This article does contain several words that some readers may find offensive. Consider yourselves warned.

Racist slur most offensive

Almost a third of respondents (32 percent) in the survey carried out by Novus on behalf of Språktidningen said that the most offensive word in Swedish was the Swedish version of the racial slur commonly referred to as the n-word, referred to in Swedish as n-ordet.

Attitudes towards this word varied depending on age. Almost two thirds (65 percent) of Swedes aged 18-34 considered it the most offensive word in Swedish, while only 5 percent of Swedes aged 65-84 were of the same opinion.

This may be due to the fact that the Swedish n-word was historically perceived as a neutral term used to refer to anyone with darker skin.

“When people who were older today were younger, the word was in use without being as loaded as it is now,” Kristy Beers Fägersten, English professor at Södertörn University, told Språktidningen.

Since the 1990s, the Swedish n-word has been perceived as more offensive, equivalent to the English racial slur ending in -er.

“I think many older people are aware that the word is problematic, but maybe don’t feel it at such a visceral level as young people do, who have grown up in a climate where you can’t even utter the word, but you say n-ordet instead,” said Beers Fägersten.

“Times have changed but it’s difficult to shake off the way you were raised.”

Views also varied among followers of different political parties. Only 11 percent of the far-right Sweden Democrats considered n-ordet to be the most offensive word, while 71 percent of Left Party voters saw it as the worst Swedish word.

Other groups who were more likely to rate this word as the most offensive word in Swedish were those with a university education and women.

The study did not ask respondents for their race or ethnicity, so it is not clear from the results whether white Swedes found the word more or less offensive than black Swedes, for example. 

Sweden Democrats were also the most likely group to consider svenne (a slang term for Swedes) the most offensive word in Swedish, with over a fifth (21 percent) ranking it highest, compared to only 4 percent of Moderates, Christian Democrates and Liberals, and one percent of the four other political parties.

Many Sweden Democrats consider svenne to be a racist word used by people with an immigrant background against ethnic Swedes, said Torbjörn Sjöström, CEO of Novus.

“Sweden Democrat voters consider themselves to a greater degree to be marginalised in Swedish society and see themselves as victims who have had to make way for other groups,” he said.

Misogynist terms more offensive to men

The next two most offensive words were hora (whore) and horunge (literally: “child of a whore”, but also an old term for a bastard, a child born out of wedlock).

Over a fifth of respondents (21 percent) said hora was the most offensive word in Swedish, while 17 percent considered horunge to be the worst. Men and elderly respondents were more likely to rate these words as the most offensive, which may be due to the fact that the word has been reclaimed by young women in particular.

“Of course, it’s a terrible slur to hear from someone who doesn’t mean well, but in younger age groups the word is also used in a friendly way,” Södertörn University Swedish professor Karin Milles, who specialises in language and gender, told Språktidningen.

“Girls sometimes call each other horor in a jokey way between friends. Using it in a playful way, like hörru din jävla hora (“listen up you bloody whore”) can have made the word less offensive for girls. But it’s still a loaded word for boys.”

Like other slurs reclaimed by different communities, it can still be extremely offensive when used by outsiders.

“It would be completely different if a man said it to a woman. That would make it offensive,” Fägersten said.

Sex and genitals more taboo for older groups

Words to do with sex and genitals were also considered offensive, with fitta, a word for the female genitalia, ranked most offensive by 11 percent of respondents. Just three percent of respondents considered the male equivalent, kuk, to be the most offensive word. In general, women considered both of these words to be more offensive than men.

These words can both be used to describe to the body part in question or as offensive terms for people of the body parts’ respective gender.

Women over 50 generally thought fitta was more offensive than those under 50, with 22 percent of women aged 65-84 ranking it the most offensive word. This group reacted more strongly to fitta than any other word, which Milles puts down to taboo in this age group around female sexuality. 

“For young people words to do with genitals aren’t considered as rude, because there’s been so much discussion around the fact that sex is normal and a beautiful thing, and that there shouldn’t be any shame in talking about it,” she said.

Just one percent of respondents felt idiot was the most offensive word in Swedish, with almost all people in this group aged over 65. This is probably due to the fact that it used to refer to people with intellectual disabilities, whereas now it refers to someone doing something stupid.

Religious words relatively mild

One thing which all genders, age groups and political groups had in common was the fact that traditional swear words to do with religion, like fan (devil), helvete (hell) and jävlar (also devil) were not perceived as offensive as swear words which related to sex, genitalia and ethnicity. Less than one percent of respondents in the whole study ranked one of these three words as the most offensive.

Fägersten believes this is in part due to the way in which the words are used. 

“Jävlar, helvete and fan are just words you’d say, they’re not something you’d call another person,” she said.

English speakers may also have realised that Swedes often use imported English swearwords. like “shit”, relatively liberally. These are also considered quite mild.