Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: snösmocka

After a snowstorm swept in across Sweden, we take a look at another Swedish word for snow (yes, there are a lot of them).

Published: 7 February 2019 11:51 CET
Updated: 29 November 2023 06:24 CET
Swedish word of the day: snösmocka
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Snösmocka is a word that describes heavy, sudden snowfall, and it’s only a recent addition to the Swedish lexicon.

We’ve looked into the background of the word snö previously, when we learned that snö appears in dozens and dozens of compound nouns used to describe types of snow as well as objects or activities made possible by the snow.

Smocka is a noun meaning something like “thump” or “wallop”, and is used figuratively as well as literally. 

It’s probably used more in newspaper headlines, especially tabloids, than in everyday speech. A headline saying man åtalas för smocka (man prosecuted for hitting [someone]) is more brief and precise than saying misshandel (assault) as well as being more concise than using a verbal phrase.

A few examples of figurative smocka in headlines include Trumps smocka mot Macron (roughly: “Trump hits out at Macron”), Facebook riskerar GDPR-smocka på 14 miljarder (roughly: “Facebook risks being hit with a GDPR fine of 14 billion”), and Microsofts feta smocka till Box, Dropbox och Google: Gratis molnlagring (roughly: “Microsoft throws down the gauntlet for Box, Dropbox and Google with free cloud storage”).

In these metaphorical cases, smocka can be used with a variety of verbs: you can rikta (aim/direct) a smocka, ge (give) a smocka, or, in Trump’s case at the time, twittra (Tweet) a smocka. You can also få (receive/get) a smocka, in which case there might not have been anyone directly responsible.

MORE WINTER WORDS:

This brings us to snösmocka, which is also something of a tabloid term, albeit a fun one to say.

Its first reported use was in winter 2011, when media magazine Resume noticed the term in an Aftonbladet headline (which also contained the word oväder). “You need to vary the language,” the newspaper’s head of news said at the time.

Snösmocka is not an official meteorological term but is used to talk about heavy snowfall, often in a short period of time. But some are critical of these strong headline words (snömonster, literally “snow monster”, is another, along with snökaos or “snow chaos”), with some meteorologists arguing they are overly sensationalist and don’t make sense, which might make it harder to be taken seriously when there are truly severe weather warnings.

Either way, snösmocka has well and truly found a place in the Swedish language. Not only are you likely to see it pop up in newspapers and TV, but you should also look out for variations such as halksmocka (from the word halka meaning slippery conditions).

Example sentences:

Snösmocka på väg till Sverige.

Heavy snow on the way to Sweden.

Efter de senaste dagarnas snösmocka blir det nu mildare.

After heavy snow over the past few days it’s now getting milder.

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 US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: nyckelpiga

These little red and black insects are starting to pop up in gardens and fields all across Sweden. But where does their name come from?

Published: 14 May 2024 09:18 CEST
Swedish word of the day: nyckelpiga

Nyckelpiga, or nyckelpigor in the plural, is the Swedish word for the red and black spotted insects known in English as ladybirds or ladybugs.

Their name is made up of two words in Swedish, nyckel, which is the word for key, and piga, meaning a maid or other female servant, so it could be literally translated as a “keymaiden”.

In many European languages, these insects have names which relate to the Virgin Mary. 

In English, legend has it that farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary asking her to protect their crops, and when ladybirds appeared to eat aphids (a common garden pest), they called them “Our Lady’s birds”, which over time was simplified to ladybirds.

They’re known as mariquita in Spanish and marieta in Catalan, while in Danish and Norwegian they’re called mariehøner or marihøner (literally: Mary hens), and in German they’re called Marienkäfer (Mary beetles).

The Swedish term has a less obvious relationship to the Virgin Mary, and dates back to Sweden’s Catholic past.

Mary is believed in Catholicism to have seven sorrows, which are all events in her life often depicted in art by seven swords piercing her heart. The most common ladybird in Sweden has seven spots, which were seen as representing these seven sorrows.

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

Seven was also considered to be a holy number in general, and it was believed therefore that ladybirds held the keys to heaven on behalf of Mary. According to an old Swedish folk tale, anyone who releases a captured ladybird would be let through the gates of heaven, and in many countries they are believed to be able to reveal when someone will marry.

In Sweden, it was said that if one landed on your hand and walked along your fingers, it was measuring new gloves for you, which meant that you were either going to attend a wedding or a funeral, and in France, a woman could put a ladybird on her finger and count out loud until it flew away, with the number reached representing how many years would pass before she would marry.

Another word for ladybird in Swedish is gullhöna (yellow hen), which most likely refers to the less common yellow ladybirds with black spots.

These ladybirds were believed to be able to predict the weather in some parts of Sweden. In Bohuslän, ladybirds meant good weather, and if you saw one, you were supposed to say gullhöna, gullhöna, flyg, flyg, flyg, så blir det sommar och gott, gott väder (ladybird, ladybird, fly, fly, fly, then it will be summer and good, good weather). In Värmland, however, seeing a ladybird meant the opposite: bad weather and rain.

Example sentences:

Tycker du inte att det har varit ovanligt många nyckelpigor i år?

Don’t you think there has been an unusually large number of ladybirds this year?

Nyckelpigor är ett bra nyttodjur att ha i trädgården då de äter bladlöss.

Ladybirds are a good beneficial insect to have in the garden, as they eat aphids.

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 US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

SHOW COMMENTS