Our word of the day today is bajamaja. The plural of bajamaja is bajamajor. Note that, in Swedish, the letter “j” is pronounced like “y”, so this is unfortunately not pronounced in the same way as the English word “major” – a more accurate pronunciation could be something like bye-a-my-a for the singular, or bye-a-my-or for the plural.

Bajamaja is the Swedish word for a portable chemical toilet, like those often found at music festivals or other temporary outdoor events. These toilets are known in British English as a “portaloo”, and in American English as a “porta-potty”. Both “portaloo” and “porta-potty” are brand names which have now become the word used to describe all chemical toilets, and the Swedish word bajamaja is no exception.

Although the name was probably chosen due to the fact that it rhymes, it does also have an interesting etymology.

The word baja is a less common synonym of the verb bajsa, a word you have almost certainly come across if you know any Swedish children, who love to talk about bajs (poo) and call each other bajskorvar (poo sausages).

Therefore, the first half of bajamaja can be translated as “poo”. The second half, maja, is an older term which can still be found in some Swedish dialects, and can be translated as a primitive building such as a hut or den. Indeed, maja is the Finnish word for “hut” and the Estonian word for “house”, which both come from the Latvian word for house: māja.

So, a bajamaja can be roughly translated as a “poo den” or a “poo hut”. Think about that next time you’re in need of one at a music festival.

Example sentences:

Usch, den bajamajan var jätteäcklig!

Ugh, that portaloo was really disgusting!

Kräkkaoset på Kebnekaise spreds via bajamajor 

The vomiting chaos on Kebnekaise spread via portaloos

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