Lost in Translation - Swedish Words with Much Different Meanings in English

Wait a minute, before you start thinking I've gone completely wild upon my move to Sweden...read on!

Just the other day in my Swedish language course, my teacher informed our class that we were in Group 7.  There was a group 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7.  Kind of strange that there was no Group 6 right?  It might help you to know that the Swedish word for 6 is "sex", therefore, the administrators feared that all the Americans and Canadians might take it the wrong way, if on our first day of class they announced to us: "WELCOME TO GROUP SEX!"  Or in Swedish: "Välkommen till grupp sex".....And so....there is no GROUP SEX in my school.

Yes Sweden is liberal, but not SOOOO liberal! Amsterdam maybe?

I've discovered some other Swedish words that probably mean different things to you English speakers!

1. SLUT-  Walking past the storefronts to some of the nicest shops in Sweden in the summer you can find the word "SLUT" written across the windows in bright red, massive fonts.  What the heck I remember thinking....but this word actually means something like "End of Season/End of Year Sale" in Swedish...so all is well.

2. Infart = entrance
photo credit:  Alex de Sousa

3. Utfart = exit

4. Kock = Chef/Cook

Have a similar experience from a country you have visited? Leave the words and english meanings in the comments field below!

Peace!
Brandi

Nobody Eats Bulk Candy Like The Swedes

So, a quick note on Swedish candy obsession! You can't walk down a street without running into a "godis" store lined wall to wall with plastic bins filled with goodies ranging from salt licorice, jelly candies, chocolate and marshmallow.

Swedes eat the most bulk candy in the world! Young people and working women between 25 and 60 eat the most candy....(you little snackers you)!  Swedes eat over 18 kilos candy per person per year. That's equivalent to 39.6 pounds per person per year! Over 100 million bags a year are sold in Sweden. Who knew that this population of slender, tall people were chowing down all this candy.  You'd never know it by looking at them.
Source: Wikipedia

A list I found online ranks Sweden as #1 in Kilo's consumed per year, followed next by England and then Germany. USA ranked #8. (study from 2007). Over 1/3rd of the candies consumed in this study was bulk.


Prices range from about 6 Kr to 10 Kr per Hg. (There are 10 Hg's in 1 Kilo). My husband made sure to let me know that 10 Kr is way too much and not to buy from places so expensive. So don't buy your bulk candy from the movie theater (for example)!

America' favorite Swedish candy....Swedish Fish. Are they even called Swedish Fish here in Sweden...NOPE. I've seen two types of these "Swedish Fish". Black licorice fish are called "Salt Sill", and the bulk candy with many colored fish are called "Pastellfisk".

Want to know more about this fun fact? Check out "Godis Åt Folket", by Thomas Hedlund and Andre Persson.

Now you are gonna want some Swedish Fish aren't ya?
Until next time...

Brandi