The word röv in Swedish is a vulgar term for the backside, roughly similar in strength to English “arse” or American “ass”.

It originally comes from the Old Norse word rauf meaning gap, rift or hole, used in words like raufarsteinn (a stone with a hole drilled through it) and raufartrefjur (cloth filled with holes).

The word in its modern meaning exists in Swedish as röv, in Danish as røv and in Norwegian as ræv or rauv.

You can use it anatomically, to refer to an actual backside, or, like in English, as an insult. In both cases, it may be combined with the word hål (hole) to make rövhål. You can probably figure out what that means.

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It also exists in the term rövslickare (which can be translated as “arselicker” or the less vulgar “bootlicker”), to mean someone who praises or is polite to another more powerful person, usually in order to get an advantage for themselves.

Less offensive alternatives to the word röv include rumpa, bakdel, ända, stjärt and gump. 

Röv also exists in a few phrases, which are considered offensive and shouldn’t be used in a professional setting. 

One of these is träsmak i röven (literally: “the taste of wood on your arse”), which is when your bottom starts hurting from sitting down for too long (if you want a family or work-friendly alternative to this, swap out röven with rumpan).

Another is suga röv, which is roughly equivalent to complaining that something sucks in English – i.e. that it’s particularly bad or unpleasant. Again, not a phrase you should really use in polite company.

Röv can also be used on its own as an interjection to express some kind of bad feeling, like anger, irritation or disappointment.

Don’t get it confused with the word räv, which means fox. Unless, that is, you’re speaking Elfdalian, the language of Älvdalen in Dalarna, where röv actually does mean fox…

Example sentences:

Förlåt, jag ska bara ta en paus i ett par minuter, har fått träsmak i röven.

Sorry, I have to take a break for a few minutes, my bum’s gone numb.

Hur gick din dejt igår? Inte bra, han var ett jävla rövhål.

How did your date go yesterday? Not good, he was a bloody arsehole.