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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: slump

It's no accident that we're looking at this word today.

Swedish word of the day: slump
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

En slump is 'a chance', 'a coincidence', or 'an accident'. Hear how it sounds below:

There are several ways to say “it happened by chance” or “it happened by accident” using slump. The two most common are to say: det var en slump (att) or to say something happened av en slump

Don't forget the article (en), which is easily done if you're used to the English phrases 'by chance', 'by accident' or 'at random'. Let's take a look.

Det var en slump – It was an accident/it happened by chance

Det är en slump att (det här händer nu) – It is by chance that (this is happening now)

Ön upptäcktes av en slump – The island was discovered by chance

Jag blev rik nästan av en slump – I got rich almost by accident

You can reinforce it by using words like ren (pure): det var en ren slump! or show how you feel about it by adding an adjective like lycklig (happy) or olycklig (unhappy): Jag träffade henne av en lycklig slump (I met her by happy coincidence). 

And as a one-word alternative, you can use the adjective slumpmässig or the adverb slumpmässigt.

For example:

Denna utveckling är inte slumpmässig – This development is not random

Personerna har valts slumpmässigt – The people were chosen randomly

If you want to stress that something was intentional, there are two ways to use slump:

Det är ingen slump att (alla har sagt samma sak) – It's no coincidence that (everyone said the same thing)

Det är inte en slump att (du föddes) – It's not by chance that (you were born)

The second example using inte places a strong emphasis on the negation, perhaps if you're challenging a widely held view. 

We're looking at this word today after the director of Sweden's Public Health Agency said that Sweden was worse hit by the coronavirus outbreak than its Nordic neighbours av en slump (at random).

The assertion in an interview with Svenska Dagbladet has ignited debate over Sweden's strategy focused on voluntary measures compared to the stricter lockdowns in Denmark and Norway, and the perceived lack of accountability at the agency that has led the national coronavirus response.

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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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