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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: strax

This is a fun and short word that can be used to describe both time and space.

Published: 2 October 2018 16:45 CEST
Updated: 19 July 2023 07:38 CEST

Swedish word of the day: strax

I'll do this thing I've been putting off very strax, I promise. Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Strax means that something is about to happen very soon.

That could be anything from eating dessert strax after dinner or finishing that project your boss asked you to work on strax.

How soon depends entirely on the context, but it is usually understood that it is slightly sooner than the other word snart, which also means soon. The two are however almost interchangeable.

It can be used both when talking about the future (“oh yes, I’ll definitely do that thing you asked me to do very strax indeed”) and the past (“my grandmother became pregnant strax after she married”).

Strax can also be used in a more physical sense to talk about proximity. If your office is located almost next to the train station, you could for example say that they are strax intill varandra (“right next to each other”).

It has been used in Sweden since around 1430-50, and is similar to the German word “stracks”.

Examples:

Jag kommer alldeles strax

I’ll be there right away

Klockan är strax tolv

It is almost 12 o’clock

De åkte på smekmånad strax efter bröllopet

They went on a honeymoon shortly after the wedding

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now available to order in English or German. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it.

It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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Swedish word of the day: nyckelpiga

Nyckelpiga, or nyckelpigor in the plural, is the Swedish word for the red and black spotted insects known in English as ladybirds or ladybugs.

Their name is made up of two words in Swedish, nyckel, which is the word for key, and piga, meaning a maid or other female servant, so it could be literally translated as a “keymaiden”.

In many European languages, these insects have names which relate to the Virgin Mary.

In English, legend has it that farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary asking her to protect their crops, and when ladybirds appeared to eat aphids (a common garden pest), they called them “Our Lady’s birds”, which over time was simplified to ladybirds.

They’re known as mariquita in Spanish and marieta in Catalan, while in Danish and Norwegian they’re called mariehøner or marihøner (literally: Mary hens), and in German they’re called Marienkäfer (Mary beetles).

The Swedish term has a less obvious relationship to the Virgin Mary, and dates back to Sweden’s Catholic past.

Mary is believed in Catholicism to have seven sorrows, which are all events in her life often depicted in art by seven swords piercing her heart. The most common ladybird in Sweden has seven spots, which were seen as representing these seven sorrows.

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Seven was also considered to be a holy number in general, and it was believed therefore that ladybirds held the keys to heaven on behalf of Mary. According to an old Swedish folk tale, anyone who releases a captured ladybird would be let through the gates of heaven, and in many countries they are believed to be able to reveal when someone will marry.

In Sweden, it was said that if one landed on your hand and walked along your fingers, it was measuring new gloves for you, which meant that you were either going to attend a wedding or a funeral, and in France, a woman could put a ladybird on her finger and count out loud until it flew away, with the number reached representing how many years would pass before she would marry.

Another word for ladybird in Swedish is gullhöna (yellow hen), which most likely refers to the less common yellow ladybirds with black spots.

These ladybirds were believed to be able to predict the weather in some parts of Sweden. In Bohuslän, ladybirds meant good weather, and if you saw one, you were supposed to say gullhöna, gullhöna, flyg, flyg, flyg, så blir det sommar och gott, gott väder (ladybird, ladybird, fly, fly, fly, then it will be summer and good, good weather). In Värmland, however, seeing a ladybird meant the opposite: bad weather and rain.

Example sentences:

Tycker du inte att det har varit ovanligt många nyckelpigor i år?

Don’t you think there has been an unusually large number of ladybirds this year?

Nyckelpigor är ett bra nyttodjur att ha i trädgården då de äter bladlöss.

Ladybirds are a good beneficial insect to have in the garden, as they eat aphids.

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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