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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

​​Swedish word of the day: snut

Today’s Swedish word is for the official who sniffs out crime.

Composite image for Swedish word of the day 'snut'. Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Perhaps the official with the greatest number of nicknames, the snut is seldom thought of in neutral terms, whether he is loved or hated. Snut is a Swedish slang term for ‘a police officer’. 

Snuten is the definite, as in den snuten, meaning ‘that cop’, but it is also used to denote ‘the cops’ in general, that is the plural, as in snuten kommer, meaning  ‘the cops are coming’.

So where does the word come from? 

Well, it has the same origin as the English word ‘snout’, ‘the nose and mouth that stick out from the face of some animals’, such as that of a pig, which some people use as a derogatory term for the police. It might be related to the idea that the cops lägger näsan i blöt ‘put their nose in the wet’, or in other words ‘stick their nose where it doesn’t belong’. Whatever the origin, not many Swedes today will know that snut comes from a word for ‘nose’ or ‘mouth’, and the reason for that is that no one uses it anymore in its original sense.

There are however a number of related terms that are used in relation to the nose and mouth. Att snyta sig is to ‘blow one’s nose’. The word snyting is an older word for a punch to the face. Snyte has the same meaning as ‘snout’, and is used for the snouts of animals, although the word generally used for the pig’s snyte is tryne

As for the different epithets used for the police, there is never a shortage of those. Many today originate in the neighbourhoods primarily inhabited by people of immigrant background, förorten, a word which we have previously covered.

Here are a few selections.

Aina, is from the Turkish aynasiz meaning ‘mirrorless’ which some say is meant to signal that the police have no shame, but more likely has the original meaning of ‘ugly’ since there is an antonym in aynali which means ‘mirrorfull’ or in other words ‘beautiful’.

Bengen/bängen, is most likely from the Romani word for ‘the devil’. Khanzir from the Arabic word for ‘pig’. Civare for plain clothes police, civilklädd polis.

Diskotaxi, literally ‘disco-taxi’ is a term for a police car, a reference to the flashing blue light. Farbror blå, means ‘uncle blue’. Gris, is Swedish for ‘pig’. And shorre/shorri, is from the Arabic word shurṭa, originally a police force established in the early days of the succession of Muslim empires commonly known as The Caliphate.

Snuten is not a neutral word, it can be considered offensive, so best not to use around the police – polisen is the correct term. In decades past you could still hear konstapeln a cognate of the English ‘constable’, but it is now to be considered all but archaic. There is no official title to address a police officer with, but a bit of politeness goes a long way.

Example sentences:

Visste du att Olle är snut?

Did you know Olle’s a cop?

Har du sett vad mycket snutar det är ute idag?

Have you seen the number of cops that are out today?

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now 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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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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