Swedish profanity can be divided into several categories. A substantial number of curse words in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

have religious origins.

Euphemistic A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

variants of the religious curses are commonly used as well. References to genitalia or bodily functions are common in the Swedish profanity vocabulary. Notably, no word for

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

is commonly used in

invective Invective (from Middle English ''invectif'', or Old French and -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... and Late Latin ''invectus'') is abusive, or insulting ...

s, unlike many other languages (e.g., English ''fuck'', Spanish ''joder'', Mandarin ''cào'' / 肏/操). However,

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

s of English ''fuck'' using ''knull'' (noun), ''knulla'' (verb) do occur; this comes across as more offensive than ''fuck'' does in English. In general, ''knull(a)'', along with genitalia slang words like ''kuk'' ('cock') and ''fitta'' ('cunt') are the most offensive single words. By contrast, most of the traditional religious profanities are not considered very offensive today; this is in line with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

's long-standing

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

. Some commonly used profanity is borrowed from other languages, such as English: ''Shit vad snygg hon är'' ('Damn, she looks good'),

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Det var en scheissefilm'' ('That was a crappy movie'), and Finnish: ''Perkele!'' (the latter usually for comic effect). An overt attitude expressed regarding this phenomenon may be that some Swedish speakers find the native profanities lacking the required 'punch'; again this might be related to the perceived ineffectiveness of the traditional religious profanities; borrowing allows speakers to avoid the much more offensive native sexual vocabulary. Other common English-origin profanities used are ''bitch'' and ''fuck''. Such words are often rendered in a more-or-less diligent English pronunciation, suggesting

code-switching In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. These alternations are generally intended to ...

, though more assimilated Swedish approximations, for ''shit'', for ''fuck'', are also common. More humorous is

spelling pronunciation A spelling pronunciation is the pronunciation of a word according to its spelling when this differs from a longstanding standard or traditional pronunciation. Words that are spelled with letters that were never pronounced or that were not pronoun ...

of ''fuck'' as , but the verb ''fucka upp'', calqued on ''fuck up'', and its participle ''uppfuckad'', for ''fucked up'', usually have the spelling pronunciation. Commonly used as euphemisms are certain numerals, especially ''sjutton'' ('seventeen'; phonologically reminiscent of ''satan'' and ''skit''), and variant form ''tusan'' from ''tusen'' ('thousand'; reminiscent of ''satan''), plus nonsense numerals used as intensifiers like ''femtielva'' ('fifty-eleven').

Intelligence profanities

;Idiot (noun), idiotisk (adj.) :Meaning "idiot", "idiotic" ;Puckad (adj.), pucko (noun) :Derogatory slang for "stupid person". The etymology is uncertain; one hypothesis derives it from ''puck'' "

hockey puck A hockey puck is either an open or closed disk used in a variety of sports and games. There are designs made for use on an ice surface, such as in ice hockey, and others for the different variants of floor hockey which includes the wheeled skat ...

", as in being hit on the head with one. ;IQ-befriad (adj.) : Devoid of IQ ;Efterbliven (adj.) : Retarded ;Blåst (adj.) : "Blown-out" meaning an empty head ;CP (noun, adj.) : Versatile insult referring to

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

Sexual profanities

;Bög :Lit. "bugger, faggot", male homosexual. Combined with ''jävel'' (see below) to yield the very offensive ''bögjävel'' ("Fucking faggot"). The word ''bög'' by itself is

reappropriated In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change (i.e ...

by the Swedish gay community and is today considered neutral or somewhat positive. ;Fjolla :Faggot, gay, but more generally used for feminine men ;Knapsu :Men who act like women, who do feminine chores - used only in the North ;Torsk :sex buyer, john (literally codfish) ;Hora :Lit. "whore". Compound ''horunge'' means "child of a whore". ;Slampa, slyna, luder :Both meaning "bitch, slut - promiscuous woman" ;Lebb :"Lesbian, dyke" -

blend A blend is a mixture of two or more different substances. Blend may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Blend'' (album), a 1996 album by BoDeans * The Blend (Sirius XM), a North American satellite radio channel * "Blend", a 2017 song on ...

of ''lesbisk'' "Lesbian" and ''läbbig'' "icky" ;Knulla (verb), knull (noun) :Lit. "(to) fuck", but less commonly used and more offensive than ''fuck'' in English. The verb can be used both

intransitive In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb, aside from an auxiliary verb, whose context does not entail a transitive object. That lack of an object distinguishes intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, which entail one or more objects. Additi ...

ly (e.g. ''dom knullar'' "they're screwing") and transitively (mostly of males, e.g. ''han knullar henne'' "he's screwing her"). ;Kåt (adj), kåta upp (verb) :"horny"; the verb (with stressed verbal particle) is

causative In linguistics, a causative (abbreviated ) is a valency-increasing operationPayne, Thomas E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 173–186. that indicates that a subject either ...

, meaning "to make horny", and from it is formed a passive participle ''uppkåtad'' which also means "horny" but with an

inchoative Inchoative aspect (abbreviated or ), also known as inceptive, is a grammatical aspect, referring to the beginning of a state. It can be found in conservative Indo-European languages such as Latin and Lithuanian, and also in Finnic languages or Eu ...

nuance. Etymologically, ''kåt'' is an example of

pejoration A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility ...

, as the Icelandic cognate ''kátur'' simply means "glad". ;Sätta på :Vulgar phrasal verb with stress on the verbal particle, meaning "to bang, screw" in transitive use (usually said of males). The phrase can also be used in the non-vulgar sense "to turn on (a device)", a source of sexual

innuendo An innuendo is a wikt:hint, hint, wikt:insinuation, insinuation or wikt:intimation, intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called in ...

Religious profanities

;Fan :A name for the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

. May be pronounced as a

disyllabic A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...

for emphasis: ''Faan!'' , ''Faen!''. Used interjectively, ''Va' fan?'' ("What the hell?"), ''Fan ta dig!'', ("Goddamn you!", lit. " aythe Devil take you!"). The derived word ''fanskap'' is also used: ''Vad har hon nu hittat på för fanskap?'' ("What devilry is she up to now?"). The

taboo deformation A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

in ''Dra åt fanders!'' (''Get lost!'') is increasingly becoming old-fashioned, but still commonly used are: * fanken * fasen * fasiken * farao "

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

" ;Förbannad, förbannat :Lit. "cursed, damned". Used interjectively, as ''Förbannat!'' ("damn!") or as an intensifier: ''Var inte så förbannat dum!'' ("Don't be so damned stupid"). An alternative meaning is "angry": ''jag blev förbannad på henne'' ("I got pissed off at her"). Taboo deformations include * förbaskat * förbenat * förbålt ;Helvete :Lit. "hell". Used similarly to the English "hell", such as in the phrase ''Dra''/''Far'' or ''Stick'' ''åt helvete!'' ("Go to hell!") and ''Vad i helvete?'' ("What the hell?"). Also common is ''för i helvete'', "for fuck's sake". Taboo deformations are: *Helsike *Helskotta *Hälsingland (referring to the province of

Hälsingland Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to by the Latin name Helsingia, is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of ...

) ;Herregud :Lit. "Lord God". A relatively mild profanity used to express dismay or surprise, similar to "Oh my God!" Contracted with ''jävlar'' it becomes the cruder and more offensive ''herrejävlar''. ;Jisses, jösses :

Taboo deformation A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

s for

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. As an interjection, an expression of amazement or surprise: ''Jisses!'' ("Yikes!"), ''Jösses, vad du har blivit stor'' ("Geez, you've grown!") ;Jävel, djävel. :Colloquial versions of ''djävul'', lit. "devil". A versatile word, used in many ways as the English "fuck". The plural is frequently used as an interjection, ''Jävlar!'' ("Fuck!" or "Damn it!"), sometimes extended ''Jä-ä-ävlar-r-r-r'' for extra emphasis. Most commonly used pejoratively, as in ''din jävel!'' ("You fucker!"), but can also be used admiringly, as in ''han var en snabb jävel'' ("He was a quick son-of-a-bitch"). The word can also be used adjectivally: ''den jävla hunden bet mig!'' ("The fucking dog bit me!"). The derived form ''jävlig'' can mean "irritating", "troublesome": ''jag haft en jävlig dag.'' ("I've had a rough day"); also common with intensifying prefix ''förjävlig'', as in ''jag mår förjävligt'' "I feel like shit". A more comic effect can be rendered by traditional adjective ''djävulsk'' "devilish", or its expressive variant ''djävulusisk''. ''Jävla'' also derived a deponent verb ''jävlas'' "to be a jerk": ''Han jävlas med mig'' means "He's yanking my chain/fucking with me". Commonly used taboo deformations for ''jävel'' or ''jävla'' include *jädra *jäkla *jämra - lit. "moan" *bövel(en), bövlar - originally ''bödel'' "hangman" blending with ''jävel'' :One group of taboo deformations, less commonly used today, substitutes words beginning with ''järn-'' ("iron"): *järnspikar: "iron nails" *järnvägar: "railways" ;Satan :Literally, an invocation of

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

. Used as an interjection ''Satan!'' and also in the genitive form: ''Den satans katten har pissat i rabatten igen'' ("The goddamn cat has pissed in the flowerbed again"). Taboo deformation: *sablar: "

saber A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

s". Backformed into attributive adjective ''sabla'' (like ''jävla'' from ''jävlar''), e.g. ''sabla skit'' "fucking shit". The religious profanities are often combined in tirades for extra emphasis or for comedic effect: ''satans helvetes förbannade jävla fan''.

Scatological

;piss :Lit. "piss, urine". Frequently used as an interjection to express dismay or disappointment, ''Piss också!'' ("Damn it!"). Used as a prefix it intensifies the head: ''det var pissenkelt'' ("It was really easy"), ''Jag mår pissdåligt'' ("I feel like shit"). ;skit :Lit. "shit". When used interjectively it is much less offensive than its English cognate: ''Skit!'' ("Damn!"). Commonly used for "filth", "mess": ''hon var skitig'' ("She was dirty"). As a verb, ''skita'' means "to defecate", as in: ''Han sket på sig'' ("He's shit himself" or "He shat his pants.") but also "to make dirty": ''Han skitade ner sig'' ("He got dirty"). Combined with the preposition ''i'' ("in") changes the meaning to "ignore", "not care": ''Det skiter jag i!'' ("I don't give a damn!"). Commonly used as an emphasizing prefix: ''skitbillig'' ("dirt cheap"), ''skitfull'' ("dead drunk") and as a diminishing prefix: ''Det är en skitsak'' ("It's a piece of cake"). In imperative mood, ''skit på dig!'' (lit. "shit yourself!") is used like "get bent" or "get lost" in English. The extremely common word ''skit'' is increasingly losing its literal sense and offensive character in many of its uses, to the point of becoming a placeholder noun, e.g. ''det ligger nån skit på bordet'' means "there is some stuff on the table"; likewise the verbal construction ''skita i'' is the usual colloquial expression for "never mind, not care about, skip" with little or no scatological connotations, e.g. ''han sket i efterrätten'' "he skipped dessert"; in the use of offensive, scatological profanity it is sometimes replaced by child-language ''bajs'' and verb ''bajsa''. ;skitstövel :Lit. "shit-

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

". Similar in offensiveness to "asshole", "fucker", or "bastard.". Originally a derogatory term for peasants, implying their boots are stained with manure (compare with "shit kicker") ;kräk :Derived from the Swedish words for

vomit Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pregna ...

and vomiting (''kräk, kräkas''). Used similarly to the English "asshole".

Body parts

;arsel, arsle :Lit. "arsehole". Used pejoratively about people: ''Vilket arsle han är!'' ("What an arsehole he is!") Occasionally used less offensively to refer to somebody's posterior. ;fitta (compounding form fitt-) :Lit. "cunt". Used pejoratively about females: ''Hon är en riktig fitta.'' ("She's a real bitch") ;kuk :Lit. "cock, dick". Used interjectively to express annoyance (''Kuk!''). Combined with ''huvud'' ("head") yields ''kukhuvud'' ("dickhead"). ;röv, rövhål :Lit. "arse, arsehole". Commonly used in the expression ''Ta dig i röven!'' ("Up yours!", lit. "grab your ass!"). ; snorunge :small child or behaving lite a child, literally "snot kid"

Ableist slurs

; mongo (adj. and noun) : Slang term derived from '' mongolism''; the meaning is "retard" or just "weirdo". Can be added to anything, such as "borrmongo" (someone who incessantly renovates his home) ; särbarn, sär : Offensive slang term meaning approximately "retard". From ''särskola'', the Swedish term for

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

. The prefix ''sär-'' is at least partly short for ''särskild'' "special", but also means "apart, segregated". Children receiving special education are ''särskolebarn'', which as a general invective shortened to ''särbarn'', with connotations of " segregated, institutionalized"; this in turn backformed into adjectival noun ''sär'', e.g. ''ditt jävla sär!'' "you fucking retard!". ; cp (pronounced ) : Offensive slang term derived from the abbreviation for ''cerebral pares'' "

" and meaning approximately "retard". Can be used as a derogatory prefix, e.g. ''jävla cp-cykel'' "fucking shitty bike". ; damp (Noun), dampa (verb) : Abbreviated form of the formerly diagnosed neuropsychiatric condition called

Deficits in attention, motor control and perception DAMP (deficits in attention, motor control, and perception) is a psychiatric concept conceived by Christopher Gillberg defined by the presence of five properties: problems of attention, gross and fine motor skills, perceptual deficits, and speech- ...

. Implies erratic or unusual behavior, especially hyperactivity and aggression. Can be used as a verb, e.g ''han dampar'' "he is freaking out". ; missfoster, miffo : ''Missfoster'' (from ''miss-'' "mis-" and ''foster'' "

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

") is an offensive term for "(the result of)

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

, a

freak A freak is a person who is physically deformed or transformed due to an extraordinary medical condition or body modification. This definition was first attested with this meaning in the 1880s as a shorter form of the phrase " freak of nature ...

". ''Miffo'' is in origin a slang truncation, but nowadays the connection is more or less lost, and ''miffo'' has the more mild sense of "weirdo". ; efterbliven, utvecklingsstörd : Offensive adjectives, meaning " retarded", e.g. ''Han är så jävla efterbliven!'' "He's so fucking retarded!". ''Utvecklingsstörd'' is often shortened to ''störd'' lit. "disturbed".

Animal invectives

Note that "dog" does not commonly figure as an offensive profanity, with expressions like ''din hund!'' "you dog!" being understood as jocular or archaizing. ;Nöt :Old term for

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

, today occurring almost exclusively in compounds and in the sense "beef", other than as a rather mild insult meaning "stupid". This word is neuter gender, unlike homophone ''nöt'' "nut" (with which it is often associated synchronically). Thus in the insult ''ditt nöt!'' the second person form is in the neuter. ;Kossa :"

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

", using a lengthened form of the basic ''ko'' ;Pippa; göka :Both meaning "to fuck". ''Pippi'' is child language for "bird". ''Gök'' means "

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are somet ...

". ;Höns- :Compound form of ''höna'' "hen". Used to form mild invectives meaning "stupid", e.g. ''hönshjärna'', lit. "hen brain". ;Apa, ap- :"Ape, monkey", with the connotation "stupid" or "brutish". Frequent in compounds like ''aphjärna'', lit. "ape brain". Also in expressions ''smaka/lukta apa'' "taste/smell like shit". ;Kåtbock :"horny buck", i.e. "a man who is horny as a goat" ;Gris :"pig", implying filthy or disgusting habits. ;Svin :Swine, implying either dirty or just an evil person generally who treats people badly.

Death

;Gå och dö! :Lit. "go and die!", i.e. "go kill yourself!" ;As :Lit. "

carrion Carrion (), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures ...

". Common derogatory term meaning approximately "jackass". Also common as an intensifying prefix, e.g. ''asbra'' "really good". ;Lik :Lit. "corpse", derogatory term for seniors.

Ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
and political slurs

Pejoratives relating to ethnicity, occupation or political views often have the suffix ''-e''. ; bonne (noun), bonnig (adj.) :"yokel, redneck", derived from ''bonde'' "peasant, farmer" ;neger :"Negro"; further, ''blåneger'' lit. "blue negro" refers to a person with a very deep black skin colour (cf. ''Blåland'', the Old Swedish name for Africa). Commonly called n-ordet (the n word) since it's not supposed to be pronounced. ;blatte :Derogatory term for immigrants of non-Swedish ethnicity in Sweden, especially those with a darker skin colour. ; shlajftorsk :addicted to cocain ;svenne :Derogatory word for people of

ethnicity, or those behaving in a stereotypically Swedish manner, especially used by immigrants. ;svartskalle :"black head", derogatory term for people with dark skin or dark hair. ; balubas :used for black people or immigrants in the 60's, no longer in use. Could also mean motorbike gangs or breasts. ;turk :"Turk" is used as a derogatory term for immigrants of non-Swedish ethnicity, regardless of actual ethnicity. Can also be used as a prefix ''turk-''. ;jugge :Derogatory term for persons, especially immigrants, from the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, derived from the Swedish version of the name "Jugoslavien". ;reservdansk :Lit. "spare/reserve

Dane Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (tribe), an ancient North Germanic tribe Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a lis ...

, describes people from the southernmost province of

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

, which was once part of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Meant to imply that Scanians are more Danish than Swedish due to their geographical proximity to Denmark and due to shared traits between the Scanian dialects and the

Danish language Danish (, ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are a ...

. Generally used jokingly in present day. ;skäggbarn :Lit. "beard child", derogatory term for an adult male assuming the identity of a child, typically to receive extra perks as an

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...

. ;sosse :Truncated from ''socialdemokrat'' "social democrat". Someone who is a member or votes for the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...

. ;Borgarbracka :Bourgeois brat. ; stekare :rich brat, usually hanging around Stureplan in Stockholm. ;nasse :Truncated from ''nazi'', also being traditional slang for "pig". Can also be strengthened by adding - jävel (nassejävel) or -svin (nassesvin). ;rasse :Truncated from ''rasist'' "racist".

Constructional and word formation patterns

Interjections are often constructed with a following ''också'' "too, also", e.g. ''fan också!'', ''skit också!'', ''helvete också!'', somewhat like e.g. French ''

zut alors Zut may refer to: * Žut, an island in Croatia * Zut, Sisak-Moslavina County, a village near Dvor, Croatia * ''Zut! ''Zut!'' was a Canadian sketch comedy television series which aired Saturday evenings from 1970 to 1971 on CBC Television. It was ...

!''. Some can be preceded by ''fy'' "fie", especially ''fy fan!''. Some traditional profanities are commonly constructed as genitive attributes (using genitive

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

enclitic In morphology and syntax, a clitic ( , backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a ...

''-s'') when used as an intensifier in combination with another profanity, e.g. ''helvetes skit'' lit. "hell's shit", ''satans helvete'' lit. "Satan's hell". Second person personal pronouns in invectives are usually replaced by possessives: thus ''din idiot!'', lit. "your idiot!", i.e. "you idiot!". Note that possessives agree with nouns in

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

, thus ''din idiot'' in

common gender In linguistics, a grammatical gender system is a specific form of a noun class system, where nouns are assigned to gender categories that are often not related to the real-world qualities of the entities denoted by those nouns. In languages wit ...

, but ''ditt pucko'' in

neuter Neuter is a Latin adjective meaning "neither", and can refer to: *Neuter gender, a grammatical gender, a linguistic class of nouns triggering specific types of inflections in associated words * Neuter pronoun *Neutering, the sterilization of an an ...

. Derogatory nouns and adjectives can be formed using semi-productive suffix ''-o'', e.g. ''pucko'', ''mongo'', ''fyllo'' ("a drunk", from ''full'' "drunk", ''fylla'' "binge-drinking"), ''fetto'' ("a fatty", from ''fet'' "fat"), ''neggo'' (slang for "pessimist, kill-joy", from ''negativ'' "negative"), ''pervo'' ("pervert"). This is at least partly influenced by English formations in ''-o'' like ''wacko'', ''weirdo'', ''pervo''.

Compounding In the field of pharmacy, compounding (performed in compounding pharmacies) is preparation of custom medications to fit unique needs of patients that cannot be met with mass-produced formulations. This may be done, for example, to provide medic ...

is frequently used to coin novel profanities. Compounds of the

bahuvrihi A bahuvrīhi, or bahuvrīhi compound, is a type of compound word that denotes a referent by specifying a certain characteristic or quality the referent possesses. A bahuvrihi is exocentric, so that the compound is not a hyponym of its head. For ...

type, often involving body parts, can often be associated with insults, thus the relatively mild ''dumhuvud'' like English " dumbhead"; a more offensive example is ''svartskalle'' lit. "black-skull",

ethnic slur The following is a list of ethnic slurs, ethnophaulisms, or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnic, national, or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pej ...

for a dark-haired or dark-skinned person. The exact semantics of Swedish compounds is sometimes open to interpretation, and this may be utilized for comic effect, thus ''surfitta'' lit. "sour-cunt" may be understood either as "someone whose cunt is acidic" (thus a

compound) or "someone who is acidic like a cunt". The same ambiguity applies e.g. to ''kukhuvud'', like English "dickhead". Sometimes, when an element can be used as derogatory or intensifying in either prefixed and suffixed positions, the relation between elements in the compound can be reversed with basically no change in meaning, e.g. ''idiotfitta'' and ''fittidiot'' combining "idiot" and "cunt". One particular compounding construction takes the profanity as the head of the compound and the referent as the modifier: thus ''hundjävel'' means approximately "bloody dog", but the head of the compound is ''jävel'', and ''hund'' "dog" is the modifier. This is often pleonastically modified with ''jävla'', as ''jävla hundjävel'' "fucking bloody dog". Alternatively, this can be analyzed as a

derivation Derivation may refer to: Language * Morphological derivation, a word-formation process * Parse tree or concrete syntax tree, representing a string's syntax in formal grammars Law * Derivative work, in copyright law * Derivation proceeding, a ...

with ''-jävel'' as a

. The formation is extremely productive and basically any concrete noun can be suffixed with ''-jävel'', e.g. ''lådjävel'' "bloody box", ''kyrkjävel'' "bloody church" (note that the combining form for ''kyrka'' "church" is here ''kyrk-'' rather than traditional ''kyrko-''). Other comparable morphemes that are more or less productive are ''-helvete'' (often abstract nouns), ''-äckel'' (for people; ''äckel'' means "disgust" or "disgusting person", cf. ''äcklig'' "disgusting"), ''-fan'' (often animals, as in ''älgfan'' "bloody moose"), ''-fitta'' (for women), ''-mongo''. A number of intensifying prefixes (or compounding modifiers, depending on grammatical analysis) are used more or less productively, e.g. ''skit-'' lit. "shit", ''rå-'' lit. "raw" (e.g. ''råpuckad'' "really stupid", ''råknulla'' "fuck very hard"), ''tok-'' lit. "crazy" (e.g. ''tokmongo'' "complete retard", ''tokknulla'' "fuck really wildly"), ''skogs-'' lit. "forest". Some elements can be used either as attributive adjective or as compound first element, which is a marked accentual distinction in Swedish, to produce a subtle semantic difference, thus ''mongo hund'' or ''mongohund''.

References

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