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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: kanelbulle

Our chosen Swedish word of the day – kanelbulle – is very appropriate on this day: October 4th is Sweden's Cinnamon Bun Day.

Published: 4 October 2018 17:19 CEST
Updated: 4 October 2023 06:06 CEST

Swedish word of the day: kanelbulle

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

But let’s get into the meaning of the word first.

Kanelbulle is a composition of the words kanel, which means “cinnamon” and bulle, which means “bun” or “small bread roll”. Kanel comes from the Middle Low German kanēl which in turn comes from the Latin word canna, which translates to “reed” or “cane”.

Long story short: kanelbulle means “cinnamon bun”.

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The plural is kanelbullar and when else would you have several kanelbullar than on cinnamon bun day?

In the 1920s, cinnamon buns as we know them today rose to their sugary fame and have been deeply connected to the Swedish culture ever since. Today, they are Sweden’s most beloved pastry and exist in all shapes and sizes – from the traditional ones to some with colourful toppings or filled with blueberries (although the latter two perhaps mainly abroad as Swedes tend to prefer the traditional version).

Kanelbullens dag (National Cinnamon Bun Day) was invented in 1999 when Sweden’s Home Baking Council tried to think of ways to celebrate the organisation’s 40th anniversary. Perfectly gauging the tastes of a nation, it announced the introduction of an annual feast day.

The word kanelbulle is also sometimes used to describe the @ symbol, because of the way it looks.

Examples:

Jag vill ha en kanelbulle, tack

I would like a cinnamon bun, please

I kväll ska jag baka kanelbullar

I’m going to make cinnamon buns tonight

Va?! Tycker du inte om kanelbullar?

What?! Don’t you like cinnamon buns?

Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

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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.

Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading our app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button

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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