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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: doldis

Today's Swedish word of the day is doldis, which is the opposite of the more common word kändis.

Swedish word of the day: doldis
Would you rather be a doldis or a kändis? Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Doldis is used to talk about someone who is not a household name and is usually not especially publicity-seeking.

It’s not as unkind or dismissive as saying someone is “a nobody” in English, and in fact you use it in a different way. A doldis is rarely an average member of society, but someone who has a high status or level of influence, such as an important job or rank, but is not yet one of the biggest names in their field. 

So it might refer to a player in a football team, but not one of the club’s big stars. It could be an athlete who competes internationally, but is ranked outside the world’s top 20 in their sport and doesn’t have much of a fan following. Or it could be a politician or businessperson who is close to the top in their field, but few people outside it have heard of them.

Doldis comes from adding the popular Swedish suffix is to the adjective dold (hidden) to turn it into a noun.

Sweden has two words meaning “to conceal”: dölja (from which we get dold) and gömma.

Gömma and the adjective gömd usually refer to something that has actively and deliberately been hidden from view, whereas dölja and dold are mostly used when the hiding could be accidental, for example if something is concealed from view simply because something else is in the way.

This distinction can help you understand what makes someone a doldis: they haven’t necessarily avoided the limelight on purpose, they’ve just not reached it, perhaps because others in their field are better-known or more publicity savvy.

The opposite to doldis is kändis, which refers to someone well known: en känd person means “a well-known person”, so kändis is a snappy way to say “celebrity”. You’re likely to hear the word kändis much more often than doldis because, well, people tend to talk about well-known people far more than they talk about little-known people.

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When you do hear the word doldis, ironically it tends to be because these lesser-known people have done something that suddenly marks them out.

For example, the Nobel Prizes are often handed out to doldisar (remarkable scientists, but not necessarily known to the wider public). 

Sports is another context where it may come up, particularly when a low-ranking team or player suddenly perform unexpectedly well. Doldis låg bakom seger (formerly unknown player behind victory) one headline might read, or doldis blev matchhjälte (formerly unknown player became hero of the match). 

This is because it creates a more exciting narrative that grabs reader’s interests – who is this mysterious hero who’s come from nowhere to steal the match? – than if the headline includes a name most readers wouldn’t recognise. But by the time someone is openly described as a doldis, it’s usually because their star has already begun to rise.

Examples

Flera doldisar har blivit ministrar

Several little-known people have become ministers

Doldis tar över på Ikea

An unknown person takes over the reins at Ikea (a Dagens Industri headline)

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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