Archive for February, 2012
Will you work until you are 75? Posted by jennie on Feb 9, 2012
Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has sparked a huge debate the last couple of days due to his new suggestion that Swedes should keep on working until they are 75- instead of 65 as the standard retirement age is today. “The pension’s scheme isn’t based on magic. It is a welfare ambition based on large-scale…
Slickepott – The rubber scraper Posted by Katja on Feb 8, 2012
Ok, so I thought of another kitchen utensil which can be found in almost all Swedish house holds. I don’t know who invented this one, so it may very well not be a Swedish invention. That does not stop swedes from using it religiously however. Kids love to help out with baking, wanting to clean…
Swedish Madlibs Posted by Marcus Cederström on Feb 7, 2012
We’re going to try something new here. A Swedish Madlib. I’ve used Swedish Madlibs before, at the behest of a good friend actually, and loved them. They tend to get you thinking about various grammatical forms, how to use them, and of course what words you actually know. It’s a great way to practice the…
The great Swedish vowel shift Posted by Stephen Maconi on Feb 6, 2012
Last week, I continued my series on the three special Swedish letters, å, ä and ö. Now I’m here to explain how the letter å even came to be at all. As I explained last time, the letter å in writing came to be like so: first as a double-a (aa), then as an a…
IKEA gets sued by 5-year old girl’s family for discrimination? Posted by Katja on Feb 2, 2012
In Sweden it isn’t very common that people go round suing each other. But Monday this week the incident about the girl with a chromosome disorder who wasn’t let into the ball room due to “safety reasons” according to (Malmö’s) IKEA manager, was brought up again. The 5-year old girl was not allowed into the…
The cheese slicer – Osthyvel Posted by Katja on Feb 1, 2012
Do you know what this is? In Swedish it is called an Osthyvel. It’s called a cheese slicer. This is in fact a Norwegian invention by Thor Bjørklund, who in 1925 is said to have been given cheese on a slice of bread for lunch. The had cheese melted before he had had a chance…