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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: fack

Here's an important word to know for people working in Sweden.

The word
I was going to join a Swedish trade union, but then I thought "facket". Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Fack can mean two things in Swedish. The first meaning is “small compartment or box”, and the second meaning, which this article will focus on, is “trade union”.

Pronunciation-wise, it sounds a lot like the English swearword that starts with an F and rhymes with “duck”. The article is -et, so “a trade union” is facket. So if you’ve been wondering why your Swedish colleagues have been saying “fuck it” so often, now you know.

Fack in the sense of “trade union” is an abbreviation of fackförbund or fackförening. There are specific trade unions for different professions, as well as more general overarching trade unions representing a wider range of professions.

We’ve chosen fack as our word of the day, as it’s a pretty impossible word to avoid if you work in Sweden. With over 70 percent of the Swedish workforce unionised, you’re sure to hear about a fack sooner or later.

Unions also play an important role in the so-called Swedish model, the idea that unions and employers organisations work together to ensure good working conditions and thereby avoid strikes, so they are an integral part of Swedish workplace culture, whether you’re unionised or not.

You might also come across the term fackklubb, a group of union-affiliated workers who create a trade union club at their workplace, which will then elect one or more members who can represent employees in any discussions with their employer.

Unionised workers in Sweden pay a monthly fee to be members of a union, which varies between unions. Read more here for information on union membership for foreign workers in Sweden.

Examples

Do you know if he’s joined the union?

Vet du om han har gått med i facket?

I’m considering changing union.

Jag överväger att byta fackförening.

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now available to pre-order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it, and use the discount code VOVVELOVE (valid until October 27th) to get a 10% discount on all pre-orders.

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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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