Special Swedish words

useduppaper:

I decided to do a post with some special, weird, funny Swedish words. Some are dialectal (don’t exist in some parts of Sweden, or mean different things etc.). Here they are!

Fårgråt-Eye discharge. You know that goo in your eyes in the morning? That. There are many words for this (ögonvar, ögongegga, ögonsömn, etc. etc.), but sheep cry is possibly the best one, just for being ridiculous.

Skavfötters-A lying position with two people where each person’s feet are juxtaposed to the other person’s head. If you share a bed with someone (a friend) it is very common to sleep skavfötters instead of sleeping with your heads next to each other. Skavfötters = sore feet’s. Illogical, I know.

Tjafs-Fuss. Unnecessary talking, hassle.

Idas-have enough energy (to do something). Example: Jag ids inte gå till affären-I don’t have the energy to go to the store. Ids is probably, I’m not sure, but probably only used in the northern part of Sweden.

Orka-have enough power, energy, strength (to do something). Same as idas, but not restricted to the north. Example: Jag orkar inte städa nu-I don’t have the energy to clean up now. Another word for this is palla. Idas, orka and palla all mean basically the same thing.

He-Put, lay, turn (on/off). Best Swedish word ever, but it is only used by Swedes from the north. The Swedes of the south often don’t know what it means. Example: He på tvn-Turn the tv on. He nyckeln på bordet-Put the key on the table.

Börs/portmonnä/plånbok-Wallet. For some reason we have several words for this, and which word you use often depends on where in the country you are from. I use börs and I am from the north. Portmonnä is an older word. Plånbok is probably the most common in for example Stockholm. Plån is a small flat surface that can be used many times (like on a match box), and bok of course is book.

Skräcködla-Dinosaur/unnatractive woman. I don’t think I have to explain this further really. Skräck is horror, ödla is lizard.

(Att) bjussa på-To offer someone something/to treat someone (normally). Bjussa is another word for bjuda. Example: Kan du inte bjussa på biljettkostnaden?-Can’t you treat me to the ticket charge?

Leg-Identification card. Leg is short for legitimation. I have this in this post because it can be good to know that if someone is asking for your leg in Sweden, it’s not the body part they’re after. Pronounced basically the same tho, but more Swedish.  

Fara-Go/travel. This is a dialect word. If you say fara in the south of Sweden it ONLY means danger. In the north it means both danger and to go somewhere. Dra or åka is used in the south, and they have the same meaning as fara. Example: Kan inte vi fara till disney world?-Can’t we go to disney world?

Grina-Cry. Another word for gråta. This is a word with double meanings. In Scania (and maybe around Gothenburg as well) it means to laugh, basically. In the rest of Sweden it means to cry. I guess Scania has taken the English meaning for grin, almost. Funnily enough, the translator of the HP books used grinade when it said grinned in the original versions, which made for some ridiculous sentences for most of Sweden. Grina can also mean to make faces. To grina illa means to twist your face in pain (mostly).

Haffa-Catch/arrest/capture/get a hold of. Common use is for example that the police haffar bad guys. Slang use is for example att haffa brudar-to pick up chicks.

Tupplur-Nap. Tupp means rooster and lur is an old word for a phone. Put together it becomes a nap. Example: Jag ska ta en tupplur-I’m gonna take a nap.

Latmask-Slacker/lazybones/dawdler/lazy. A lazy worm. That’s the meaning of that word. Example: Sluta vara en latmask och kliv upp ur sängen-Stop being lazy and get out of bed.

That’s enough for this post. Feel free to add words, or send me comments or requests 🙂