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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: lönehelg

It's a lönehelg this weekend, so don't be surprised if Sweden's city centres feel a bit busier than usual on Saturday and Sunday.

Published: 24 August 2022 15:41 CEST
Updated: 24 May 2024 06:57 CEST
Swedish word of the day: lönehelg
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Lönehelg is a compound word comprised of the word lön (salary) and helg (weekend). Its English equivalent would be “payday weekend”, the weekend after Swedish workers receive their salary.

In Sweden, unlike in some other countries, salary is paid monthly, with payments always reaching workers’ accounts on the 25th of the month (or the closest working day, if the 25th falls on a weekend or public holiday). This month, payday for most workers is March 24th.

This is the case for the vast majority of Swedish employees – meaning, as a general rule, everyone on Sweden gets paid on the same day.

This means that the first weekend after the 25th is always a lönehelg.

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

You might notice the number of people in bars and restaurants gradually declining throughout the month, as people’s funds dwindle before payday, only for the city to be buzzing on the 25th after everyone has been paid.

In a similar vein, bars, clubs and restaurants are always more busy on a lönehelg, so it might be a good idea to book if you’re planning on meeting up with some friends just after payday.

This is also the period of the month where restaurants and shops earn the most money, when consumers finally splurge on the items they’ve decided they need but haven’t been able to afford since last payday.

Bizarrely, a 2014 study from the Institute for Labour Market and Education Policy Evaluation (IFAU) showed that more people die on paydays in Sweden than on other days – researchers saw a worrying 23 percent increase in deaths on payday, with deaths due to strokes or heart problems increasing by a whopping 67 percent.

There was no increase in alcohol-related deaths on payday though, so no need to worry if you do plan to indulge in a celebratory payday beer with your friends this weekend.

Example sentences:

“Ska vi ute och ta några bärs på fredag? Det är lönehelg!”

“Do you want to go out and get a few drinks on Friday? It’s payday weekend!”

“Åh, jag älskar den klänningen men tror inte jag har råd just nu…” “Köp den nästa vecka då, det är lönehelg i helgen!”

“Ah, I love that dress but I’m not sure I can afford it right now…” “Buy it next week then, it’s payday weekend this weekend!”

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

  1. This surprised me. I work for Region Dalarna and I don’t get paid until the 27th. Is this a Dalarna thing?

    1. Hi!
      It’s not a Dalarna thing but it is a public sector thing – a lot of regional and municipal workers are paid a couple of days later. Supposedly it used to be because the banks couldn’t handle that many transactions going through all on one day so they had to space them out on different days, but now it’s stuck.
      You could get paid as late as the 28th in some months, if the 27th falls on a Sunday, as it’s paid on the closest working day.
      Hope that clears it up!

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For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: shit

Before you get offended by this potty-mouthed word of the day, we should probably tell you that this English swear word is a lot milder in Swedish.

Published: 11 June 2024 15:25 CEST
Updated: 12 June 2024 15:11 CEST
Swedish word of the day: shit

The word shit in Swedish is, as you may have guessed, a loanword from English. It has its roots in Middle English schit and scythe, meaning “dung”, which in turn originated in a Proto-Indo-European word meaning to split, divide or separate.

There are a number of words in other European languages which have the same root, like schijt in Dutch, Scheiße in German, skidt in Danish, skit/skitt in Norwegian and the Swedish word skit.

So, why does Swedish have two words for shit? Essentially, they’re used (and pronounced) in different ways.

Shit, pronounced similarly to the English word but in a Swedish accent, is essentially only used as an exclamation, whether that’s for something good or bad, and most adults in Sweden wouldn’t bat an eyelid if they heard a small child saying it. 

  • Don’t miss any of The Local’s 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

It normally indicates some sort of surprise or shock, similar to “wow” or “oh my god” in English. You might also hear it in the phrase shit pommes frites, which literally translates as “shit, French fries!” which a Swedish speaker might use to express surprise: shit pommes frites, har du fått en ny mobil?! (“shit French fries, have you got a new phone?!”)

If you accidentally bumped into someone in a queue, for example, you could say shit, förlåt (shit, sorry), and if you came to some sort of realisation, you could say oj shit! (oh shit!). In general, saying shit would be acceptable even in professional situations with Swedes.

Skit, on the other hand, is pronounced with the sort of whooshing sj or sk-sound at the beginning, kind of like the word wheat, but with a whistle at the start.

It’s used in Swedish in broadly the same ways you’d use shit in English, both in the sense of actual faeces (as a noun and a verb) but also as a vulgar way to describe some sort of undesirable material or thing: jag har tröttnat på den här skiten (I’m tired of this shit) or ta bort din skit från bordet (take your shit off the table).

You may also have come across it in the term skit samma (the milder variant would be strunt samma), which can be translated as “never mind” or “forget it”, or skit också if something unfortunate happens (skit också, jag missade bussen – damn it, I missed the bus).

You can also describe something as being skit, use it in phrases like jag förstår inte ett skit (I don’t understand shit) and as an intensifier: han bankade skiten ur honom (he beat the shit out of him).

In contrast to shit, skit is generally considered less acceptable to use in a professional situation… although you will probably still hear children say it.

Example sentences:

Oj shit, spelar du in det här? 

Oh shit, are you recording this?

Ska vi inte åka snart? Shit, ja, klockan är redan 12!

Shouldn’t we leave soon? Shit, yeah, it’s already 12 o’clock!

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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