletary bag’ or ‘wash bag’.
    If you give somebody ‘dricks’, you are giving them a ‘tip’, not a drink.

What others can you think of?

22 Swedish farts

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

outfart or infart dr heckle funny wtf signs

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

 

If you like this, please share it. Let’s see if we can share some farts over social media!

Also, please follow me on Instagram, where I put up other content – films and pics! #watchingtheswedes

Thanks!

 

 

Weird Swedish rhubarb

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

rhubarb

Watching TV this morning, I heard an expression I have never heard before in Swedish. It was an idiom – ‘att lägga rabarber på nåt’. Translated into English directly that is ‘to put rhubarb on something’.

This is a great example of an idiom and the fascinating thing about idioms is when translated directly, they mean nothing to those who are not initiated. But they have a clear and obvious meaning to those who understand its context. ‘Att lägga rabarber på nåt’ in English idiom would be something like ‘to stake a claim on something’ – in itself an idiom.

But why are Swedes putting rhubarb on things when they want them for themselves? Isn’t that a bit weird? Not when you understand where the saying comes from.

From the beginning, the expression was ‘att lägga embargo på nåt’ – embargo not rhubarb. The word embargo at that time was an unknown, strange word borrowed from Spanish and it meant ‘confiscate’. As it was an unusual word, it became quickly switched out for a more familiar similar-sounding one and ’embargo’ became ‘rabarber.’