14 Scandinavian words everyone should know

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The names of unusual national dishes and terms that embody a whole philosophy.

1. Forelsket

In Norway, they came up with a name for the feeling that we experience when falling in love. And this applies exactly to the moment when a person just falls in love: he has butterflies in his stomach, goosebumps, trembling knees and that's all.

2. Gökotta

The untranslatable Swedish word means "wake up at dawn to go and listen to the birdsong." This is a tradition associated with a religious holiday - Ascension Day.

3. Knullrufs

Tangled hair and messy head after intense sex can be summed up in just one Swedish slang word.

4. Orka

Swedes use this word when they are full of energy to do something. But more often it is still used in a negative context - if there is no strength to complete the task.

5. Vobba

Wobba means taking a paid day off to care for a child and still working from home. It is the result of combining the two Swedish words jobba (to work) and vabba (to stay at home with a sick baby).

6. Ogooglebar

Literally "not google". The word is used when there is no information about someone or something even in Google.

7. Surströmming

The national dish of Swedish cuisine and a delicacy is pickled herring. This culinary idea appeared in the 16th century due to a lack of salt: the fish could not be properly salted, and it is simply sour. Surstroemming has a characteristic pungent and unpleasant smell, but even so, the dish has its fans.

8. Hákarl

Traditional Icelandic and Viking food that smells no better than surstroemming. This is Greenland shark meat, cooked in several stages. Fresh, it is toxic to humans due to the large amount of ammonia. Therefore, first shark meat is left to ferment for several weeks, then dried in the fresh air for several more months. The crust formed during the cooking process is cut off, and what is under it is served at the table and is called haukarl.

9. Gravlax

Another fish dish - “buried” pickled salmon - is common in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland. The name only sounds ominous, and the old way of cooking is to blame. Raw fish, grated with salt and flavored with dill, used to be buried in the ground and left to marinate for several days or even months. Fortunately, modern housewives do not need to bury fish: a Scandinavian appetizer can be prepared in any kitchen.

10. Kiviak

It would seem, what could be more bizarre than a rotten shark or herring? Perhaps the competition for these dishes will be a kiwiak delicacy from Greenland - a seal stuffed with small birds of the auch family. Plucked (or with feathers) birds are placed in the carcass of a seal, without removing the beak, the cuts are flavored with seal fat and sewn up. Then they hide it under stones or bury it in the ground and wait several months until the delicacy is ready to eat.

11. Fika

A coffee break with something sweet in the middle of a busy day is a special ritual for Swedes. It is called fika. Moreover, it is important that during this time you actually relax and enjoy the moment. Coffee drunk on the go does not count. It should be just a short vacation that you spend alone with yourself or with friends and colleagues, communicating on abstract topics.

12. Hygge

Hygge is not just a word. This is a state that can only be felt, a special atmosphere of happiness and comfort. The smell of the pages of a book read to the holes, the taste of your favorite dish, soft home socks that warm your feet after a long walk, touching a pleasant surface, an evening with your family and a home dinner - simple pleasures from ordinary pleasures and enjoying the moment. This is hygge.

13. Lagom

Lagom is moderation in everything, balance. The Swedes' philosophy of happiness, which can be applied in any area: furnishing an apartment, eating food or relaxing. There should be exactly as much of everything as is really necessary - no more, no less.

14. Arbejdsglaede

In Denmark, there is the concept of "joy at work", that is, abaisgled. And is it really true how to become happy if there is no place for abaisgled in your life? We spend too much time at work, and we just need to enjoy it.