Love/commercialism is in the air! Posted by jennie on Feb 14, 2010 in Swedish Language
It’s difficult to ignore the fact that mr Valentine is in the air today. Shops are swamped with cards, cuddly bears, stupidly expensive flower arrangements and dine-in deals and there are probably not a table for two available in a 100 mile radius.
Valentine’s Day is – like Halloween – quite a recent thing in Sweden. Well, not exactly recent, but it didn’t become a big thing until the 1990’s. I do think it safe to say that it’s nowhere near as big in Sweden as it is in the UK and USA. Swedes are – as always – quite moderate when it comes to these things. If you are determined to neglect the fact that love is in the air today, I am pretty sure you can. If you stay in, don’t go on Facebook, read the papers or watch telly, that is.
When I was teenager, a new and in my opinion quite horrible way of celebrating Valentine’s Day all of a sudden appeared in schools all over Sweden. On this particular day the schools turned into a huge flower shop/match maker/bully where you could buy flowers and send to the schoolmates you either had a crush on, dated or just liked as a friend (red for love, white for friendship etc…). I mean, come on! High school can be a pain as it is, you certainly don’t need to add flower-shaped angst to the whole thing. I bet you can picture the scenario. Some people where literally swimming in flowers, some simply didn’t get a tiny petal. Not exactly a day of love and care, huh?
I’m not sure if this horrible flower-bullying still is going in schools today, but I sincererly hope we’ve come further than that. Anybody know?
Anyway, whatever we make of Valentine’s Day (commercial crap, the best day of the year, a chance to show some affection, a day to geniuinely hate…) – it is always good to know some lovey dovey words. You can always save them for later!
Alla Hjärtans Dag = Valentine’s Day. Literally means “All Heart’s Day”.
Jag älskar dig = I love you
Jag tycker om dig = I like you
Vacker = Beautiful
Snygg = Good looking
Söt = Pretty/Cute
Romantik = Romance
Kyss/Kyssar = Kiss/Kisses, often with the tounge involved
Puss/Pusssar = Kiss/Kisses, a quick one with just the lips
Kram/Kramar = Hug/Hugs
Älskling = Darling
Sötnos = Sweetie, litteraly means “Sweet nose”
Kela = Cuddle
Sova sked = To spoon, literally means “Sleep spoon”
Flörta = To flirt
And for the non-loved up:
Alla Hjärtans Dag suger = Valentine’s Day sucks
Kommersiell skit = Commercial crap
How’s Valentine’s Day celebrated in your country? And what’s your take on it?
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Comments:
davinia:
In Mexico we do have the same thing of flowers at schools and also at the company I work for ( come on we are grown ups!!).
I am not against Valentine´s day, it´s just I think it´s a bit too commercial for my taste
Edina:
It is a new thing in Hungary, as well (hm, relatively). The pattern is pretty much the same: just too much of little red hearts and “buyme” things. Personally, I don’t like it, however it feels nice to do something fun today with your loved one.
But expressing how much you love your partner should be 24/7 all year long.
Jeremy:
I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day because it is so associated with kommersiell skit, and less about the real premise as Edina mentioned above.
Do you think Alla Hjärtans Dag is a relatively new phenomenon because of the kommersiell skit or because Sweden is becoming more like Western nations (e.g. USA, U.K.) and adopting similar yearly customs and holidays?
Luke (Sydney):
Dig you!
BM:
Not all of the UK is particularly taken by St Valentine’s Day. My Swedish lecturer at University remarked that it was even less of a day in Scotland than it was in Sweden.
We don’t need a calendar to tell us when to love.
Jennie:
@davina: In your office? Wow, that’s a new one for me… totally agree, pointless!
@edina: well said, it should be an all year around thing. it almost sounds sad that we need a date for it…
@Jeremy: Nice use of vocab! I think it is a combination of what you are suggesting, but probably mostly because we have gotten more and more “americanized” lately. And with americanization, comes commercialism… Or am I being horribly harsh now?
@Luke: Thank you! 🙂
@BM: That’s probably very true. I haven’t even been to Scotland yet (not completely British yet…) but I can imagine it being like that…
Agreed, love should be 365 days a year.