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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: annandag jul

On the second day of Christmas, The Local gave to you, the story behind the Swedish word for Boxing Day.

Published: 26 December 2018 07:59 CET
Updated: 26 December 2023 12:01 CET

the word annandag jul on a black background by a swedish flag

Annandag jul follows julafton and juldagen. Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

December 26th has a curious set of names around the world. In English, it is known as Boxing Day. In Swedish, the name makes a lot more sense: annandag jul, which literally means “the second day of Christmas”.

The day is also known as den helige Stefanos dag (St Stephen’s Day) and Stefanidagen in Swedish-speaking Finland, in honour of a saint believed to have been stoned to death on this day. But in secular Sweden you’re much more likely to hear the term annandag jul in general conversation.

December 26th is a red day or public holiday in Sweden. And several centuries ago, December 27th was sometimes called tredjedag jul or “the third day of Christmas” and was also a day off for many years. That was the case from 1772 until Gustav III abolished the extra holiday, but the name tredjedag jul is still used by some.

There aren’t many traditions specifically tied to annandag jul. As well as spending time with family, it’s also become known for sporting events such as Annandagsbandy (Boxing Day bandy), a set of bandy matches that take place every year on the date, although for a long time the Swedish Church criticised this custom.

Example sentences:

Vi ska besöka min frus familj på annandag jul

We’re going to visit my wife’s family on December 26th

Annandag jul är en dag för familjen och sport

Boxing Day is a day for family and sport

Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading The Local’s 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: annandag

Many Swedish religious holidays last three days, starting with the afton celebrated the day before the holiday, then the dag, which is the actual day of the holiday, then annandag, the day after the holiday.

Why do Swedes celebrate holidays a day early?

Some examples of these are Christmas (jul), Easter (påsk) and Pentecost (pingst), where annandag refers to Boxing Day, Easter Monday and Whit Monday, respectively.

Annandag itself is a compound word consisting of two words: annan and dag. Let’s look at annan first.

Annan comes from the Old Swedish word annar, meaning “second”, “other” or “one of two”. In the accusative case, this became annan, which has hung on in modern Swedish. (For the purposes of this article I’ll be skipping the explanation of Old Swedish grammar, but the grammatically-inclined can read more on the accusative case here.)

It can be complicated to translate into English, and the fact that the word can appear as annat, andre or andra, too, depending on the object it refers to, doesn’t make this easier.

Here are a few ways it can be translated:

Vill du ha någonting annat? (Would you like something else?)

Jag vill ha en annan tröja (I want a different top)

Har du några andra leksaker? (Do you have any other toys?)

Den andre prinsen heter André (The second prince is called André [you could use andra here, too])

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

Dag, meanwhile, comes from the Old Norse dagr via Old Swedish dagher, with the same Proto-West Germanic root as the English word “day”.

It differs from the word dygn, which refers specifically to a 24-hour period (as an aside, there is a rarely used word for this in English, too, nychthemeron, from an Ancient Greek term meaning “lasting a day and a night”).

As far as annandag is concerned, the annan here means “second”, so it literally translates to the second day of whatever holiday it’s referring to.

Usually, an annandag will be written alongside the name of its respective holiday, like annandag påsk or annandag pingst. If you see it written alone, it’s probably referring to annandag jul, which is December 26th or Boxing Day.

Although most holidays in Sweden have an afton and a dag, not all of them have annandagar, so you’ll probably raise a few eyebrows if you ask your colleagues about their plans for annandag midsommar.

We won’t stop you trying to get your friends and family to celebrate you for an extra day on annandag födelse (second birthday), annandag mor (second mothers’ day) or annandag far (second father’s day), though.

Example sentences:

Annandag pingst var allmän helgdag i Sverige fram till 2004

Whit Monday was a public holiday in Sweden until 2004

Vi brukar fira med min pappas familj på annandagen

We usually celebrate with my dad’s family on December 26th

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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