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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: snögubbe

With almost all of Sweden below freezing - and a fair amount covered in snow - maybe this will give you some inspiration for what you can do while you're snowed in.

the word snögubbe on a black background beside a swedish flag
Do you wanna build a... snögubbe? Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Today’s wintery word of the day is snögubbe, the Swedish word for snowman.

If you’ve spent a lot of time in Sweden, you will probably have come across the word gubbe before, usually used as an affectionate – or derogatory, depending on the context – word for “old man”, which makes a snögubbe a “snow old man”.

According to the Swedish Academy’s dictionary, the word snögubbe has existed in Swedish since 1804.

And it’s an important word. In some areas of Sweden, like northern Swedish town Kiruna, snögubbar aren’t just a winter phenomenon, and you might even have a chance to build one well into the summer if the weather is on your side.

A traditional snögubbe is usually made of kramsnö, soft snow which has the perfect consistency for rolling snowballs. This kramsnö is then rolled into two or three large snöbollar (snowballs) stacked on top of one another, with a morot (carrot) for a nose, and pinnar (sticks) for hands.

  • 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

One popular snögubbe among Swedish children is Olaf from the Disney film Frozen (Frost in Swedish), although the earworm “Do you want to build a snowman?” is translated asVill du inte ut och leka?” (Don’t you want to come out and play?) in the Swedish version of the film – apologies in advance for getting the song stuck in your head all day.

British readers may also remember the children’s book The Snowman from 1978, about a boy who builds a magical snowman that comes to life. This book, and the film adaptation released a few years later, is still popular in Sweden, where you can find it in bookshops under the name Snögubben – a great gift idea for any snow-loving Swedish-speaking children in your life.

Example sentences:

Vill du ut och bygga snögubbar?

Do you want to go outside and build snowmen?

Vi gjorde en snögubbe med barnen i går, men den har redan börjat smälta nu.

We made a snowman with the kids yesterday but it’s already started melting now.

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 – or join The Local as a member and get your copy for free.

It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: dymmelonsdag

The Wednesday before Easter has an unusual name in Swedish: dymmelonsdag. Where does the name come from?

Swedish word of the day: dymmelonsdag

There are a few different names for the week before Easter in Swedish, with the most traditional being stilla veckan, or “quiet week”, as it’s the week Jesus is believed to have died. Other terms are passionsveckan (passion week) and tysta veckan (quiet week).

Most people nowadays will just refer to it as påskveckan (Easter week).

The Wednesday of stilla veckan, which has a number of names in English, including Holy Wednesday, Spy Wednesday, Good Wednesday or Great and Holy Wednesday, is known as dymmelonsdag in Swedish.

Onsdag here means Wednesday, named after the Norse god Odin, usually Oden in Swedish (this is where the English word Wednesday comes from too – Woden’s Day, as he was known in Old English).

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But what’s a dymmel? Well, the term dates back to medieval traditions for the Wednesday before Easter.

This day was traditionally seen as the first day of påskfriden or “Easter peace”, the three days leading up to Easter where the metal clapper or hammer (the bit inside a church bell which makes it ring) was wrapped in straw or swapped out with a quieter wooden clapper, known as a dymmel.

This dymmel stayed in place until Easter Saturday, after which påskfriden was over and the original metal clapper was put back in place.

It’s not entirely clear where the term dymmel comes from, but an earlier spelling of the word in Old Swedish is dymbil. This may have its roots in English – it bears a resemblance to “dumb bell”, which, before becoming a name for a type of gym equipment, was a type of wooden contraption which church bell ringers could use to practise ringing without making too much noise. 

Dumb here is used in its original sense of being silent or unable to speak, rather than the newer meaning of somebody lacking intelligence.

Another term for the week before Easter is dymmelveckan, named after this wooden clapper.

This isn’t the only way in which påskfriden was marked – other sounds were muffled and as little work as possible was to be carried out. Instead, people were supposed to think about Jesus’ life and regret and repent their sins.

Dymmelonsdag was considered to be a dangerous day, so it may not be the best idea to use “dumbbell Wednesday” as a sign to hit the gym.

Tasks that involved things that rotated – such as machines with wheels like spinning wheels and millstones – should be especially avoided, as they were seen as contributing to Jesus’ suffering.

This kind of work was referred to as kringgärningar – roughly translated as “spinning acts”.

In some parts of the country, such as Småland, the dymmel was considered to be some sort of creature, which would mess with the yarns if you spun fibres. In Skåne, it was believed that if you spun yarn on this day, the roof would blow off.

It wasn’t all bad, though. If you made sure not to mention lice or fleas on dymmelonsdag, you wouldn’t see them for the rest of the year, and you could get revenge on a neighbour by running around their manure pile naked before sunrise on dymmelonsdag… although maybe skip that one this year unless you want the police to get involved.

Example sentences:

Skärtorsdag och långfredag känner du redan, men visste du att onsdag i påskveckan heter dymmelonsdag?

You already know about Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, but did you know that Wednesday in Easter Week is known as dymmelonsdag?

Varför heter det dymmelonsdag egentligen?

Why is it called dymmelonsdag?

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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