''Mas'' is the term for a man of any age who either is from and/or have significant genealogical connection to the
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 ...
region
Dalarna
Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland
Värmland () also known a ...
. The feminine counterparts are ''kulla'' (girl), ''keling'' or ''käring'' (married woman) or ''kuna'' (girlfriend).
History
The word was invented in the capital city of Sweden,
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, during the 18th century since many people from Dalarna, especially from the northern parts of the region, worked in Stockholm at the time. At the time the name
Mats was a common name for males from Dalarna, but differences between accents made the name hard to interpret for the people of Stockholm, leading to the misheard name ''Mas''.
The term became commonly used in Dalarna during the end of the 20th century, completely or at least partially replacing the old terms ''dalkarl'' (masculine) and ''kulla'' (feminine), although the term was traditionally perceived as somewhat humiliating since it was the urban people's way of describing the people of Dalarna as odd and rural.
Rumpmas
A related term is ''rumpmas'', which is the term for a man coming from either the southern parts of Dalarna, including
Avesta
The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.
The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...
and
Hedemora
Hedemora is a town in Dalarna County and the seat of Hedemora Municipality, Sweden, with 7,273 inhabitants in 2010.
Despite its small population, Hedemora is for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city'', and as such the oldest ...
, or the northwestern part of
Västmanland
Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland.
Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västerm ...
which used to be a part of Dalarna, mainly including
Norberg
Norberg () is a locality and the seat of Norberg Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 4,518 inhabitants in 2010. Best known for the Norbergfestival which is Scandinavias biggest electronic music festival, organized in an old iron ore ...
. The feminine counterpart is ''rumpkulla''.
Etymology
The origin of ''rombo'' and ''rumbo'' is the
Old Swedish
Old Swedish (Swedish language, Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken fro ...
word ''rumber'', which can be translated as open, wide or free, in this case referring to the lowland in the areas around Avesta, Hedemora and Norberg.
[dt.se - "Rumpmas - inget skällsord"]
See also
*
Masarna
Masarna are a Swedish motorcycle speedway team based in Avesta, Sweden. The club was founded in 1937 as the ''Folkare Motorklubb'' but their first track was not built until 1948. Masarna joined the Swedish second division in 1958 and remained ther ...
*
Bergslagen
Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since th ...
References
{{Reflist
Swedish words and phrases