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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: skitstövel

This may be a relatively mild insult, but it’s probably a good idea not to use it very often.

Published: 2 July 2024 14:54 CEST
Swedish word of the day: skitstövel
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Skitstövel is a Swedish compound word, made up of the word skit (shit) and stövel (boot).

Skit is a Swedish word used in a similar way to the word “shit” in English, although Swedes do also use the word “shit” in Swedish, too.

The word stövel comes from Old Norse styfill, which is related to the Italian word for boot, stivale.

Calling someone a skitstövel is a relatively mild insult in Swedish, roughly equivalent to “asshole” or “jerk” in English. It’s probably more often used to refer to a man, but it’s unlikely anyone would react strangely if you used it to refer to a woman.

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

Surprisingly, it’s existed in Swedish for a long time – since at least 1884, according to the Swedish Academy.

Like many insults, it can be used jokingly between friends, but it’s best to avoid it unless you know your friend won’t mind.

Calling someone a “shit boot” isn’t the weirdest insult in Swedish either – ever heard of a snuskhummer (dirty/smutty lobster), an ålahue (eel head) or a stolpskott (post hit)?

Example sentences:

Åt du den sista kanelbullen? Din skitstövel!

Did you eat the last cinnamon bun? You jerk!

Han är ganska elak egentligen. En riktig skitstövel är han.

He’s quite mean actually. A real asshole.

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: prick

This is one of those words which often causes a chuckle in British English speakers when they hear it in Swedish for the first time.

Published: 3 July 2024 09:08 CEST
Swedish word of the day: prick

Unlike in British English, where the word “prick” is both slang for the male genitalia as well as an insult (among other things), prick in Swedish is much more benign.

It can be a noun or adverb (prick) or a verb (pricka) in Swedish, and both the English and the Swedish words have the same root – a Proto-Germanic word meaning “to stick or prick”.

The adjective is prickig (spotty), while prickfri would be used to talk about something without any marks or spots. This could be in the sense of a spotless record (often used when talking about driving licences), or more literally – it’s the name of a cleaning product used to remove mould spots.

You’ll see similar words in lots of other northern European languages, like prikke in Danish, prickeln in German and prikken in Dutch.

As a noun, it refers to a small dot or spot, for example the dots on top of ö and ä are usually referred to as prickar, and the extra dots on letters often used in the names of heavy-metal bands like Mötley Crüe are known in Swedish as heavy metal-prickar. One entertaining example of this is the British band Tröjan, which translates as “shirt” in Swedish. The band is meant to be pronounced like “Trojan”, as in a Trojan horse.

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

A sniper is a prickskytt (literally: spot-shooter), while target practice would be att skjuta prick (to shoot [at a] spot), and someone who is accurate either literally or figuratively could be described as pricksäker. The verb pricka can also be used to describe hitting the target.

Unlike in English, if you were to call someone a prick in Swedish, it would probably be a positive thing – it’s usually only used alongside the words rolig or trevlig to mean a funny or nice guy. If used with ruskig, however, then it’s negative – en ruskig prick would be a scary or nasty person. 

Even when used in a negative way, prick is quite mild and definitely child-friendly: Ruskprick is the name of a smuggler in Astrid Lindgren’s Vi på Saltkråkan (Life on Seacrow Island) series. This is also a play on the word ruskprick, a type of seamark used in Sweden up until around 1965 – seamarks are still referred to as prickar in Swedish.

The word prick is used when talking about time, too. If you were told to meet someone prick klockan åtta, that would be “eight o’clock on the dot”, or “eight o’clock sharp”.

There are a number of set phrases featuring prick, too. There’s mitt i prick (right where intended, a bullseye), till punkt och pricka (to the letter) and på pricken (spot on, exactly, or on the dot), as well as pricka av (to tick something off a list).

Example sentences:

Han är en trevlig prick! 

He’s a nice guy!

Min dotter gillar prickig korv på mackan.

My daughter likes salami (literally “spotty sausage”) on her toast/bread.

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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