NationStates Jolt Archive

I just read an article about words that were added to the Swedish language council's list of new Swedish words. Some of them were:

Tjejkött (lit. "girl meat"): Meat that girls tend to like, like turkey or chicken.

Legga (derived from "legitimation" which means "identity card"): Demand to see someone's id.

Genuskänslig (lit. "gender sensitive"): Aware of the difference in condition between men and women.

Helikoptermamma (lit. "helicopter mother"): An over-protective mother.

Flexidaritet: A combination of "flexibility" and "solidarity."

Regnbågsbarn (lit. "rainbow child"): Children to LGT parents.

Minnespinne: This is literally "memory stick" and means the same.

Several are not new for this year - I've read "regnbågsbarn" in publications dealing with children of gays and lesbians for longer than that, but they were just added to a list this year.

It's fun to see language evolve. :)

If these are indeed real, then it almost seems like something out of 1984.

Man, you guys get lists of new words? Lucky bastards. We have to guess if something is a word or not.

yeah it is, its fun to see what words we suddenly have need of

girly meat??

How would you pronounce Tjejkött? (Tyeykut - ?)

Helikoptermamma
:D

Man, you guys get lists of new words? Lucky bastards. We have to guess if something is a word or not.

Nah, we get tonnes of them. Toytoon is a word or something.

the Swedish language council's

Language police? No wonder you like the French.

Man, you guys get lists of new words? Lucky bastards. We have to guess if something is a word or not.

Nah, we get tonnes of them. Toytoon is a word or something. As is upskill.

If these are indeed real, then it almost seems like something out of 1984.

What!? No, New words are being invented all the time. Like, the word teenager was invented in the 20th century.

Language police? No wonder you like the French.

No, not a language police at all. (http://www.spraknamnden.se/andrasprak/english.htm) The French don't have a "language police" either. What makes you think they have?

How would you pronounce Tjejkött? (Tyeykut - ?)

Sort of like "shay-shoet" but with a soft "sh" sound that doesn't exist in English, to my knowledge.

i do find it funny when countries have officials that decide what is an actual word in their language and what isnt.

but then again its kind of funny when there isnt any officials in the english language but yet school students still get points taken off for using "non-real" words. it seems our words are not decided by officials but by publishers of best selling dictionaries.

I'm going to Stockholm in March. I must learn some of these to impress the locals. I like the rainbowchild one especially!

Sort of like "shay-shoet" but with a soft "sh" sound that doesn't exist in English, to my knowledge.

I guess I'll have to hear it. :(

However I am a geordie so scandinavian sounds are not completely incomprehensible to me - allegedly. There is the possiblity that I could pronounce it.

I do like the word though.

i do find it funny when countries have officials that decide what is an actual word in their language and what isnt.

Umm, sorry to disappoint, but we have no such thing. They don't "decide" that something is a word or not - they observe language usage and if a word someone made up doesn't seem to be a passing fluke, they add it to a dictionary. Not having been described doesn't mean something isn't a word, and in a language like Swedish where forming new words is so easy, it would be folly to think so. I make up new words on a daily basis - if they get spread and used on a wider scale, then they might end up being described. If not, then they're still words. Just not very common.

I guess I'll have to hear it. :(

However I am a geordie so scandinavian sounds are not completely incomprehensible to me - allegedly. There is the possiblity that I could pronounce it.

I do like the word though.

Oh, bugger. Fine... (http://goto.glocalnet.net/fass1/tjejkott.mp3)

Oh, bugger. Fine... (http://goto.glocalnet.net/fass1/tjejkott.mp3)

Seriously, thanks.

I love that word. I intend to start using it.

You have a great voice BTW, I really love your accent.

No, not a language police at all. (http://www.spraknamnden.se/andrasprak/english.htm) The French don't have a "language police" either. What makes you think they have?

The Canadian French do. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9cois_de_la_langue_fran%C3%A7aise#Negative_perception)

I just read an article about words that were added to the Swedish language council's list of new Swedish words. Some of them were:

Tjejkött (lit. "girl meat"): Meat that girls tend to like, like turkey or chicken.

Legga (derived from "legitimation" which means "identity card"): Demand to see someone's id.

Genuskänslig (lit. "gender sensitive"): Aware of the difference in condition between men and women.

Helikoptermamma (lit. "helicopter mother"): An over-protective mother.

Flexidaritet: A combination of "flexibility" and "solidarity."

Regnbågsbarn (lit. "rainbow child"): Children to LGT parents.

Minnespinne: This is literally "memory stick" and means the same.

Several are not new for this year - I've read "regnbågsbarn" in publications dealing with children of gays and lesbians for longer than that, but they were just added to a list this year.

It's fun to see language evolve. :)
Neat. Your language rocks. Seriously; I love hearing Swedish spoken. I can't pronounce a single word correctly just by reading it, but it sounds fantastic to my ears.

could i just point out that websters made "bling bling" officially a word?

The Swedish dictionary is full of truthiness.

Oh, bugger. Fine... (http://goto.glocalnet.net/fass1/tjejkott.mp3)

How incredibly drole.

Thanks for the recording, even if it was under duress. :D No offense, but "Helikoptermamma" sounds like it should have been the title of an ABBA song. Cool language, but I'd never be able to pronounce it right.

Umm, sorry to disappoint, but we have no such thing. They don't "decide" that something is a word or not - they observe language usage and if a word someone made up doesn't seem to be a passing fluke, they add it to a dictionary. Not having been described doesn't mean something isn't a word, and in a language like Swedish where forming new words is so easy, it would be folly to think so. I make up new words on a daily basis - if they get spread and used on a wider scale, then they might end up being described. If not, then they're still words. Just not very common.

There's pretty much a similar institution for Irish/Gaelic. Things that have a much more modern usage and wouldn't exist in the language already are observed and suggested by a Council and are adopted.

It's necessary in a non-Anglo world.

Oh, bugger. Fine... (http://goto.glocalnet.net/fass1/tjejkott.mp3)

*unwraps*

Ooooh! A new collectible item for my shrine! That one's A-class. *files away*


Anyway.. I'm liking it. I still like our "Unwort des Jahres (http://www.unwortdesjahres.org/)" best, where we have an official jury decide what was the 'worst', meaning most wrongly and/or most demeaningly used word of the year passed (on the website, they link to a "Double-Speak Award" that apparently is/was handed out in the US and uses similar criteria). Most of those are hilarious, although in a bad way.

I'm awaiting the 2006 one in late January. The one for 2005 was 'Entlassungsproduktivität' (umm.. laying-off poductivity?) and referred in a degrading way to the increase in financial return for the company after a substantial part of the workers have been fired.

2004 featured 'Humankapital', (human capital), which was said to demean humans to an economic factor only. I, personally, 'favor' the runner-up 'Begrüßungszentrum' (welcoming center), which was the official euphemistic word for refugee camps for African refugees; I especially 'like' it in the context of the usage of the downright perverted 'Heimreiseerleichterungszentren' (centers for the increased ease of travelling home) to denote the camps my country uses to put those refugees/asylum-seekers they deem not worthy to stay here in, in order to force-transfer them back into their respective 'home' countries.

I, personally, 'favor' the runner-up 'Begrüßungszentrum' (welcoming center), which was the official euphemistic word for refugee camps for African refugees; I especially 'like' it in the context of the usage of the downright perverted 'Heimreiseerleichterungszentren' (centers for the increased ease of travelling home) to denote the camps my country uses to put those refugees/asylum-seekers they deem not worthy to stay here in, in order to force-transfer them back into their respective 'home' countries.

Those are all crazy hilarious.

How wiki!

How wiki!

What wiki?

What wiki?

It's my word. I use it, stupidly.

Wiki = cool.

I just feel like being.. stupid. :)

I just feel like being.. stupid. :)

How novel.

How novel.

You'd puke if you knew how many non-sexual novel things I do to amuse myself.

You'd puke if you knew how many non-sexual novel things I do to amuse myself.

You underestimate me. I'd probably puke at the sexual ones as well.

Very interesting!

(The OP, I mean. Not the posts just above this one...)