Swedish Language Blog

Since I am stuck in bed with a nasty bug today, I will ruthlessly steal this brilliant list from the always equally brilliant page The Local. 10 Swedish words that you won’t find in English (click here for the full story). I have written about this topic before, missing simple words like bakfylleångest (hangover anxiety), kissnödig (in need of a wee) and träningsvärk (achy muscles after a work out) -words that pretty much speak for themselves. This list is slighty different, but boy do we use most of these words in the Swedish daily language. In other words, get a paper and a pen and take notes, friends!

1. Orka
This verb is a tremendously common word in the Swedish language meaning “to have the energy.
Ex: Jag orkar att gå uppför trapporna (I have the energy to walk up the stairs)

2. Harkla
It’s used to describe that little coughing noise one makes, often before giving a speech or dislodging cinnamon bun pieces from their throat.
Ex: Jag måste harkla mig! (I must dislodge something from my throat!)

3. Hinna
This is an enormously common verb in Swedish, meaning “to find the time” or “to be on time”.
Ex: Hoppas att jag hinner till tåget! (Hopefully I will make it to the train in time!)

4. Blunda
To close your eyes, or to turn a blind eye.
Ex: Blunda så ska du få en överrraskning! (Close your eyes and you will get a surprise!)

5. Mysa
We almost have this in English with the word snuggle, but if you’re gonna be mysering in Swedish, you can do it with someone, alone, or even in a café – perhaps “to cosy up” fits the bill.
Ex: Ikväll ska jag mysa framför tv:n! (Tonight, I will cosy up in front of the telly!)

6. Vabba
This is becoming increasingly popular in Sweden, and is short for Vård Av Barn (meaning “to be at home because the children need taking care of, but you get paid for it from the government”). In fact, Swedes have even taken to calling February “Vabruary” due to such common child sicknesses.

7. Duktig
Anyone who has learnt Swedish will have heard this one by encouraging Swedes. It means “good at it”, or “talented at it”.
Ex: Du är så duktig på att prata svenska! (You are really good at speaking Swedish!)

8. Jobbig
In terms of common words, you can’t spend a day in Sweden without coming across this word. It can mean troublesome or trying, annoying or difficult, about people, things, events – almost anything. It’s a real all-encompassing word.
Ex: Matte är så himla jobbigt! (Maths is so very difficult!)

9. Gubbe/Gumma
Here is a two-for-one package meaning “old man/old lady” and rather endearingly – that is, if you’re saying them in an affectionate voice. In fact, they can be coupled with “lilla gubben” to mean “little guy” for a boy, or “lilla gumman” for a girl.
Ex: Hon är en söt liten gumma (She is a cute little old lady)

10. Mormor/farmor/morfar/farfar
As well as being a tongue twister for the rookie Swedish learner, this combination is a brilliant selection of words we desperately need in English. These are the words for your grandparents – (Mothermother, fathermother, motherfather, fatherfather).

Gingerbread gubbe and gumma!

Humerous way of looking at Sweden and Swedes

Most of these phenomenon are probably known to you, I as a Swede know of them but still enjoyed reading, so I thought I’d share. Either you know you have lived in Sweden too long, or you know you’re a true Swede when you recognize yourself in most of the following:

When a stranger on the street smiles at you, you assume:

a: he is drunk

b: he is insane

c: he’s an American

d: he’s all of the above

Your coffee consumption exceeds 6 cups a day and coffee is too weak if there is less than 10 scoops per pot.

The first thing you do upon entering a bank/post office/chemist etc. is to look for the queue number machine.

You accept that you have to queue to take a queue number.

You associate pea soup with Thursday. (You have to be Swedish or at least live in Sweden to get that one)

“No comment” becomes a conversation strategy.

Your front step is beginning to resemble a shoe shop.

You are no longer scared of Volvos and Volvo drivers

You know that “religious holiday” means “let’s get pissed.”

When you’re hungry you can peel a boiled potato like lightning.

You have conversations with people outside when it is –10C.

It no longer seems excessive to spend 1,000kr on alcohol in a single night

It’s acceptable to eat lunch at 11.00. (Isn’t it?)

You find yourself debating the politics of the social democrats.

You have only two facial expressions, smiling or blank.

You wear warm clothing when it’s 25 degrees plus in April – because it’s April.

You wear shorts and t-shirt when it’s barely 10 degrees in July – because it’s July.

You get extremely annoyed when the bus is two minutes late.

Your wife watches TV while you look after the kids.

You’ve been engaged for four years and don’t have any plans to get married.

You assume that anyone who apologieses after bumping into you is a tourist.

You get into a Mercedes taxi cab and think nothing of it.

You understand that when a colleague asks you out for “a drink,” it will probably be a long night with a severe hangover the next day.

Seeing a young woman with lit candles stuck to her head no longer disturbs you.

You start to differentiate between types of snow.

When offered a bottle of beer the first thing you look at is the alcoholic percentage.

You think it is normal EVERYTHING is regulated and you obey the rules voluntarily.

You no longer snigger when your kids ask for a Plopp when you’re out shopping.

Hearing the words f*ck, wh*re, shag and Swedish curses on daytime TV seems perfectly normal.

You expect to find the glove you dropped in February hanging on a post in June.

Pigs say ”nerf nerf”, frogs say ”kvack, kvack” and roosters say ”kuckeliku”

You know that ”Extrapris” goods are cheaper, even though your English mind translates the word as ”extra price”

Your husband is very long instead of being very tall

You ringed somebody yesterday instead of you rang them.

You start looking at socialbidrag (welfare) less as an absolutely desperate last resort and more as a way of life.

You take two hour naps at work and the idea of losing your job never crosses your mind.

You take your shoes off when entering a house while visiting your family in Australia.

You think horse meat is a totally acceptable sandwich topping.

If a friend says that he/she would like to get together with you, you instinctively reach for your pocket calendar.

You ask for a Big Mac and company outside of Sweden.

You say “I’m almost annoyed” when you’re as furious as humanly possible.

A 25 % sales tax on just about everything is no big deal.

VD is the boss, not something you need to get medical treatment for.

You can use bra, fart, and slut in the same sentence without giggling.

You refer to weeks by their number.

You don’t understand why your friend from Mississipi took offence when you referred to him as a yankee.

You have learned how to schedule your bouts of illness so you don’t get sick on weekends. Because if you do get sick on a weekend you have a hard time getting to see a doctor and you’ve wasted a weekend. It’s much better to be sick on a Monday so you can call in sick. That way you can extend your weekend!

You stop thinking you’re being yelled at every time you hear “Hey!”

It is your birthday YOU have to make the cake

You either run for the last pendeltåg at 1 am or choose to party on until 5 am when they start again rather than endure the horrific night bus home, as a taxi ride would require taking out a 2nd mortgage.

You find yourself eating bay-con for breakfast and talking about Bill Clin-ton and taking a trip to Lon-don.

A dime is yummy not currency

You know that “fan” is a swearword, and not an admirer or an air conditioner.

All of your conversations resemble a chess game, with each participant quietly and patiently awaiting the other to finish their turn.

A seven-year-old with his own mobile phone seems perfectly sensible.

Your wallet contains more plastic than a Hollywood superstar.

You can tell the difference between the different radio stations.

You aimlessly chat using SMS.

When someone asks you “Hi, how are you?” you actually take time out to explain how you are.

You are no longer surprised when you see full-frontal male nudity in a commercial or on TV.

You can pick out the real blondes from the fake blondes.

You accept that the best answer for a question is always “Jag vet inte” meaning “I don’t know”.

You think it’s acceptable that builders start banging and hammering at 5.30am.

You are accustomed to every other front page headline in Expressen or Aftonbladet being about some food/drink/activity being dangerous for your health.

You’re used to seeing dog owners picking up the dogs’ heaps in little black plastic bags.

You know that twenty hundred is a year, not an hour.

You don’t even think about what you are saying when you are off to the shop to buy your favorite brand of cat food, and you say, “Be right back love, I’m just gonna go get some Pussi”

You think an hour and a half cycle on your washing machine is a “quick wash”.

You talk of –10C as ”10 degrees cold”, when in Australia +10C would be considered cold. And who else calls +1C, ”one degree warm”!

*Note: Most of this text is found online, therefore credit to them, for putting together a humorous view of Swedes, Cheers!

One of the most popular card games (at least in the United States) is Go Fish. (For those of you who don’t know what it is or how to play it, read all about it on Wikipedia.) In Swedish, Go Fish is called Finns i sjön. Here’s how you play, in Swedish with color-coded English translations.

- Ta ut jokrarna, och dela ut fyra kort till varje spelare.
– Remove the jokers, and deal four cards to each player.

- Håll dina kort hemliga.
- Keep your cards secret.

- Lägg resten av korten åt sidan, med baksidan upp.
- Put the rest of the cards to the side, back-side up.

- Vilken spelare som helst får börja.
- Any player may begin.

- Spelaren vars tur det är väljer en av valörerna han/hon har på sin hand,
- The player whose turn it is chooses one of the denominations he/she has in his/her hand,

- och ber en annan spelare att skicka över alla hans/hennes kort av den valören,
- and asks another player to pass him/her all his/her cards of that denomination,

- genom att säga “Alla dina ___!” till den spelaren.
- by saying “Do you have any ___?” (lit. “All your ___!”) to that player.

- Om den tillfrågade spelaren har några kort av den valören, måste han skicka dem till spelaren vars tur det är.
- If the player [who has been] asked has any cards of that denomination, he must pass them over to the player whose turn it is.

- Om den tillfrågade spelaren inte har några kort av den valören, säger han/hon “Finns i sjön!”,
- If the player [who has been] asked doesn’t have any cards of that denomination, he/she says “Go fish!” (lit. “It’s in the lake!).

- och den som begärde kort tar ett kort från korten åt sidan.
- and he/she who asked for cards takes a card from the cards at the side.

- Om han/hon råkar plocka upp ett kort med den valör han/hon begärde, får han/hon begära kort igen.
- If he/she happens to pick up a card with the denomination he/she requested, he/she may request cards again.

- Och så fortsätter spelet till nästa spelare.
- And so the game continues to the next player.

- När man har fyra kort av samma valör på sin hand, lägger man dem åt sidan i en hög som kallas “par”.
- When you (lit. “one”) have four cards of the same denomination in your hand, you put them to the side in a pile called a “pair”.

- När man inte har några kort kvar, plockar man upp ett kort från korthögen som gjordes av de resterande korten i början.
- When you don’t have any cards left, you pick up a card from the card pile that was made with the extra cards in the beginning.

- Spelet fortsätter tills det inte finns några kort kvar.
- The game continues until there aren’t any cards left.

- Den som har flest kort i slutet vinner spelet!
- He/she who has the most cards in the end wins the game!

The different denominations in Swedish are:
- a two, twos – en tvåa, tvåor
- a three, threes – en trea, treor
- a four, fours – en fyra, fyror
- a five, fives – en femma, femmor
- a six, sixes – en sexa, sexor
- a seven, sevens – en sjua, sjuor
- a eight, eights – en åtta, åttor
- a nine, nines – en nia, nior
- a ten, tens – en tia, tior
- a jack, jacks – en knekt, knektar
- a queen, queens – en drottning, drottningar
- a king, kings – en kung, kungar

Now go play Go Fish and practice!