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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Swedish word of the day: glass

Today we're looking at a summery false friend.

Published: 29 July 2019 06:00 CEST
Swedish word of the day: glass
Image: nito103/Depositphotos

Swedish glass is not the same as English 'glass': in Sweden, this is the word for 'ice cream'.

It can be confusing as a language learner, because the word for 'glass' is glas. Hear the difference in how they're pronounced in the audio clips below.

Glass:

 
Glas:

The other difference between the two is that glass is an 'en' word and glas is an 'ett' word.
 
Glass meaning 'ice cream' is a borrowing from French glace (ice cream), and when it first appeared in Swedish it kept the French spelling, although over the years it became Swedified as glass.

Look out for lots of compound words containing glass, such as jordgubbsglass (strawberry ice cream), chokladglass (chocolate ice cream) and more Swedish variants like saltlakritsglass (salty liquorice ice cream).


Swedes are big ice cream consumers, which might seem surprising given that it's such a cold country. But it's a hugely popular treat in all seasons, though especially in summer, whether you buy your glass from the neighbourhood glassbil (literally 'ice cream car', or ice cream van) or at one of the many ice cream parlours in Sweden's towns and cities.

Examples

Jag älskar att äta glass oavsett årstid


I love eating ice cream no matter what season it is

Den kan vara den godaste glassen jag ätit

This might be the tastiest ice cream I've had

 
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.
 
 

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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.

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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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