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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: onsdag

Onsdag is the Swedish word for Wednesday.

Published: 10 November 2021 09:55 CET

the word onsdag written on a blackboard next to the swedish flag

Did you know Wednesday and onsdag are both named after the same god? Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

It’s named after the Norse god Odin, usually Oden in Swedish (this is where the English word Wednesday comes from too – Woden’s Day, as he was known in Old English).

The oldest and wisest among them, Odin is the king of the Norse gods and father of many famous gods, notably the god of thunder, Thor, and Baldr. He rides the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, and is often accompanied by the ravens Huginn and Muninn.

Odin is the lord of Valhalla, the huge hall in Asgard, to which many of those who die in combat travel after death – according to Norse mythology, at least.

He is often associated with the Roman god Mercury, who appears in the word for Wednesday in languages with Latin roots, including French (mercredi) and Italian (mercoledì).

An alternative word for Wednesday in Swedish is… Little Saturday (lillördag).

In times gone by, servants might have to work on Saturdays, and were given one weekday off work instead, usually midweek. So Wednesday was given the nickname piglördag, from the word piga which means “maid” or “servant”: “servant Saturday”.

Piglördag was also called lillördag, and as it became less and less common to have household staff, lillördag was used more and more.

Over time, the meaning changed too: Lillördag has now become an excuse for midweek drinks and activities, so you might get an invitation from Swedish co-workers to go for an afterwork to celebrate.

Examples:

Ska vi ta en afterwork på onsdag?

Shall we go for drinks after work on Wednesday?

Oj, är det redan onsdag?!

Wow, is it already Wednesday?!

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 US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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Swedish word of the day: själv

The word själv means “self”, as in han gjorde det själv (he did it himself), jag tycker själv bäst om våren (I personally prefer spring), vad tycker du själv (what do you yourself think?) or as parents of Swedish-speaking two-year-olds will know too well, kan själv (“can self!” or “I can do it myself!”).

Själv can also mean “alone” – not necessarily implying that the speaker is feeling lonely – such as jag var hemma själv (“I was home alone”) or jag gick på bio själv (“I went to the cinema on my own”). If you’re feeling lonely, you should instead say jag känner mig ensam.

It appears in several compound words, such as självisk (selfish) or osjälvisk (unselfish/selfless), självbehärskad (restrained, or more literally in control of oneself) or självförtroende (confidence).

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A trickier word to explain is självaste.

Självaste can also mean him or herself, but think of it as a more extreme version, implying that the speaker has some sort of reaction to the person in question, perhaps they’re impressed or shocked. Other translations can be “in the flesh” or “none other than”.

For example: jag vände mig om och då stod självaste drottningen där (“I turned around and the Queen herself was standing there”) or de vann mot självaste Barcelona (“They won against none other than Barcelona”).

You also often hear it when Swedes swear. Det var då självaste fan (“It was the devil… in the flesh”) may be said by someone who is annoyed that something went wrong or isn’t working, although more often than not they’ll leave the last word unspoken: det var då självaste… (similarly to how an English-speaker may say “what the…” leaving out the cruder word “hell”).

Examples:

Själv är bästa dräng

If you want to get something done you’d best do it yourself

I själva verket

In actual fact (in fact, actually)

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.

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