<\/p>\n
That title doesn\u2019t make much sense, does it? That\u2019s what happens sometimes with literal translations. But in Sweden, you\u2019ll sometimes see headlines about someone who has gjort en hel pudel<\/em>. In fact, just recently, after Sweden apologized (or didn\u2019t apologize) to Saudi Arabia after the country chose not to renew an arms deal with the Saudis, Dagens Nyheter<\/em> asked that very question: Har Sverige gjort en pudel<\/a>?<\/p>\n As I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve realized, att g\u00f6ra en pudel<\/em>\u00a0means to ask for forgiveness. It\u2019s done in a public way and usually in response to a previously bold statement that turned out to be wrong. To do a poodle then is to expose your wrongness and admit to it. In English we might say that you got on your hands and knees and begged for forgiveness. That sort of thing. You\u2019re asking for forgiveness in a way that puts you in a position of humility or vulnerability. Just like a poodle on its back after it ate the cake off the table and got caught.<\/p>\n The phrase is relatively new in Swedish and appeared for the first time in a 2002 Dagens Nyheter article<\/a>. In that article about a Swedish political scandal involving Jan O. Karlsson, P\u00e5l Jebsen was quoted using the term to positively describe the way in which Karlsson apologized. And with that quote, a new idiom was born. In 2003, Svenska spr\u00e5kn\u00e4mnden<\/a> added it to their list of new words and phrases.<\/p>\n But to do a whole poodle isn\u2019t the only Swedish use of the word pudel<\/em>. You can also be klok som en pudel<\/em>, for example. That is to say, you\u2019re super smart, wise as an owl.<\/p>\n Or maybe you are a luspudel<\/em>. That\u2019s not a good thing though. It means that you\u2019re kind of a scoundrel. A rat. A swine. A louse even. In fact, en lus<\/em> means just that, a louse. So you\u2019re a louse poodle. The worst kind of poodle, obviously.<\/p>\n En pudel<\/em> makes a surprising number of appearances in the Swedish language, especially in colorful idioms or phrases. Does your language have any idioms that use poodles? Let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n