10 Bizarre Swedish Sayings Explained
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- Опубликовано: 2 мар 2024
- Sweden has some pretty interesting sayings and idioms. There's no cow on the ice. Now you've pooped in the blue cupboard. Sensing owls in the bog. What's the meaning behind all of them? And where did these expressions come from? In this video I dive into the strangest Swedish idioms and expressions I could find, and the etymology of them.
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The ten sayings that I'm exploring in this video are:
- "Lägga rabarber på" - putting rhubarbs on something, which essentially means to grab something for yourself.
- "Skitit i det blå skåpet" - pooped in the blue cupboard, which means that you made a big mistake.
- "Finns det hjärterum så finns det stjärterum" - if there's room in the heart, there's room for the butt.
- "Här blir inga barn gjorda" - no babies are being made here. Let's go do something productive instead.
- "När katten är borta dansar råttorna på bordet" - when the cat's gone, the rats are dancing on the table. The English equivalent would be when the cat's away, the mice will play.
- "Få betalt för gammal ost" - to get paid for old cheese, or to pay someone back for a bad deed.
- "Fastna med skägget i brevlådan" - getting stuck with the beard in the mailbox. To end up looking like a fool.
- "Ana ugglor i mossen" - sensing owls in the bog, which means to suspect that some foul play is afoot.
- "Ingen ko på isen" - no cow on the ice. This actually means that everything is fine.
- "Björntjänst" - a bear favor, a well-meaning favor that ends up hurting the recipient.
Refreshing to get a serious video about idioms instead of the usual "läderlappen, hö hö".
I really liked this one. Feel free to do followxuos! :-)
I appreciate it! It was really interesting to look up the origins - so I'll see if I can find more things to mention :D
Very interesting! Several of them also exist in Danish. I wonder if some could be so old that they were originally coined in Old Norse, and then survived the long evolution of both Swedish and Danish and somehow still ended up saying the same thing in both languages today?
Perhaps some were coined (or at least exchanged) in Southern Sweden (Skåne, Halland, Blekinge) while it was Danish, and then later moved west and north? Eg. I assume cows were way more prevalent down south. Also, we haven't had bears in Denmark for a long time, but we do have bear favors. I'm guessing an exchange of idioms would require a more long-lasting contact (living together) than just short-term contact between traders.
Btw, saying "der er ugler i mosen" is completely normal Danish, so it seems that particular expression may even have gone back and forth somehow. And the one about the beard stuck in the mailbox is tricky, as I don't think mailboxes are that old in either Sweden or Denmark.
That's really interesting! I guess one would have to trace one saying at a time to find where it's been noted... I did see that the "rats on the table" one had many similar sayings in both German and English though. So, ironically enough, it could even be that Old Norse sometimes inspired saying in Germanic parts, which were then imported back to Scandinavia...
But yeah some of these must be purely Danish / Swedish, like you say from down south. And that's so funny, that ugler i mosen is used these days! I had no idea about that :D But yeah, those mailboxes on people's doors were just from around 1930 or so, so the saying was really new. I assume the idea was that you were peering in someone's mailbox and got stuck...?
Enjoyed this clip some of the good old sayings enjoy your day also
Glad to hear it! :D Cheers, and all the best!
I knew many of the expressions, but the rhubarb stuff was new to me.
What I find interesting is that many similar expressions can be found in other languages like “vad du inte har i huvudet, har du i benen” (what’s not in your head, is your legs), meaning that if you forgot to bring something, you have to walk another turn. But when russians want to say the same phrase, they say “a dumb head leaves the legs no rest”, or “gräset är grönare på andra sidan” (the grass is greener on the other side (of the fence)), meaning just that. But again the russians say “it’s better there, where I am not”.
Again a great video, I will share with my US friends and family. And while you’re into the world of Swedish oddities, try to collect odd and (extremely) local traditions. Like trandagen - crane day - in and around the small town of Nybro, Smalandia. And maybe even the national day of Smalandia, third thursday in March (thid thusday in Mach).
Nice examples! It's really cool how many sayings work similarily across languages right? I actually had no idea about the English saying "when the cat's away the mice will play" when making this video - I learned about it later, but it's very similar to the Swedish one.
And I had no idea about the crane day by the way.... I need to read up on it myself now :D Oh, and I think it's actually the first Thursday in March that the Småland people are talking about. Because of their dialect it's transformed from "första torsdagen i mars" to "fössta tossdan i mass", and for some reason they eat Princess Cake on that day... But hey, thanks for the idea about local traditions and days in general! I'll make a note of it :D
@@ThreeStarVagabond Crane day and "Fössta tossdag i Mass" is two different days. You're right that Fössta tossdag is sort of an unofficial national day of Småland (Personally, I find it kind of stupid since it's never on the same day but hey, free cake!).
However, Crane day is basically our version of First Day of Spring. It's said to be based on the 1500s saying "”Tranan bär ljus i säng" and is always celebrated on the 25th of Mars. One tradition during Crane day is put up a lot of socks in your room and if you've been a good boy, you'll wake up with some candy in the socks you've hanged up.
My favourite is brasklapp for a caveat or reservation against a decision or policy.
From 1397 to 1523 Scandinavia was a united nation but it was being ruled from Denmark. In 1517 he Swedish nobility convened and decided to rebel.
The archbishop of Uppsala, Gustav Trolle who was the leader of the union loyalists had a fort near Stockholm to project military power from Uppsala towards Stockholm so at the meeting the decide to repose the archbishop and demolish his fortress. In 1520 the leader of the rebellion dies from wounds sustained in battle and in order to be let into Stockholm the kind agrees to forgive the rebellion and set up a new meeting with the nobility about how to rule the country.
At the meeting archbishop Gustav Trolle is very upset about the demolition of his fortress and he argues that while the kind can forgive the rebellion in itself because it's an act of treason which is a crime against the king he can not forgive the destruction of the archbishop's fortress since it was the property of God and therefore it's destruction was a crime against God and not the king. The kind agreed to this and had about 90 people, including nearly all of the high nobility decapitated for heresy.
At the trial the bishop of Linköping Hans Brask took the document from the 1517 diet in which the decision to demolish the fortress was made, broke his seal on the document which had been used to sign it and pulled out a small note saying :"To this I am forced and compelled". Thus he escaped decapitation.
That's the story at least, but it was written by Olaus Petri who was a rival and bitter enemy of the bishops in question so it's veracity may be questionable.
That was really interesting! Hello from Australia 👋
Hey, happy to hear that! I can imagine that there's a bunch of interesting sayings from down under as well 😀
Great topic and great video once again! Two of my favorite Swedish expression are:
Nära skjuter ingen hare (no one almost shoots a hare) and satt sin sista potatis (setting ones last potato).
Ooh, you know some good ones! Sorry to be a besserwisser, but "nära skjuter ingen hare" is more like "close doesn't shoot the hare". I.e, if you shoot close to the hare (but not on it), then you're still missing it no matter how close you were.
@@ThreeStarVagabond LOL touché
We will be visiting Malmo, Lund and south Sweden this summer. If I were to use a phrase like "Ingen ko på isen" in my American accent, would a Swede find this a respectful attempt to communicate or weird and unnecessary. It’s a great phrase, easy to say.
Swedes can actually be quite annoying when speaking with Americans or people from the UK, because we're very quick to switch to English - even if the other person is doing their best to speak Swedish. So you might get confused looks and an English response when you try it. It's not meant to be rude or dismissive - Swedish is a tonal language, so when things are pronounced incorrectly it can literally be incomprehensible to us (even if you wouldn't think so). But please try it out anyway! If people get it, it's an amazing phrase to use and it would be hilarious to hear a foreigner use it :)
EXCELLENT video, Miro !! Fun information and interesting background video! Thanks for sharing! 😊
Thank you so much! 😄 I'm trying out some new things to see what people enjoy hearing about - happy that it's an interesting topic!
This vlog is hilarious yet priceless - will be listening out for these sayings when I am in Sweden. Hoping there is plenty of heart to make room for my old a**!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Haha you're bound to hear a few of them at least, I'm sure :D And of course, there's always room in the heart ;D
Don't Bogart that can, man"
😂
in poland mice are having fun while the cat is sleeping, and a bear favour is also a bear favour
Nice one! Guess we probably both imported the sayings from elsewhere in Europe at some point :)
probably from that french fable!@@ThreeStarVagabond
@@pawemichalski2231 Oh yeah of course! I was thinking of the rat one - that's gotta be like a German saying or something :D
You have too wonder where people came up with these sayings, I’m glad you explained a lot of them. I must look up some of ours, I was born in Canada and live in the USA now so I guess I’ve got some work ahead of me.. The only one I could think of is Who Cut the Cheese = who let out that stinky fart.
Another great video it was quite interesting. Stay safe till next time.
Haha, who cut the cheese.. Well.. That one does make sense! I think the UK has even more strange sayings than CA / US actually - but all countries have their fair share I guess. Cheers, and you too man! :D
Loved this video. Great job Miro ❤ So interesting.
Yay, thank you! 😄 Really happy to hear that!
Om du kan få tag i Fredrik Lindström så är jag säker på att han kan hjälpa dig med fler av våra idiomer. Han är ju språkvetare och hade det med idiomer på tapeten i ett av sina tv program för att par år sedan när han reste sverige runt och pratade om dialekter och traditioner!
This was sooooooo much fun. And also so well done, too! Texas has some great idioms, but none are as good as the blue cupboard! 🤣
The blue cupboard is such a great phrase! And it doesn't make sense at all at first - until it all starts to make sense after the color explanation. I love stuff like that, when there's a logical reason for an irrational saying :D
When the cat's away, the mice will play..heard that growing up. Probably americanized from the rats dancing on the table.
It does sound pretty catchy in English actually. I like the rhyming!
1. "Det är ingen ko på isen"
Translation: "There is no cow on the ice"
Meaning: This saying is used to reassure someone that there is no need to worry about a situation, as everything is under control.
2. "Att glida in på en räkmacka"
Translation: "To slide in on a shrimp sandwich"
Meaning: This phrase is used to describe someone who has had an easy or fortunate situation handed to them without much effort on their part.
3. "Att ha en gris på tungan"
Translation: "To have a pig on the tongue"
Meaning: This saying refers to someone who is speaking without filtering their words, often saying things that are blunt or rude.
4. "Lika barn leka bäst"
Translation: "Like children play best"
Meaning: This saying suggests that people who are similar get along better with each other.
5. "Att sparka in en öppen dörr"
Translation: "To kick in an open door"
Meaning: This phrase is used to describe a situation where someone is stating something that is already widely known or obvious.
6. "Man ska inte sitta på två stolar samtidigt"
Translation: "You shouldn’t sit on two chairs at once"
Meaning: This saying advises against trying to have the best of both worlds, or being indecisive and not committing fully to one choice.
7. "Att ha mycket skinn på näsan"
Translation: "To have a lot of skin on the nose"
Meaning: This phrase is used to describe someone who is very thick-skinned or insensitive to criticism.
8. "Att kasta pärlor åt svinen"
Translation: "To throw pearls at the swine"
Meaning: This saying refers to wasting something valuable on someone who doesn't appreciate it or doesn't deserve it.
9. "Att ta det kallt"
Translation: "To take it cold"
Meaning: This phrase means to stay calm and composed in a challenging or stressful situation.
10. "Att ha en höna att plocka med någon"
Translation: "To have a chicken to pick with someone"
Meaning: This saying describes having an unresolved issue or conflict with someone that needs to be addressed.