The Dombo Archives - Swenglish
Swenglish
By Mark H
It has been observed that there are some Swedes working
in our department. Deep down I think we all knew this,
but perhaps we were not all aware of the implications,
i.e. that there may be a communication problem. Even
though both of them can speak, they probably still
feel alienated.
To try to minimise this problem, it has been suggested
by some [1, 2, 3] that maybe some of us should learn
a few words of their language to make them feel at
home. To this end we have compiled a short English-Swedish
dictionary from which extracts will irregularly be
published.
Here are some useful words with which to start off:
English Swedish
____________________________________
Hospitable Sjukhuslig
To secrete Att hemliga
To appropriate Att lämpliga
To pour För fattiga
To desert Till efterrätt
Semicolon Halvgrovtarm
Afford En volvo
Accurate En kyrkoadjunkt
Complain Vanlig klädsel
Interiors Fikus
Maximum Mestmor
Reveal Omkalvkött
Advanced Swedish
Living in Sweden, you often come across the most esoteric
words. The following is a list of terms encountered
in newspapers, on street signs, on product wrappers
and on television, along with their meaning. Of course,
the editors warmly welcome contributions from our readers.
Also, if you encounter words of which you don't know
the exact meaning, you may send them to our expert
panel.
knarkarkvarter (n): a type of bird, named after the
sound it makes ("knark-ark")
amfetaminister (n): the Swedish Minister of Soft Drugs
statsminister (n): ditto, of Statistics
hundskatt (n): a cross between a dog and a cat (in analogy
to "geep" = goat + sheep)
dammsugare (n): (1) male prostitute, gigolo, succubus;
(2) cocaine (euphemism; literally: "sugar dust")
turnummer (n): "lucky number", used for assigning
your turn in queues in banks, shops etc. (facetious)
körmusik (n): music from your car stereo
P-hus (n): public toilet
badskum (n): hooligans, vandals
badkar (n): Batman
maskören (n): the choir that sings during a mass
fukolog (n): (1) practising sexologist; (2) marriage
counsellor; (3) expert on meese (true, actually !)
Advanced Swedish (2)
Paj-as (n.) - left-overs from a pie ("as"
= carcass)
Mut-brott (n.) - female mud-wrestler ("brott"
= broad)
Mat-bomba (v.) - carpet-bombing ("mat" = carpet)
Slut-spurt (n.) - slang expression, used when a prostitute
hastily runs away to avoid the police
Under-skott (n.) - (1) Scottish magician ("under"
= miracle); (2) litt. "what a Scotsman wears underneath
his kilt" ("under" = underneath), therefore:
the male reproductive organ (facetious)
Elav-brott (n.) - a crime ("brott") committed
by schoolkids ("elav")
Krist-rötta (n.) - secularisation (litt. "the
decay of Christ")
Konflikt-hot (adj.) - bellicose
S-katte-avdrag (n.) - a new tax on cats, propsed by
the Swedish social democrats (commonly abbreviated
"s")
Rekord-hummer (n.) - used to indicate Knut Prutsson,
who recently hummed for 62 hours on end and made it
into the Guiness Book of Records
Pis-krapp (n.) - (1) nonsense, gibberish, boulderdash;
(2) the Swedish name for cellular retinoic acid binding
protein isolated from human urine
Röda-korsord-förande (n.) - leader in the
so-called "red crossword competition" organised
by a socialist Swedish newspaper
Bi-drag-stagare (n.) - someone who is learning to pull
the stings out of bees ("bi" = bee, "drag"
= pull, "stagare" = apprentice, from the
French "stagiaire")
Postrån (n.) - mail train
Sextra-kasserad - to get monetary compensation after
having been sexually harrassed (from "sex"
+ "extra" + "kasserad" = cashed
in; facetious)
Hov-rätten (n.) - the menu of the Swedish Royal
Family ("hov" = court, "rätt"
= dish)
Fock-masten (n.) - sexual athlete
Byg-gen (n.) - genetic defect (litt. "a gene with
a bug")
Ungd-området (n.) - the city of Ungd and surrounding
areas
Barn-ombudsman (n.) - impartial arbitrator in disputes
regarding agricultural buildings
Stor-vinnare (n.) - wino
Träning-shopp (n.) - fitness centre
Får-skinn (n.) - foreskin
Sekt-ledare (n.) - toast-master ("sekt" =
sparkling wine)
Mångetnisk (adj.) - magnetic
Förskärare (n.) - research-scientist
Skit-snack (n.) - a quick bite eaten while skiing ("skit"
= ski)
Tysk-hare (n.) - (1) a genetic cross between a hare
and an elephant ("tysk" = tusk); (2) a German
Alpinisterna jagar WC-platser - the mountaineers were
desperately searching for a toilet
Billy Butt förnekar - Billy Bottoms fornicates
Pol-acker jobber svart - jobs in "arctic agriculture"
are tough ("pol" = pole, "acker"
= meadow, from the German word)
Advanced Swedish
sex-dubbel: stand-in for a famous actor or actress to
do the so-called "love scenes" in a movie
smål-and: (1) small duck; (2) narrow-minded person
fart-fyllt: flatulent
tamiller: Tamils
kameleon: genetic cross between a camel and a lion
jag ska' koka kola: I must have a Coke
sex-sekt: a type of white wine believed by some to be
an aphrodysiac
topp-ost: (1) a great cheese; (2) the boss (literally
"head cheese", i.e. the person who calls
the shots)
sam-bo-lag: (1) law pertaining to cohabitation; (2)
a company owned by "Laps" (Samen); (3) having
sex with your flatmate (contraction of "sambosamlag").
Latest update at 10 November, 1999.
