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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Swedish word of the day: brandtal

Here's a word that comes in useful when trying to follow politics, as well as during business negotiations, but has no direct English translation.

Swedish word of the day: brandtal
Image: nito103/Depositphotos

Brandtal can be broken down into two words: brand (fire) and tal (speech).

Tala means 'to speak', and it's a synonym of prata (to talk). There is a bit of a difference between the two: tala is slightly more formal, and often refers to one-sided talking such as a speech or lecture, while prata is more informal and usually refers to conversations more generally. The noun ett tal means 'speech'. 

And as regular readers of this column will know, brand is one of two common Swedish words for fire. Eld describes small, controlled fires or fire in general, and brand describes bigger, usually uncontrolled blazes.

A brandtal, then, is speech that uses fiery rhetoric. You might translate it in English as 'a rousing speech', 'a grand speech', or an 'impassioned speech'. It's usually combined with the verb hålla (to hold), as in hon höll ett brandtal (she gave an impassioned speech).

How you might react to an especially impressive brandtalvia GIPHY

It's actually a relatively new term in Swedish, and comes from the phrase brinna för, which literally means 'to burn for' but is used to refer to something you're especially dedicated to or passionate about. For example, jag brinner för integration (I'm passionate about integration) or jag brinner för fotboll (I'm passionate about football.

The word brandtal is often used to refer to speeches by politicians and activists (it's been used a lot recently to talk about the speeches by climate campaigner Greta Thunberg) but can also be used about ordinary people, for example if a teacher or work colleague talks during a lesson or meeting about a topic close to their heart. 

To give another example, if an actor or sportsperson gives an ordinary thank you speech after winning an award, this wouldn't be considered a brandtal, but if they took the opportunity to talk about an issue such as equality in sport or diversity on screen, that could be a brandtal.

Brandtal comes with some related words, although they aren't very commonly used. Someone who gives a brandtal is a brandtalare (something like 'giver of an impassioned speech', but it rolls off the tongue much better in Swedish) and you can use the verb brandtala ('to give a rousing speech'). For example: Presidenten brandtalade om våld (the president gave an impassioned speech about violence).

Examples

Politikers brandtal väckte debatt om utbildning

The politician's impassioned speech started a debate on education

Kaptenen höll ett brandtall för läget

The captain gave a rousing speech to his team

Do you have a favourite Swedish word you would like to nominate for our word of the day series? Get in touch by email or if you are a Member of The Local, log in to comment below.

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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: kondis

Today’s word has two meanings: one is healthy, the other less so.

Swedish word of the day: kondis

Kondis is a great example of a Swedish slang word ending in -is, which essentially is the shortened version of a longer word.

Somewhat confusingly, in the case of kondis, there are actually two similar words which have both been shortened in this way, resulting in one word with two different meanings.

The first meaning comes from konditori, the Swedish version of a patisserie or bakery, which you might recognise from the German word Konditor (a confectioner or pastry chef), originally from the Latin word condītor, which referred to a person who preserved, pickled or seasoned food.

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The word kondis can either refer to a konditori itself, or to the type of baked goods and pastries they offer. A kondis differs somewhat from a bageri (bakery), which is more likely to focus on savoury or rustic baked goods, like bread (although many kondis also sell bread, and many bagerier will serve some sort of cake or sweet treat too). 

A kondis is also more likely to have some area where you can sit and enjoy your food on-site, perhaps with a cup of tea or coffee, while bakeries are more likely to be take-away only.

The second meaning of kondis is a shortened version of the word kondition, which translates roughly as your endurance or fitness. If you’re good at running, you might be described as having bra kondition or bra kondis, roughly equal to being fit. 

Another similar slang word for this in Swedish would be flås, which technically translates to “panting”, but can be used in the same way as kondis to describe physical endurance or fitness.

Example sentences:

Om man äter för mycket kondis kan man få dålig kondis.

If you eat too many pastries you could end up less fit.

Sprang du hela vägen hit? Du måste ha bra kondis!

Did you run the whole way here? You must be in good shape.

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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