useduppaper:

As we all know, languages work differently. There’s the grammar, words that don’t exist in other languages, and there are different proverbs and sayings etc. that don’t translate well into other languages. I made a post once about Swedish proverbs, and what they mean in English. Now I thought I’d make a post with English phrases/sayings/proverbs that don’t work directly translated into Swedish, and how one would say it in Swedish instead. Not all English sayings work as well as Do unto others as you would have them do to you-

gör mot andra som du själv vill bli behandlad. But of course that’s from the bible, so of course it would translate well. Anyways, here they are:

E-The English saying/phrase/proverb
S-How you would say it in Swedish
( ) – How it translates in the other language

1.

E-Raining cats and dogs – (Regnar katter och hundar)
S-Det spöregnar – (It’s spear-raining/it’s raining like spears)

In Sweden we have a lot of words for different types of rain and snow – spöregn, duggregn, isregn, pudersnö, mjuksnö, klibbsnö etc.

2.

E-No idea – (Ingen idé)
S-Ingen aning – (No idea/inkling/suspicion / I don’t know)

I had a problem with this very phrase when I was in England in 2009, because I got so used to saying no idea, that I said ingen idé, which doesn’t work AT ALL in Swedish. If you say ingen idé, you probably mean that there is no point to something. Det är ingen idé att prata med henne, hon svarar inte – There’s no point in talking to her, she won’t reply.

3.

E-Between a rock and a hard place – (Mellan en sten och en hård plats)
S-Pest eller kolera – (Plague or cholera)

Yes, if we have to bad alternatives, we do say it’s like choosing between the plague or cholera. That’s just the way we phrase it.

4.

E-The birds and the bees – (Fåglarna och bina)
S-Blommor och bin – (Flowers and bees)

Like, what does the birds have to do with it? We switched it.

5.

E-Cut to the chase – (Klipp till jakten)
S-Kom till saken – (Come/get to the thing)

If you say klipp till jakten it sounds like you are editing a video and you want to cut the video and put in a chasing scene. Kom till saken on the other hand means basically get to the point.

6.

E-By the skin of my/her/his/their/your teeth – (Genom huden av mina/hennes/hans/deras/dina tänder)
S-Med nöd och näppe – (With need and narrowly / barely)

By the skin of your teeth is such a weird saying. You have no skin on your teeth?

7.

E-Drive up the wall – (Köra upp på väggen)
S-Driver mig till vansinne – (Driving me crazy /driving me to insanity)

These two are not completely the same, but it’s the closest I could think of. Worth noting is that driver does not mean driving, if you want to say I am driving you do not say Jag driver, you say Jag kör. Jag driver means I am kidding, coincidentally.

8.

E-Piece of cake – (Tårtbit)
S-Lätt som en plätt – (Easy as a small pancake)

I dunno if plättar exists in other countries, but they are basically small pancakes, the same batter and everything. Oh, and if you answer the question How did it go? with Tårtbit! it literally will not make any sense.

9.

E-There’s no such thing as a free lunch – (Det finns inget sådant som en gratis lunch)
S-Ingenting är gratis här i världen – (Nothing is free in this world)

I find this expression so funny, because in Sweden, lunch can be free. We have free school lunches from kindergarten and until we’re 18/19 years old. Worth clarifying is that Swedish have two words for Free. One is to BE free – FRI (Jag är fri). The other is that you get something for free – GRATIS (Jag fick resa gratis).

10.

E-Feel a bit under the weather – (Känns lite under vädret)
S-Känns lite krasslig – (Feel a bit unwell/bad)

To be under vädret makes absolutely no sense. The Swedish language is often very LITERAL. Which means, if you say you are under vädret, you are literally saying you feel like you are under a weather, which is ridiculous.

Okay, that’ll do for now. Message me if you have any comments or questions 🙂 (Or just reblog if you want)