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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: mojäng

​The word of the day is the medium of a French word in Swedish. 

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

A mojäng is a ‘(technical) object, often with unclear function’, sort of ‘a gadget’. This word has no Swedish root, instead it is French. Coming from the French word moyen, the spelling of mojäng funnily enough matches the Swedish pronunciation of the French word, or possibly the pronunciation of a French person from Marseille saying it. 

So what does moyen mean?

The same as ‘means’, as in ‘the means to do something’. Is it strange that ‘means’ has become an object in Swedish? Perhaps not, if you know that moyen, also means ‘average’ in French, and you know that moyen comes from ‘medium’ in Latin, which means ‘middle’, and which has as one of its meanings ‘something intermediate in nature or degree’. Perhaps this can be interpreted as meaning a thing which is experimental, average, and in between finished objects. Close to ‘a gadget’. But that is mere conjecture, and does not quite explain how this word came to have its current meaning. 

Mojäng has been around since 1861, and it seems that before that time it used to have the same meaning as its cognates in English and French, that is ‘means, resort, opportunity’. But it also had a wider application, such as ‘approach’ or ‘actions’ when used in past tense. It could even be used about a person’s talents, which kind of makes sense as they are a person’s ‘means’.

Today, mojäng is no longer used in any of its traditional uses. It is always in reference to an object, a strange object, or an object whose use you might be unsure of. Mojäng has quite a few synonyms in Swedish, for example, grunka, mackapär, pryl. It seems like Swedes like this kind of word. 

You can make use of mojäng in any situation where you want to have a look at a certain object which you are unfamiliar with. You just ask if you can have a look at the mojäng over there. Or asking what that mojäng is. Don’t forget to use the definite form mojängen

Example sentences:

Kan jag få kika på mojängen där?

Could I have a look at the gadget there?

Vad är det där för mojäng?

What sort of a gadget is that? 

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

Swedish word of the day: jordgubbe

If there's one thing Swedes can't get enough of in summer, it's these.

Swedish word of the day: jordgubbe

Jordgubbe is made up of two words: jord and gubbe.

Jord means earth or soil, and it’s also used in Swedish for Planet Earth.

It’s easy to assume that jordgubbe means “earth man”, gubbe on its own being a common word for referring to a male person (usually gubbe refers to someone either very young or very old, and it can be either affectionate or derogatory, depending on the context).

But this is wrong.

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Gubbe is also a Swedish dialect word used to refer to a small lump, so jordgubbe literally means “a small lump that grows in the earth” – more accurate, but less romantic than picturing strawberries as tiny little men who live in our garden and are to be picked and eaten with whipped cream… now that we think about it, “small lump” is probably better.

Strawberries were introduced to Sweden in the second half of the 18th century and were originally called ananassmultron due to their Latin name (Fragaria x ananassa).

The word jordgubbe has existed in the Swedish language since at least 1638, but was then the main name for musk strawberries, later known as parksmultron in Swedish.

Jordgubbar are one of the staple foods on Midsummer’s Eve and Swedes are convinced that they grow the best strawberries in the world.

Example sentences:

Polisen misstänker att gängkriminella har infiltrerat jordgubbsindustrin

Police suspect that gang criminals have infiltrated the strawberry industry

Goda jordgubbar! Är de svenska eller belgiska?

Yummy strawberries! Are they Swedish or Belgian?

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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