{"id":8792,"date":"2020-10-22T22:22:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T22:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=8792"},"modified":"2020-10-26T01:49:36","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T01:49:36","slug":"10-common-swedish-idioms-shrimp-sandwiches-and-cows-on-the-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/10-common-swedish-idioms-shrimp-sandwiches-and-cows-on-the-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Common Swedish Idioms – “Shrimp Sandwiches” and “Cows on the Ice”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“King Size Shrimp sandwich at restaurant Heaven 23 in Gothia Towers” Credits Marie Ullnert\/imagebank.sweden.se<\/p><\/div>\n


\nIdioms are the best. They are playful phrases we use to describe a situation by metaphor or figure of speech. The literal translations don\u2019t make sense and often leave non-native speakers scratching their heads – \u201cHuh, what do they mean by saying it\u2019s raining cats and dogs?\u201d There are several of these sayings that sound just as funny in Swedish. This week, I\u2019ll cover some of my favorite idioms that are widely-used. NEXT week, I\u2019ll go over some idioms that I recently discovered but have never heard of.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Svenska uttryck av Kerstin Johanson<\/p><\/div>\n

Similar to mastering humor in your foreign language, idioms are difficult to navigate. Distinguishing between what someone is literally saying and what they actually mean isn’t always that easy. It takes a keen ear and good sense of the context to understand that someone is using a figure of speech.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My Swedish friends and family know I\u2019m a bit of a language nerd, so I\u2019ve been gifted quite a few Swedish language reference books over the years. One book that I recently picked up again, I was gifted from friend Evelina – remember her? She helped me write the Intro to S\u00e1mi Music post back in February.<\/a> \u00a0Svenska uttryck och deras ursprung<\/em> by Kerstin Johanson is the book that Evelina sent to me for Christmas several years ago. Every now and then I pick it up and have a chuckle at how silly some of these expressions sound.<\/span><\/p>\n

The author points out that many Swedish, as well as English, expressions are derived from passages in the Bible. \u201c<\/span>En ulv i f\u00e5rakl\u00e4de<\/span><\/i>r \u2192 a wolf in sheep\u2019s clothing\u201d for example, referring to the warning of false prophets. Another common trait for idioms is rhyming or alliteration. This makes them easier to remember and more fun to use. For example \u201c<\/span>L\u00e4gga l\u00f6k p\u00e5 laxen<\/span><\/i> \u2192 to put onions on the salmon.\u201d This phrase is similar to \u201crubbing salt in a wound,\u201d or to make a bad situation worse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some more of my favorites. I\u2019ll provide the Swedish, then the literal translation, followed by the English equivalent.
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 svenska\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0literal meaning\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0English equivalent or meaning<\/strong>
\n<\/span>1. L\u00e4tt som en pl\u00e4tt<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2192<\/i> Easy as a pancake\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2192<\/i>\u00a0 Easy as pie\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Sk\u00e4gget i brevl\u00e5dan<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2192<\/i> The beard is in the mailbox\u00a0 \u2192 <\/i>Caught in the act\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Det \u00e4r ingen ko p\u00e5 isen \u2192<\/span><\/i> There is no cow on the ice\u00a0 \u00a0\u2192 <\/i>Don\u2019t panic <\/span><\/p>\n

4. Ge j\u00e4rnet\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2192\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/i>Give the iron\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2192\u00a0 <\/i>Give it your all <\/span>
\n<\/span> *this saying comes of <\/span>Stockholmsslang, “att dra full gas p\u00e5 motorcykel \/ <\/span><\/i>to go full throttle on a motorcycle<\/span>.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

5. Glida in p\u00e5 en r\u00e4kmacka <\/span><\/i>\u2192 Slide in on a shrimp sandwich\u00a0 \u2192 <\/i><\/span>Have an easy time of something, “You lucked out.”<\/span><\/p>\n

6. P\u00e5 tal om trollen\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2192<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 Speaking of the troll\u00a0 \u00a0\u2192\u00a0 \u00a0<\/i><\/span>Speak of the devil\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Inte f\u00f6r allt sm\u00f6r i Sm\u00e5land<\/em>\u00a0 \u2192\u00a0 \u00a0Not for all the butter in Sm\u00e5land \u2192\u00a0 <\/i>Not for all the money in the world
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 *This saying is often woodburned into a butter spreaders. Who’s else has one of these?!<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

8. Ta i tr\u00e4<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2192\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Grab wood\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2192 Knock on wood <\/span><\/p>\n

9. G\u00f6ra bj\u00f6rntj\u00e4nst<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2192\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Do a bear\u2019s job\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2192 to do a big favor
\n*a reader added that she uses this idiom when someone does a favor that is unwarranted, or unnecessary\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

10. Smaken \u00e4r som baken, delad\u00a0 \u2192\u00a0 <\/i><\/em>Preference is like the rear end, split.\u00a0 ?
\n<\/i>Basically, “to each their own.”<\/p>\n


\nDo you have a favorite idiom from that list? Perhaps there is another one you\u2019d like to share?\u00a0 Tell us below!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Idioms are the best. They are playful phrases we use to describe a situation by metaphor or figure of speech. The literal translations don\u2019t make sense and often leave non-native speakers scratching their heads – \u201cHuh, what do they mean by saying it\u2019s raining cats and dogs?\u201d There are several of these sayings that sound…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":8793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,3079,13],"tags":[364862,82,3269,3446,10125,8239,12985,364872,34680],"class_list":["post-8792","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-swedish-language","category-vocabulary","tag-culture","tag-idioms","tag-learn-swedish","tag-swedish","tag-swedish-blog","tag-swedish-culture","tag-swedish-idioms","tag-swedish-language","tag-swedish-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8792"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9112,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8792\/revisions\/9112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}