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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: vårstädning

Vårstädning has a simple English translation, but also refers to a very Swedish concept.

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

Vårstädning (vår + städning) means ‘spring clean’ and refers to a big tidy-up at the start of the warmer season. You can do this on your own at home, but in Sweden many housing associations and apartment blocks also organise a vårstädning day as a group activity.

Usually the association will invite residents to take part in the day, which might involve weeding, planting flowers, and bringing out any outdoor furniture. It’s a chance to get to know the neighbours and coffee and snacks like biscuits or hotdogs are often provided for helpers.

There’s also an autumn counterpart, höststädning, when the outdoor furniture gets taken in and the garden cleared up ready for winter.

Sweden is generally considered a tough place to make friends, and even to get to know neighbours — it’s not that common, for example, to knock on neighbours’ doors to introduce yourself as a new arrival, especially in big cities where apartment blocks have a relatively higher turnover of residents.

But participating in these organised chores, as well as getting involved with the association’s board itself, is a way to show you’re a good neighbour, willing to do your part.

You can also use vårstäda as a verb, for example vårstäda trädgården (to give the garden a spring clean).

And like in English, the term can be used figuratively. In 2021 ministers discussed a vårstädning of Sweden’s population register, involving removing outdated coordination numbers from the register, and you might also use it to talk about another kind of re-organisation. 

Example sentences:

Har ni några planer för helgen? Nä, inte riktigt, vi ska mest vårstäda.

Do you guys have any plans for the weekend? Nah, not really, we’re mainly going to be spring cleaning.

Oj vad det känns bra att vårstäda! Hela lägenheten har fått ett lyft.

Ah, it feels so nice to spring clean! The whole apartment has been refreshed.

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now 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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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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