Posts from April 2010

Valborgsmässoafton tonight, May Day tomorrow

Posted by Gabriel 1 Comment
Apr 30 2010

This image of a bonfire typical on Valborg is taken by Hans Svensson for www.imagebank.sweden.se

So, let’s all light big fires and get drunk. I love Sweden. This is one of those Swedish holidays which is kind of funny. It derives from a number of different pagan spring customs (traditioner). It’s also celebrated in other countries like Germany and Estonia for example.

Students will party hard, with their white student caps. In Uppsala it will be mayhem. I read today that more bicycles will get stolen tonight than any other day during the year….so lock em up.

Tomorrow, of course is May 1….the worker’s day. Kind of funny. I overheard a colleague today say she didn’t celebrate May Day (Första Maj) because she wasn’t a Socialist….I didn’t know you had to be a socialist to celebrate May Day:-)

In the newspaper there was also a map of where not to drive. Places were marked where large parades (parad) were going to be held. I think you can support workers even though you’re not a socialist (socialist). So happy May Day.

So here’s to burning some fires (eld, bål), the midnight oil and supporting (stödja) workers (arbetare)!

Can you find the hidden Swedish verbs?

Posted by jennie 9 Comments
Apr 30 2010

It’s not any random Friday in Sweden today, it’s Valborgsmässoafton (read Katja’s post about Walpurgis night here!) and it’s also the Swedish king’s 64th birthday! Grattis på födelsedagen HM Carl XVI Gustaf!

As Gabriel wrote earlier this week, the king probably has his hands full at the moment – or as we would say in Swedish when someone has a lot of things going on, not necessarily good things: Han har det hett om öronen just nu.  Basically,  it means “He is very hot around his ears at the moment”. Hot, as in very warm that is, not exciting and good looking…  But, if you are in Stockholm around midday today, the king himself will briefly appear outside the Royal Palace  and recieve grettings and flowers from the public. Read more about this spectacular event here.  As a kid, I was convinced that all the bonfires and the Valborgsmässoafton-parties were held in honour of our king’s birthday…

Anyone celebrating Valborg anywhere else in the world today?

Anyway, enough of royalties and parties! Let’s finish off April with a challenge. I have hidden eight Swedish verbs describing movement (running, walking etc.) in the puzzle beneath, can you find them? It’s REALLY tough, and for those of you who want a clue, you can find the eight hidden words in the comments field. Please feel free to show off your skills there as well! And, if anyone is going bonkers and want the solution, just shout.

Puzzle away and have a great Valborgsweekend!

M I A M Q K A P P O H G L A S
I M O R R J V X N Z T B T N O
J R J Y E P C M K G Y R S T J
W C P A S N S B S X H C V H L
D A B B P S E V Y J C Y K L A
I A L X M K C M N B N S A L S
L I N P Z O W J O M O R P I I
P A O S X R X T B R D J Y U M
Z G Z E A E S Z M N P K X F M
U N T K M Y S M A O W P A M A
X I K Z U P S V G M I H O V S
I R X M W Q X E C K P F R T P
O P D E C X P L R H J Q V R W
N S E X U C N Y N K O L Q P M
E Z J F F P K J B K I A C M R

Swedish proverbs

Posted by Tibor 2 Comments
Apr 29 2010

New times call for new proverbs. I have collected some evergreen Swedish proverbs. You may recognize some of them or similar from your own language. Please do share it with everyone if you have some funny sayings.

 As we are used to it: Som man bäddar får man ligga. As you make your bad you will lie on it. 
 Disorted: Den man ligger med får bädda. The one you sleep with shall make your bed.

As we are used to it: Den som spar, han har. The one who saves he´s got.
Disorted: Den som tar, han har. The one who takes he´s got. or Den som spar han har.. men inte roligt.  The one who saves has… but not fun.

As we are used to it: Det man inte vet har man inte ont av. What you don´t know won´t hurt.
Disported: Det man inte minns, har inte hänt. What you can´t remember, never happened. eller Det man inte vet, har man ingen aning om. What you don´t know, you have no idea about.

As we are used to it: Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig. Old love never gets rusty.
Disported: Gammal kärlek kostar alltid. Old love costs always.

As we are used to it:  Man måste kyssa många grodor innan man hittar sin prins. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.
Disported: Man måste kyssa många grodor innan man hittar sitt svin. You have to kiss many frogs before you find your swine (jerk).

As we are used to it:   Det var bättre förr. It was better before.
Disported: The future was better before.

As we are used to it:   Ju fler kockar desto sämre soppa. The more cooks the worse soup.
Disported: Ju fler kockar desto större fackförening. The more cooks the bigger union.

As we are used to it:  Älska din nästa såsom dig själv. Love your next one as you love yourself.
Disported: Älska din nästa, men var diskret. Love your next one but be discrete.

As we are used to it: I de lugnaste vatten simmar de fulaste fiskarna. In the calmest water swim the ugliest fishes. 
Disported: Även i de lugnaste vatten drunknar man. Even in the calmest water you can drown.

As we are used to it: Den som gräver en grop åt andra faller själv lätt i. The one who digs a hole for others falls easily in to it him/herself.
Disported: Den som gräver en grop åt andra jobbar som dödgrävare. The one who digs a hole for others works as a gravedigger.

Win a Swedish book – again!

Posted by jennie 32 Comments
Apr 28 2010

Anyone up for some Swedish readning? Since last month’s book contest was such a great success, I think it’s time for a favorit i repris ( “to rerun a favourite”)  But this time I’m going to make it a little bit harder for you – but only a little bit. All you need to do is to to drop a comment – in Swedish – on what kind of books you like to read most. Love, crime, biographies… whatever style you prefer! You don’t have to write loads, it can be one word even, the most important thing is that it’s in Swedish.

I will pick the winner on May 13 at 8 pm, so you got two weeks to work on that winning Swedish line!  Of course, I will do my very best to grant your book wish and send you the type of book you prefer (believe me, charity shops and community book swaps are not terribly keen on Swedish books…) and I am happy to post it anywhere in the world, just make sure to leave your email address in provided field as well (for my eyes only).

By the way, got a good tip from a  friend living in Mexico the other day. Sweden Bookshop, a bookshop specialized in books about Sweden and Swedish literature in translation and they ship overseas and everywhere. I know, the shipping cost can be a bit of a nightmare, but it might be worth it if you find a real bargain book.

Unless you don’t win one, that is! Good luck (lycka till) once again!

Snakker du dansk?

Posted by Tibor 9 Comments
Apr 28 2010

 

It is not only the 15 km long Öresundsbron (Öresund bridge) that connects Denmark with Sweden, but several hundereds of years of common history as well. However, the most important link between the two countries is the language. Thousand of Swedes and Danes working on the other side of the sea and commuting is not a problem anymore. On both sides of the Kattegatt you can find a town called Öresund/Øresund. A trip by trian takes approximately 35 minutes. If you intend staying in Copenhagen a longer period and don´t want to use English you can use my survival-lexicon. Please don´t get upset if you don´t understand a single word at first. Repeticio est magistra vitae! Ask the danes to speak slowly. They are quite good at talking Danish with Swedes or Norwegians on a baby-level. If you are a Swedish speaking person you usually understand about 60-70% of Danish. So you will need to learn the differences. Written Danish is not a problem at all. The most important thing is the numbers. If you want to avoid to using all your 100 DKK-bills and travel home with a lot of coins, do make an effort to learn them. By learning it you will be considered as competent and skilled language user. Please prove them wrong that we do understand Danish! To be able to see through the system you just have to learn that the first 20 numbers are like in Swedish, then they use the German system (for example 5 and 20= 25) up to 49 and then a combination of  the French&German system up to 99. Please note that from 50 it is 20-based counting system. Not 10-based as in most Inodeuropean languages.  Well, the tric is to learn them by heart and just don´t care about what they are called because 90 is actually called halvfems. But if you are very interested in the Danish system….Find an Englsih explanation here

DK – SWE

pølse – korv

spise – äta

vaske – tvätta

fortælle – berätta

fremdeles – fortfarande

kun – bara

måske – kanske

kino – bio

is – glass

plejer – brukar

smile – le

rolig – lugn

mens - medan

fordi – däför att

synes – tycker

meget – mycket

gott – bra

avis – tidning

noen gang - ibland

aften – kväll/afton

more here

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