Swedish can be a very literal language at times. Grönsaker for example means vegetables, literally though? Green things. Tandkött are your gums. Or literally, tooth meat. So the formation of the word sambo actually makes quite a bit of sense. Sam a shortening of the word for together, samman, and bo a shortening of the word for accommodation, boende. Sambo. Together accommodation.
Sambo is a term that denotes a couple that lives together but is not married. It can be everything from the couple who met in high school and moved in together when they were 20 or morfar finding someone to spend the remaining years of his life with.
That there is a term describing the phenomenon does not necessarily lend the sense of gravitas that it might suggest. While there are plenty of people that never marry and instead live as sambos all their life, it has by no means eliminated the idea of marriage, as explained by Jennie in her post about Swedish Wedding Customs. Many will go through several sambo partnerships in their lifetime.
There are several theories, reasons, ideas as to why the sambo is so prevalent in Sweden. Everything from the lack of housing options to the secularism that is rife in the country. From wanting to test out living together to the sexual liberalness of the country. Coming from the US where the discussion often centers on the sanctity of marriage, I personally find the whole idea refreshing. There is something inherently Swedish about it, such a simple concept that makes so much sense.
For those of you in one of those long distance relationships with a Swede, I’d like to suggest a similar term. Särbo. This one meaning living separately. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean only those that find themselves with their significant other in a different country, but can also include people who live in the very same city.
Regardless of your relationship status, know that the Swedes probably have a word for it.
7 Comments
I like English LAT
This was one of the first words we learnt in the Swedish course
Most of the students had Swedish girlfriend or boyfriend, so, definitely, a very useful word.
I had no idea about Särbo.Thanks!
I enjoy your Swedish blog very much.
Have a good weekend!
Marriage is artificial, a byproduct of civilisation and relatively a new thing. By nature, it doesn’t work well with our instincts, the kind of instincts that we have since our common ancestor is a frog.
The marrige gene is not in our DNA. The siblings of our common ncestor might have that gene but I think they all died out as they failed to produce enougth varieties of offsprings to cope with natural selections.
Of course, we need a different family structure to better support weman with children of different fathers. We don’t need to invent one as there must were one. We just need to figure out what it was.
Sweden is still far from that but it’s as close as one can get and it is calling me…if only I can cope with the winter!
@Marta – it is definitely a useful word here in Sweden.
@Luke – the winter is doable… you just have to remember that once you get past the winter solstice, every day is getting longer.
Hi – are there any Swedish words or phrases that sum up “the good life” ? Or “perfect” ? We are being lent a Swede’s very special home and would like to make a thank you gift that incorporates a saying that would sum up the experience. I think “lagom” might be right or an insult – I can’t tell which!
Ruth
A quick Google search reveals that there are also other, more or less fanciful, derivations denoting other forms of cohabitation or not:
mambo (from “mamma”): someone who still lives with his parents
kvarbo (“kvar”: remaining): (1) same as above; (2) someone who’s broken up with someone else but still live together with him/her; (3) an elderly couple who remain in their home instead of moving to a caring home
helgbo (“helg”: weekend): a couple who take turns staying at each other’s place during the weekend
delsbo (“deltid”: part-time): a couple who cohabit part-time (Delsbo is also a town in Hälsingland, so it’s a pun)
turbo (“tur”: turn): a couple who take turns living at each other’s place (pun on “turbo (drive)”)
självbo: someone who lives on their own (“själv” means “by oneself” but is in contemporary speech starting to mean “alone”)
There’s a much longer list at http://www2.unt.se/pages/1,1826,MC=81-AV_ID=921424,00.html .
For those of you who are starting to master the subtleties of the Swedish accent system, what is noteworthy with these modern derivations is that they are all pronounced with accent 1, unlike traditional compounds on “-bo” (like all other compounds) that take accent 2 (cf. “nordbo”, an inhabitant of the Nordic countries).
@Ruth – well literally it would translate as goda livet or perfekt but I suppose it really depends on exactly what you’re trying to say and how you’re trying to say it.
I would say that lagom is not the right word choice though.
@David – good call. there are quite a few to choose from
3 Trackbacks
[...] week I wrote about Swedish relationships – the Sambo. Plenty of non-Swedes end up in Sweden because of a relationship, love refugees if you will. [...]
[...] is an engaging game that makes use of the platform unlike others I’ve seen. I say this as his sambo, yes, but also as someone who has played it a [...]
[...] and two fikas daily. He’d have plenty of time to play with his out-of-wedlock kids with his sambo who didn’t insist on ever getting married, and go fishing and golfing as much as he pleased. [...]