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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Swedish word of the day: svinvarmt

Today's Swedish word of the day is brought to you courtesy of the heatwave currently sweeping the country.

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

Svinvarmt literally translates as 'pig hot', and it's used to mean 'very hot' in reference to temperature. 

It's similar to the expressions mycket varmt or jättevarmt (both meaning 'very hot'), but svin- is a much more colloquial or informal prefix than jätte-, so you could also translate it as English 'bloody'.

Beginner Swedish language learners might be confused because varm looks like the English word 'warm'. They share linguistic roots, but in English 'warm' is less intense. For example, compare hot chocolate and varm choklad, whereas 'warm chocolate' in English sounds more like a chocolate bar that's started to melt in the sun.

We've written svinvarmt ending in 't', because you'll most likely hear it in a sentence like 'oj det är svinvarmt idag!' (wow, it's boiling hot today!), in which case svinvarmt ends in a 't' to agree with det. Like most other Swedish adjectives, and like the adjective varm itself, svinvarm is used with a final 't' when it describes an 'ett' word, and without it when describing an 'en' word. For example: duschen var svinvarm (the shower was boiling hot), but vattnet var svinvarmt (the water was boiling hot).

So what have pigs got to do with it?

I'm delighted you asked.

An English-speaker might make a link between the colloquial phrase 'sweating like a pig', but the svin here doesn't really have anything to do with pigs as such.

Svin is simply being used an intensifier, like jätte- (which literally means 'giant' but usually means 'very'), to emphasize the adjective it's combined with. 

Svin can be used as an intensifier on lots of different adjectives. As well as svinvarmt, another common one is svinkallt (very cold), and you might also hear words like svinbra (very/bloody good), svinintressant (really interesting) or svintråkig, for example. 

When used on its own to talk about another person, the word svin is an insult, most often used about men: han är en svin means 'he is a swine'. But when combined with an adjective, the prefix svin- doesn't necessarily have any negative connotation at all.

Examples

Det var svinvarmt i går så vi tog ett dopp

It was roasting hot yesterday so we went for a dip

Vi satt i ett svinvarmt rum

We sat in a boiling hot room

Do you have a favourite Swedish word you would like to nominate for our word of the day series? Get in touch by email or if you are a Member of The Local, log in to comment below.

Member comments

  1. I love the grammar lesson included in the word of the day! It helps to reinforce my online Swedish lessons!

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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: själv

Today's Swedish word can help you talk about independence, solitude... and swearwords.

Swedish word of the day: själv

The word själv means “self”, as in han gjorde det själv (he did it himself), jag tycker själv bäst om våren (I personally prefer spring), vad tycker du själv (what do you yourself think?) or as parents of Swedish-speaking two-year-olds will know too well, kan själv (“can self!” or “I can do it myself!”).

Själv can also mean “alone” – not necessarily implying that the speaker is feeling lonely – such as jag var hemma själv (“I was home alone”) or jag gick på bio själv (“I went to the cinema on my own”). If you’re feeling lonely, you should instead say jag känner mig ensam.

It appears in several compound words, such as självisk (selfish) or osjälvisk (unselfish/selfless), självbehärskad (restrained, or more literally in control of oneself) or självförtroende (confidence).

  • 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

A trickier word to explain is självaste.

Självaste can also mean him or herself, but think of it as a more extreme version, implying that the speaker has some sort of reaction to the person in question, perhaps they’re impressed or shocked. Other translations can be “in the flesh” or “none other than”.

For example: jag vände mig om och då stod självaste drottningen där (“I turned around and the Queen herself was standing there”) or de vann mot självaste Barcelona (“They won against none other than Barcelona”).

You also often hear it when Swedes swear. Det var då självaste fan (“It was the devil… in the flesh”) may be said by someone who is annoyed that something went wrong or isn’t working, although more often than not they’ll leave the last word unspoken: det var då självaste… (similarly to how an English-speaker may say “what the…” leaving out the cruder word “hell”).

Examples:

Själv är bästa dräng

If you want to get something done you’d best do it yourself

I själva verket

In actual fact (in fact, actually)

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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