Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: loppis

Here's a word that describes a quintessential Swedish summer activity.

Published: 9 July 2019 16:00 CEST
Updated: 22 April 2024 14:05 CEST
Swedish word of the day: loppis
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Loppis is the usual Swedish word for a flea market, and these are a hugely popular way to spend sunny weekends as people set up makeshift stalls to buy and sell secondhand items, crafts, and more at bargain prices.

It’s common for an apartment block or entire neighbourhood to get together and organise a loppis, or you can head to many town squares or streets to go loppis-hunting at a weekend. There are several websites which keep track of as many loppisar as possible.

It’s not hard to see why Swedes love them so much: in summer months, loppisar take place outdoors and so allow visitors to make the most of the season; the focus on re-using is eco-friendly; the low prices are always a bonus in pricey Sweden; and then there’s the chance of finding a great vintage accessory or piece of furniture.

  • 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

The full term is loppmarknad, or lopptorg amongst Swedish speakers in Finland, but as we’ve mentioned before in our word of the day articles, it’s common in colloquial Swedish to shorten words by knocking off the final syllable or two and adding the suffix -is, hence loppis.

To say ‘at a flea market’, you use the preposition på, for example ska vi gå på loppis? (shall we go to a flea market).

The longer word loppmarknad comes from a direct translation of the US English term ‘flea market’, since en loppa is a flea. This is a nod to the fact that the markets sell secondhand clothes and furniture, and that historically, some people looked down on these and claimed they were full of fleas.

You can also use the word loppfynd (‘flea market find’ or ‘flea market bargain’) to refer to the treasures you track down at a loppis, and a bakluckeloppis (literally a ‘car boot flea market’) is a car boot sale, where instead of stands, items are sold straight out of people’s cars. 

It’s not to be confused with other compound words which contain lopp and derive from the word ett lopp (‘a track’ or ‘a run’), such as maratonlopp (a marathon race) or well-known races including Vasaloppet and Lidingöloppet.

Example sentences:

Jag har köpt den på loppis.

I bought it at a flea market.

Jag vill sälja mina gamla kläder på loppis.

I want to sell my old clothes at a flea market.

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.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: nyckelpiga

These little red and black insects are starting to pop up in gardens and fields all across Sweden. But where does their name come from?

Published: 14 May 2024 09:18 CEST
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.

SHOW COMMENTS