Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: födelsedag

In honour of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's 60th birthday, let's take another look at the Swedish word for birthday: födelsedag, and how Swedes celebrate another year around the sun.

Published: 6 March 2023 15:41 CET
Updated: 25 January 2024 06:49 CET
Swedish word of the day: födelsedag
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Today’s word of the day, födelsedag, is, like the English word “birthday”, a compound word consisting of the word födelse (birth) and dag (day). So far, so simple.

In Sweden, the person whose birthday it is (födelsedagsbarnet or “birthday child” – in southern Sweden they’re often known as a födelsedagsgris or “birthday pig”), will be woken up by the rest of the family, who will sing them a birthday song, after which they will be given their presents, as well as breakfast in bed.

Swedes have a number of different birthday songs, including ja må du leva, vi gratulerar, and the English song Happy Birthday.

Ja må du leva and vi gratulerar are sung to the same tune, and the lyrics are as follows.

Ja må du leva

(Note: swap “du” with the correct pronoun for the whoever you’re singing to)

Ja, må du leva!
Ja, må du leva!
Ja, må du leva uti hundrade år!
Javisst ska du leva!
Javisst ska du leva!
Javisst ska du leva uti hundrade år!

English translation:

Yes, may he live!
Yes, may he live!
Yes, may he live for a hundred years!
Of course he will live!
Of course he will live!
Of course he will live for a hundred years!

You’ll often hear just the first verse sung, but there are a few other verses which you might hear, especially at children’s birthday parties. Here’s one of them:

Och när han har levat!
Och när han har levat!
Och när han har levat uti hundrade år!
Ja, då ska han skjutas!
Ja, då ska han skjutas!
Ja, då ska han skjutas på en skottkärra fram!

English translation:

And when he has lived
And when he has lived
And when he has lived for a hundred years!
Yes, then he will be wheeled
Yes, then he will be wheeled
Yes, then he will be wheeled away in a wheelbarrow!

The joke in Swedish is that skjutas can mean either “pushed” as in pushing a wheelbarrow or “shot” as in, well, being shot. So until you get to the context in the third line, it sounds like you want to kill off the birthday child. Charming!
  • Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading The Local’s new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button

If this wasn’t weird enough, there are even versions where the the birthday boy or girl is hung upside-down and drowned in champagne, which doesn’t feel like a particularly fun way to celebrate your birthday.

The next birthday song, vi gratulerar, is a slightly more generic version of ja må du leva, which you’re more likely to hear sung for adults or in more professional environments. 

Vi gratulerar

Vi gratulerar!
Vi gratulerar!
Vi gratulerar på din födelsedag!
Med blommor och blader!
Vi firar denna dagen
Vi gratulerar på din födelsedag!

And in English:

We congratulate!
We congratulate!
We congratulate you on your birthday!
With flowers and leaves
We celebrate this day
We congratulate you on your birthday!

Birthdays haven’t always been celebrated in Sweden, with name days more popular for much of Swedish history. This is partly due to the fact that many people in rural agricultural societies – particularly pre-1600s – didn’t necessarily know exactly which day they were born on, and partly due to the fact that celebrating a birthday was seen as pagan or heathen in Catholic Sweden, before Lutheranism became more popular.

In the 1600s, churches started keeping records of births, deaths, marriages and christenings in their parishes, although it only became common for normal Swedes to celebrate their birthdays around the end of the 1800s. In some rural areas, children’s birthdays weren’t regularly celebrated until after the second world war.

Nowadays, it’s very unusual for a Swede not to celebrate their birthday, although some religious groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, don’t celebrate birthdays.

Young children will often celebrate at school or at preschool, with their parents organising a födelsedagskalas or födelsedagsfest (birthday party), usually the weekend before or after their birthday.

Celebrating a round number birthday, such as your 30th, 40th or 50th birthday, is sometimes referred to as fylla jämt (literally: “fill evenly”, but essentially “turning a round number”), with a slightly bigger celebration more common. Similarly, turning 18, 25 or reaching pension age is often celebrated with a bigger party.

You’re also likely to see young just-turned-20-year-olds in Sweden’s alcohol monopoly Systembolaget on their birthdays, as the minimum age for buying alcohol in a Systembolaget is 20 (you can buy alcohol in bars and low-alcohol beer in supermarkets at 18).

Those who are lucky enough to actually leva uti hundrade år (live a hundred years) receive a telegram from the King wishing them a happy birthday.

Finally, if you want to wish someone a happy birthday, you can say grattis på födelsedagen!

Example sentences:

Min dotter har födelsedag i dag. Hon fyller tre.

It’s my daughter’s birthday today. She’s turning three.

Vad önskar du dig i födelsedagspresent?

What do you want for your birthday?

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

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: thaimout

This is becoming an increasingly controversial word in Sweden.

Published: 7 May 2024 13:34 CEST
Swedish word of the day: thaimout

Thaimout is a play on the word “timeout”, which exists in Swedish, where it refers to a short break during a sports game, just like in English.

But “thaim” in this case refers to Thailand, specifically taking a timeout from school to go to Thailand.

This is a new word which you won’t find in any dictionaries, but you may have spotted it in Swedish newspapers in the past year.

Schools are increasingly cracking down on parents who take their child out of school during term time rather than during school holidays to go travelling – not exclusively to Thailand, but the country is a popular tourism destination among Swedish families, especially during the grey Swedish winter.

Are you allowed to do this? No and maybe a little bit yes. But mostly no.

Let us explain.

Sweden, like most countries, has compulsory schooling. In Swedish this is known as skolplikt – literally “school duty” – and applies from the year children turn six to the year they graduate from ninth grade (around the age of 15-16). 

There are exceptions. If you plan to live abroad with your child for over a year, they lose their skolplikt. If you’re looking at taking a shorter, but still relatively long, break (say six to nine months) you can apply to the municipality to revoke the skolplikt. Note that when you return you have to reapply for a place in school for your child, and there’s no guarantee they’ll end up in the same class or even at the same school when they come back.

  • Don’t miss any of our 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

If you’re only taking a mini-break, say a week, you have to ask the school’s principal for permission. 

School policies vary with some being more lenient than others, but factors the principal could take into account are the length of the break, how important the break is, and whether they expect that the child will be able to keep up or catch up with their studies despite being off.

If you take your child out of school without permission, you could be fined. 

Solna municipality recently took a family to court and demanded 50,000 kronor after they took their children to Thailand. The parents put their children in a school in Thailand that followed the Swedish curriculum, but the school board in Solna rejected their application. 

Swedish media also reported on Facebook groups where parents share advice on taking a thaimout, and some parents admitted to ignoring rejected applications for time away from school and instead seeing the fine as part of the cost of the trip and paying up when they got home.

That sparked a major debate in Sweden about the benefits of foreign travel, the fact that many children today have roots in other countries, children’s right to uninterrupted schooling and some parents’ perceived middle-class entitlement to vacationing on the other side of the world.

Regardless of how the ongoing debate will end, thaimout has been given a solid spot in the Swedish lexicon.

Example sentences:

We’re taking a two-week thaimout this winter

Vi tar en två veckors thaimout nu i vinter 

Doesn’t thaimout sound a bit like a Scanian saying “Thai food”?

Låter inte thaimout lite som en skånsk person som säger “Thai-mat”?

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.

SHOW COMMENTS