False friends are a very common thing in similar languages, and they can cause funny or weird situations, from calling someone calm instead of fun and pastries becoming headaches. Or insulting a girl by calling her girl.
So here is a list to find out curious false friends and keep yourself safe from incoveniences. As you will notice, Danish and Norwegian often have the same meaning opposed to Swedish, but not always.
| (se-dk-no) word | Swedish meaning | Danish meaning | Norwegian meaning |
| rolig | fun (calm=lugn) | calm | calm |
| artig | polite | funny | funny |
| frukost/frokost | breakfast (lunch=lunch) | lunch (breakfast=morgenmad) | breakfast (lunch=lunsj) |
| blomma/e | flower (plum=plommon) | plum (flower=blomster) | plomme=plum (flower=blomster) |
| varelse/værelse | (living) being (room=rum) | room | room |
| by | town/village (city=stad) | city (town=landsby) | city (town=landsby) |
| stad/sted | city | place | place |
| semester | holiday (semester=termin) | semester (holiday=ferie) | semester (holiday=ferie) |
| lov | summer break , promise (law=lag) | law (a promise=et løfte, but to promise=at love) | law (a promise=et løfte, but to promise=at love) |
| rar | weird (nice=snäll) | nice, friendly | weird (nice=snill) |
| konstig/kunstig | weird | artificial (weird=mærkelig, underlig) | artificial (weird=rar, merkelig) |
| snål | stingy | – | weird, odd |
| le | smile (laugh=skratta) | laugh (smile=smile, read smeeleh) | laugh (smile=smile) |
| grina/e | weep, cry, also gråta | laugh (cry=græde) | cry (laugh=le, also gråte) |
| glass | ice cream (glass=glas) | glass (ice cream=is) | glass (ice cream=is) |
| kjol/kjole | skirt (dress=klänning) | dress (skirt=nederdel) | dress (skirt=skjørt) |
| killing | young goat | kitten* | geitekilling=young goat |
| bums | immediately, at once | pimple | – |
| kryddsill/krydsild | spiced herring | crossfire (spiced herring=kryddersild) | -, spiced herring=kryddersild) |
| tallrik/talrig | plate | numeous (plate=tallerken) | -, plate=tallerken |
| hurtig | cheeky | fast | fast |
| anledning | reason | reason | opportunity |
| bedrift | achievement | company | company |
| stygg | naughty | ugly | |
| fly | escape | airplane | flight |
| tillbud/tilbud | incident | offer | offer |
| tull | customs | – (customs=told) | joke/nonsense (customs=toll) |
| snort | snot | lace, cord | |
| driva/e med | joking with/kidding | doing | |
| måste/må jeg… | do I have to? | may I? | do i have to? |
and here special section with Naughty words…. Pay attention
| Swedish meaning | Danish meaning | Norwegian meaning | |
| skede | phase | vag**a | |
| tös/tøs | girl | girl | sl*t |
| bolla/e | play boll (to f8&k=knulla) | to f*ck | en bolle=bun pastry, å bolle seg=chill, have fun (to f8&k=knulle) |
| kneppe | – | to f**k (button=knappe | button (fuck=pul3) |
| mås | seagull | butt (seagull=måge) | – (seagull=måke) |
| svans | tail | fag**t | – |
| källing/kælling | kitten* | b**ch | – |
| kuk | d1ck | cuckoo , mess (d*ck=p1k) | d1ck |
| bärs/bæ,sj | slang for a beer | poop |
icelandic also has a few interesting cases:
| Swedish | Icelandic | |
| hugga | chop | console |
| bakverk | pastry | backache |
That’s all for now, I will keep this updated in the future!
more:
ScanShop: Nordic supermarket in Luxemburg
I visited Scanshop, a supermarket for Nordic expats in Luxembourg and Belgium. It offers a wide range of Scandinavian food products, including rye bread, fish, and sweets, alongside flags and tableware.
A collection of (unintentionally) Hilarious False Friends in Nordic languages
Take a train in Scandinavia to reach a “slutstation” or see”fartkontrol” signs while driving. Kiss and killing also mean something you were not expecting!
Swedish Café in Utrecht: Broodnodig
In Utrecht, the cafe Broodnodig serves Swedish pastries and cakes as cinnamon and cardamom buns, kladdkaka, smulpaj and Scandinavian seasonal treats as semlor and saffron buns.
One thought on “False Friends within Scandinavian languages”