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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: bures

Today’s word of the day is not technically a Swedish word at all, but it is a word spoken in one of Sweden’s minority languages, Northern Sami.

Published: 6 February 2024 12:10 CET
Swedish word of the day: bures
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash, Veronaa/Getty Images Signature via Canva

February 6th marks Sami national day, so we’ve chosen a Sami word for today’s word of the day to mark the occasion.

The Sami are the indigenous people of Sápmi, a region spanning the northernmost areas of Norway, Sweden and Finland, as well as the Kola peninsula in Russia. The Sami language is not technically one language, rather nine, with different variants of the Sami language spoken in different parts of Sápmi. These variants are considered to be mutually intelligible, similar to the relationship between Swedish, Danish and Norwegian.

The Sami languages belong to the Finno-Ugric language group, along with Finnish, Estonian, Karelian, Hungarian and a number of smaller languages spoken in Russia.

Unlike Swedish, Sami has many cases – eight in Lule Sami and Northern Sami – and is a highly inflected language, meaning that the form or ending of words changes depending on how they are used in a sentence.

  • 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

Today’s word of the day, in Northern Sami, is bures.

Bures is both an adverb meaning well or good, as well as the word for hello, and is used in the phrase bures boahtin (welcome, literally ‘good arrival’). 

Bures originally comes from the adjective buorre, also meaning good, which you will see in time-based greetings like buorre beaivi (good day), buorre eahket (good evening), buorre iđit (good morning) and buorre idjá (good night). You’ll also see it in seasonal phrases such as Buorit Juovllat ja Buorre Ođđa Jahki (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year), and buorit beassážat (happy Easter).

You might expect that it would also be used when wishing someone a happy Sami national day, but the word lihkku is used here instead. Lihkku is a word meaning luck or fortune, loaned into Northern Sami via Finnish lykky, which in turn loaned it from Swedish lycka, meaning luck.

If you wanted to wish someone a happy Sami national day, you would say lihkku sámi álbmotbeivviin. Álbmot here means a people, nation or group, and beivviin is the conjugated form of beaivi, the word for day or sun.

If you want to learn more about the Sami languages, there are more resources (in Swedish) on the website of the Sami Parliament, sametinget.se. 

Example sentences:

Bures! Mo dat manná?

Hello! How are you?

Dat manná bures, giitu.

I’m doing well, thanks.

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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For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: troll

The word troll has been in the Swedish news a lot lately, but what is a troll in Swedish, and where does the word come from?

Published: 21 May 2024 10:59 CEST
Swedish word of the day: troll

Troll has its roots in Old Norse trǫll, a word used to describe a witch, magician or wizard. 

This in turn comes from the Proto-Germanic word truzlą, a supernatural being like a demon, giant or monster, which walked clumsily (truzlą itself probably comes from another Proto-Germanic word, trudaną, which means to tread or step).

Other words which have the same root as troll include French drôle (funny or amusing) and English droll (oddly humorous or whimsical).

Anyway, back to trolls.

The definition of a troll can differ somewhat in Scandinavian folklore, where the word can describe a fairy or sprite, a magician similar in appearance to a human, or even a bumbling, dim-witted giant like those seen in modern fantasy tales like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (although this would usually be described as a jätte [giant] or jättetroll instead). 

  • 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

Trolls have also made their mark on Scandinavian nature – it was long believed that they would turn to stone when touched by sunlight – which is why trolls have given their name to areas like Trollsvansen (troll-tail) and Trollberget (troll mountain) in Sweden, or the Trollstigen mountain pass in Norway.

In Scandinavia, trolls can be evil or benevolent, but the common theme for all types of trolls is that they are some sort of magical or mythical creature. You may also hear Swedes refer to small children as trolls – this is a compliment and should be seen as a term of endearment, rather than a suggestion that your child looks like a cave troll. It usually means the speaker thinks your child is adorable.

The most iconic depictions of Swedish-style trolls can be seen in painter John Bauer’s illustrations for Swedish folklore and fairy tale anthology Bland tomtar och troll (Among gnomes and trolls) from the early 1900s, while more recent examples include the mumintrollen or Moomin trolls, created by Finland-Swedish author and illustrator Tove Jansson. 

‘The Princess and the Trolls’ by John Bauer, 1913. Image: National Museum/public domain

In modern Swedish, the word troll is still linked to magic – the Swedish word for a wizard is a trollkarl (literally: a magic man), and the verb trolla translates as “to perform magic”. You can also förtrolla (enchant) somebody, use a trollstav (magic wand) and trolla fram or trolla bort something, to make it appear or disappear.

There is also another meaning for the word troll in Swedish: an internet troll, where the word troll has been loaned back into Swedish from English. 

Internet trolls (nättroll or internettroll in Swedish) were originally people who posted deliberately offensive or provocative messages on forums or on social media in order to provoke a response for their own amusement, but the word has more recently come to describe users or accounts who spread hate speech, fake news or disinformation. 

The phrase troll factory also exists in Swedish as trollfabrik, a group of internet trolls which are organised in order to influence or interfere with politics, decision making or public opinion, often by spreading disinformation or propaganda.

These often use large numbers of fake accounts (also known as sock puppets or marionett accounts in Swedish) to enthusiastically support a particular person, party or viewpoint, giving the impression that there is broad public support for it.

This is closely linked to “astroturfing”, where the origin of a political message or organisation is hidden and made to seem like it’s coming from the general public or a grassroots organisation rather than a political party or major company.

In May 2024, TV4’s Kalla Fakta confirmed the existence of a Sweden Democrat trollfabrik which the party uses to spread disinformation and smear the other political parties in Sweden.

Example sentences:

Titta, mamma! Jag ska trolla bort dig!

Look mummy! I’m going to make you disappear!

Kalla Faktas reporter wallraffade* i SD:s trollfabrik.

Kalla Fakta’s reporter went undercover in the Sweden Democrats’ troll factory. 

(*The verb att wallraffa, “to go undercover”, comes from the German author and journalist Günter Wallraff, who often uses undercover methods to investigate groups or companies from the inside)

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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