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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: tupplur

Today's Swedish word is especially useful if you've got young children or are feeling a little bit sleepy.

Swedish word of the day: tupplur
Wouldn't mind one of these right about now. Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Tupplur means “nap”, or a short period of sleep, usually taken during daytime, and you’ll usually hear it used in the phrase ta en tupplur (to take/have a nap). It’s a compound noun, made up of two different words: tupp + lur

Lur on its own can be used to mean “nap” or “doze”, although it also has several other meanings. It can mean “bell” or “horn”, while the set phrase på lur means something like “on the lookout” or “in wait”.

The strange part of tupplur is tupp, which means “cock” – in the sense of a male chicken.

According to the word experts at the Swedish Language Council, the term comes from the fact that chickens tend to sleep in short periods, often while standing. An earlier Swedish word for nap, in fact, was hönssömn, literally meaning “chicken sleep”, and similar nouns are found in Norwegian (høneblund), Danish (hønsesøvn) and Icelandic (hænublundur).

Tupplur is believed to date back to at least the early 1800s, and is a common word in Swedish. It’s not that surprising if you consider that the Nordic nations were agricultural economies for much longer than many other European countries. In English, meanwhile, the usual animal-inspired term for a short sleep is “cat nap”, based on the fact that cats often doze for just a few minutes at a time, although in total they sleep far more than chickens.

If you’re looking for more poultry-themed idioms, the Swedish language has a plentiful supply: early-risers might say they’re uppe med tuppen (up with the cockerel), and one way of describing someone with a big ego is to say they’re stolt som en tupp (proud as a rooster).

In Swedish, you’ll also hear the direct English loan word powernap (all one word) used to refer to especially short snoozes, and the direct translation kraftlur is also sometimes used in spoken or online Swedish. By the way, “snooze” has also been borrowed into Swedish as the verb snooza, but it refers specifically to pressing the “snooze” button on an alarm clock.

Examples 

Jag är jättetrött, jag måste ta en tupplur och sen en kopp kaffe

I’m really tired, I need to take a nap and then have a cup of coffee

Är det ok att ta en tupplur på jobbet?

Is it OK to take a nap at work?

Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: släkt

Here’s another Swedish word where it’s important to remember the difference between ä and a.

Swedish word of the day: släkt

Släkt is a useful word to know in Swedish, as it’s one of the ways Swedes refer to family. It’s used roughly where you’d say “extended family” or “relatives” in English, and refers specifically to family outside of your core family unit.

If you were visiting family back home, for example, you would say jag ska hälsa på min släkt. If you used the word familj instead of släkt here, it would sound like you were visiting your immediate family – partner and children, or parents and siblings – rather than other relatives.

You can also say jag ska hälsa på mina släktingar. Think of släkt as the collective noun and släktingar as the individuals.

When discussing a royal or noble family, you would use the word ätt instead.

Släkt can also be used as an adjective – vi är släkt (we are related) – and you’ll see it in a number of compound words, like släktforskning (genealogy, literally “extended family research”), släktled (lineage), släktträff (family reunion) and släktskap (relationship or kinship).

You may also come across the phrase släkt och vänner (family and friends), which featured in Björn Afzelius’ 1999 number one single Farväl till släkt och vänner (“Goodbye to family and friends”).

  • 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

Another word which is useful for Word of the Day articles is besläktad, used to describe words which are related to each other.

Släkt originally comes from Old Swedish slækt, which has its roots in Middle Low German slecht (meaning family or lineage). 

There are two other Swedish words which look similar to släkt. The first is släckt, which is used to describe a light which has been turned off, or a candle or fire which has been extinguished. The second word, slakt, means “slaughter”, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your spelling.

Example sentences:

Har ni några planer för sommaren? Ja, vi ska besöka min frus släkt i Indien.

Do you have any plans for summer? Yes, we’re visiting my wife’s family in India.

Vi brukar ha en stor släktträff minst en gång om året.

We usually have a big family reunion at least once a year.

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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