Apt Swedish phrase/word of the week - the drinking edition

Bakfull

Literal translation : back full/drunk
Actual translation : hungover

This was me on Sunday morning. Saturday night consisted of a party to honour my friend Elma who passed away at the end of January this year. It was a wonderful night with music, dance, joy and tears. I may have been drinking whiskey with friends while I was DJing. I may also have not got much sleep after slipping into bed at 2am and being woken at 6am by TWO. 

I felt entirely bakfull with a horrible headache and tiredness. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week

With all the delightful weather of late, I've been to the big garden warehouse near our home. I saw this and was immediately amused. 

Fuktslang

Literal translation: moisture hose

Reason it made me laugh? 
Yeah, the use of fukt. I'm still actually 14 years old mentally speaking. And any Swedish word with fukt in it is inherently hilarious. Combining it with slang is just icing on the immature comedy cake. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week - Elma edition

This is a special Swedish word/phrase of the week because it features a phrase that I'm not entirely sure is commonly used, or even used at all, by anyone other than my friend Elma. But it has stuck in my head since last summer when we were teaching a lindy hop class together based around changing roles and improvisation. 

The world was unfortunate enough to lose Elma in January this year. I'm still trying to understand that she's not around anymore. I will be writing a bit about her to try and let the wider world get a sense of how amazing she was and how catastrophic losing her has been. But I want to start here, with a phrase that I learned from her and will always remember.

Det kittlas så skönt i själen

Direct translation : It tickles so beautifully in the soul

Translation that is a bit more idiomatically English in nature: I'm so delightfully tickled by this, deep down in my soul

I want to quickly tell you the story of how I came to learn this phrase. As I mentioned, last summer Elma and I taught an intermediate lindy hop course over a weekend. I say we, but I was mostly there as Elma's sidekick. When we met up to plan the classes, she had already determined most of what was going to happen and we just had to fine tune the details. 

One of the exercises she wanted to do in this class was something she had learned from an improv workshop she had attended. It was a kind of team building exercise (as much as I hate to use that term because it sounds wanky and Elma was anything but wanky). 

Here's the exercise, everyone stands in a circle, relatively close together. One person starts by clenching their fists and putting both hands into the circle and saying loudly "Maaaaaaaaa". Each person adds their "Maaaa" and fists to the circle in turn until everyone is doing it. Once the group feels that are at the end of their breath, they bring their hands in by their sides and finish the word together, ".......zunga".  

I have a very clear vision in my head of this Mazunga we did at that workshop. I can see Elma smiling, holding her hand to her chest and saying "Det kittlas så skönt i själen". And she was right. As much as I am generally not a fan of these kind of things because I feel like a bit of a dick, having Elma lead it and being involved did tickle me. It felt good and I left that weekend in awe of Elma and her ability to bring a group of people together and infect others with her joy. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week - Christmas edition

Julklapp

Actual translation: Christmas present
Literal translation : Christmas pat/tap/touch

I was thinking about this in the shower just now. Why is a Christmas present in Swedish a julklapp, but a birthday present a födelsedagspresent? Evidently present is both an English and a Swedish word. So why not a julpresent? 

Wikipedia has been my saviour in this matter and I have discovered that the tradition used to be that you would 'klapp' on the door of the gift recipient, throw the present through the door and run away. But that tradition changed around the 1700s and people would then wrap the gifts. But I guess the name had stuck. 

Perhaps a new tradition for next year? Be environmentally conscious and throw gifts through peoples' doors and run away instead of wrapping them up in paper. 

Progress!

Yesterday I started knitting mittens for TWO and in and of itself, this is not really a big deal. But the big deal is, I'm following a pattern written in Swedish. Wheeee! Integration comes in all kinds of shapes and for me, following a knitting pattern in my third language is worthy of note. Huzzah!

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Hej då

Actual translation: goodbye
Literal translation : hello then

I love that Swedish doesn't change their greeting very much to have their farewell. It's almost like an afterthought. Hello then. Quite often this phrase is combined with something along the lines of "ha det så bra" (have it so good, or have a good one in Australian English). But not always. 

I've been working a lot on Swedish today. I have been to the bank and booked a table at a restaurant for tonight, both interactions happened in Swedish. Something tells me I'm finally feeling comfortable with the language. Only took me five years of living here. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Tandkött

Actual translation : gums
Literal translation : tooth meat

What can I say? Body parts and Swedish, always a delight. I'm fortunate to be able to say that my tooth meat is freshly scrubbed ready for a new day. Healthy and happy tooth meat.

Belated Swedish word/phrase of the week

A delayed word of the week due to illness. Over the last week I have been struck down with a succession of colds that have been exhausting. I apologise for missing my usual Monday. I do have a bunch of projects to share, but they will come later, when I've slept some more and divested myself of the virus that will seemingly not leave me alone. Please enjoy this word, I know it amused me when I first heard it/understood it. 

Moderkaka


Actual translation : placenta
Literal translation : mother/parent cake/biscuit

Like all wonderful things in Swedish to do with the body, lots of very inviting mental images are formed when you literally translate them. 

I'm reminded with this one of a story to do with the boy and the birth classes we attended before the birth of TWO. We went along to the first one, it was all in Swedish. On our walk to the tram stop together afterwards, he asked me about a word, förlossning. He could gather from context that it was a process, but not exactly what it was. It means birth. I guess he was, strictly speaking, correct. But I still found it amusing to hear him say "I worked out it's a process. But what does it mean?". I'm pleased to say that since then I think both of us have gained in our Swedish vocabulary and would not make the same mistake. A million and one others, but not that same one. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Örngott

Actual translation: pillowcase
Literal translation : eagle good/tasty/yummy

I have no idea why Swedes equate pillows and pillowcases with eagles or the state of being tasty, but it would appear they do. This was one I hadn't thought of before overhearing a conversation in my favourite cafe. There were some fabulously hipster Swedes sitting with some equally hipster Americans sitting behind me while I drank my coffee. The Swedes were explaining it and I quickly jotted it down for the blog. Hilarious. 

image from here

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Bläckfisk 

Actual translation: squid
Literal translation : ink fish

What can I say? Literal translations are the bomb. Ink fish. Excellent. 

Halloween Swedish word/phrase of the week -extra edition

When I dropped TWO off at dagis today, I saw that quite a number of kids were dressed up for Halloween. Being an Australian, it's not really something I pay much attention to, so TWO was not dressed up, unless you count the gorgeous red cardigan that her mormor knitted her for Xmas last year. She insisted on wearing it because it had pockets and she needed them to store her buttons.

In any case, as I was redonning my rain gear to walk to the tram stop in the delightful autumn rain, I heard the other kids running around saying "Bus eller godis". So I thought that would make a fun translation effort for the blog.

Bus eller godis 

Literal translation : mischief or lollies
Actual translation : trick or treat

Godis is such a central part of Swedish life that it really deserves another post for another day. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Blixtlås 

Actual translation - zipper
Literal translation - lightning/flash lock

This weekend I was at Stoff och Stil, the fabric store and I was reminded of another fabulous literal translation. Lightning/flash lock, love it. I guess it makes sense though, you are able to 'lock' two pieces of fabric together really quickly. :-) 

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Glasögon 

Translation : glasses 

Literal translation : glass eyes

A story to accompany this word of the week. When I finally got around to getting myself an ID card for Sweden organised, some 4 years after moving here, I had to go and get my photo taken for said ID card. 

I'm guessing the woman who was on duty that day behind the new photography device saw my name and felt it would be easier for all concerned to speak English. I appreciate this gesture sometimes from Swedes, particularly when I'm feeling tired or lazy. I can just speak my own language and let my mind wander elsewhere. But in recent times, as I've become more confident with Swedish, I find it a bit amusing. 

In any case, she was having difficulty in getting the new fangled photographic device to work and take a decent photo of my face. At which point she suggested that it might be best for me to 'take off your glass eyes' so that she wouldn't have trouble with reflection.

From that point on I have always thought of the literal translation of glasses to glass eyes. Speaking of which, I relatively recently bought new glass eyes with gold hearts in the frame. I love them. One could go so far as to say I heart them. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Väl och ve 

Translation: well being

Literal translation : well and woe

In my class last week we were reading various excerpts from letters to the editor and working out whether they were argumentative texts or not. One thing that stood out as something I didn't know was the phrase väl och ve. As you can see above, it translates to well being. But the literal translation is well and woe. I like that idea. It encompasses the idea of well being in English. The idea that it encompasses all of a life, the good and the bad. The general state of someone's life. Both the good, well and the bad, woe. Fabulous. 

Swedish continues to be interesting to me as a language, but I have the worst time with the verb ska. I will, however, attempt to mistress it before I've finished my course for this year. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Grönsaker 

Vegetables to you and me who look in the dictionary. But for those who love a literal translation, green things. Every time I see this word, I get a giggle going. I often say to the boy that I think we need more green things in our diet, or I am going shopping to get some green things. 

What's not to love about the language in which vegetables are referred to as green things. My ipod is green, maybe I shall rename it vegetable. 

Swedish word/phrase of the week

Wonderful news! There is an outbreak of impetigo at TWOs dagis. That means that I am now on the lookout for an utslag. An utslag being my Swedish word of the week. 

I am a huge fan of literal translations. They make me giggle, they make me examine my own language more and they help me get my head around my third language, Swedish.

Today's word is utslag, or rash for those among us who don't understand Swedish.

Literally translated however, it means out (ut) strike/stroke/hit (slag). I love it for so many reasons. Ut sounds to me like a Scottish person saying out. Slag is funny just as it is. I'm reminded of the Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels movie. I'm reminded of mining, though precisely why that is funny, I've yet to determine. 

In any case, out strike/stroke/hit makes a bit of sense when you think about it relation to a rash. You can get an outbreak of pimples, so why not other kinds of skin conditions? 

May we all live in hope that TWO manages to avoid this utslag and remains blemish free for the foreseeable future. We've already had scarlet fever and chicken pox in this house, I don't fancy impetigo. 

So a challenge to all who read this, insert utslag into your conversations this week, I know I will. 

Odd things that happen when in Sweden

Today I was in the supermarket getting myself a lussekatt and the woman behind me has a very old phone with 'polyphonic ring tones'. Her phone rings, it plays Walzing Matilda. She is definitely not Australian. Weird.

Sometimes you see something that tickles your fancy

I saw this at the supermarket the other day and _had_ to take a photo. Do you think that pussi would taste as good as it looks?




Edited to add: I'm just looking at the eyes on that cat and I find them somewhat disturbing. Why are they staring so?