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POLITICS

Swedish word of the day: talmansrunda

The word 'talmansrunda' is crucial vocabulary if you want to have any hope of understanding how a prime minister gets appointed in Sweden.

Swedish word of the day: talmansrunda
The word you need to understand Swedish politics. Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Let’s break the word down. Talman means “speaker of parliament” and is itself a compound word from the verb att tala (to speak) and the noun man (man).

There have been women speakers in Sweden’s political history, the first of them in 1991, but women in the role are still referred to as the talman (Fru Talman or ‘Ms Speaker’ in direct address, and en kvinnlig talman or “a female speaker” if it’s necessary to emphasise the speaker’s gender).

Then there’s the noun runda, which means “round” or “turn”. So far, so simple. But to explain what the word means, we need some context on the current political situation.

Currently the parliamentary speaker is Andreas Norlén, who has held the role since September 2018, and one of his main responsibilities is formally proposing a prime ministerial candidate. After elections with a straightforward “winner”, this is fairly easy: the job would almost always go to the leader of the largest bloc or party.

That wasn’t the case after 2018, with just one seat separating the two biggest blocs. As a result, Norlén had a key role to play in the ensuing negotiations, and that’s where the talmansrundor come into play. A talmansrunda is the stage of the political process when the speaker holds one-on-one talks with the different party leaders in order to work out the best way forward in forming a government.

Talks on forming Sweden's new government to continue next week
Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson partakes in a talmansrunda. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT

Previously parliament had always accepted the first prime ministerial candidate proposed, but after the 2018 election it took several “rounds” of talks before a government backed by a majority could take power. Even so, the result was a historically weak government, which needed backing from some of its former opposition parties, requiring some significant sacrifices on policy proposals in exchange for this support.

This increasingly fractured political landscape then brought us to June 2021. After a vote of no confidence that united both the left and the right-wing against the government, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven resigned, triggering a new talmansrunda. It’s rare to see these talks outside an election, and Löfven was the first sitting PM to be toppled by a no-confidence motion. After a successful round of talks, however, he was reinstated as prime minister shortly thereafter.

In November 2021, Löfven resigned voluntarily, deciding it was time for someone else to take over the reins. His preferred successor is Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson, but for her to be confirmed by a parliament we need, you guessed it, another talmansrunda.

Norlén is set to hold that round of talks on November 11th. To find out more about the current political status, read The Local’s article.

Examples

Talmannen kommer hålla en ny talmansrunda med partiledarna per telefon

The speaker will hold a new round of talks with the party leaders on the telephone

Talmannen har fixat fika till alla partiledarna under dagens talmansrundor

The speaker prepared fika for all the party leaders during the day’s talks

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

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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: påskris

Here's a seasonal Swedish word that probably doesn't mean what you think it does.

Swedish word of the day: påskris
Image: nito103/Depositphotos

Påskris is a term that many initially mistranslate as “Easter rice”, but it actually means “Easter branches/twigs”. 

The first part of the word is the easiest to trace through history: påsk means “Easter”. It is etymologically linked to Jewish Passover, both sharing roots in the Hebrew word pesaḥ which meant “to pass over”, which became pascha in Latin and páskar in Old Norse before transforming into påsk in modern Swedish.

You can use it on its own in expressions like glad påsk (Happy Easter) and vid påsk (at Easter time), but just like the word jul (Christmas), it is also used in plenty of festive compound words, and påskris is one of the most important.

If you’ve learned Swedish food vocabulary, you’ll probably know that ris often means “rice”, but it can also be used to mean “rod”. In this sense, it can literally refer to a stick used as a rod, or be used figuratively: similar to the English phrase “carrot and stick” referring to encouragement through both rewards and punishment, the Swedish phrase ris och ros (literally “rod and rose”) means “criticism and praise”. In the word påskris, ris means “rod” in the literal sense. 

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Back in the 1600s, Swedes used to beat each other with sticks and rods on Good Friday, as a way of remembering Jesus’ suffering and experiencing suffering themselves. If you’re from an eastern European country such as the Czech Republic, you might recognize this tradition. The rods were called fastlagsris (literally “Lent rods”).

Luckily for those of us in Sweden, this is no longer the typical way of marking Easter, and these days sticks are used as pretty decorations rather than whips. This tradition started around the Stockholm area in the late 1800s, and became common across the whole country by the 1930s.

So påskris are twigs, often from birch, which are used to decorate inside and outside the home during the Easter celebrations, almost like a springtime variant on the Christmas tree.

In the religious context, it might symbolize the palm leaves said to have been scattered in front of Jesus when he entered Jerusalem on the Sunday before Easter. But in secular Sweden, they’re also just a way of adding colour and greenery to homes around March and April. 

You’ll see the twigs, topped with colourful feathers, on sale at markets and other shops in the lead-up to Easter, although in recent years, the use of real feathers has declined, partly due to concerns for animal welfare.

You can also add extra decorations to your twigs, such as hanging eggs or animal-themed ornaments.

However you display them, påskris are an important and beautiful part of the Easter festivities in Sweden. 

Examples

Jag vill skapa ett påskris utan fjädrar

I want to make Easter branches without feathers

Påskriset ser underbart ut!

The Easter branches look wonderful!

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 USAmazon UKBokus or Adlibris.

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