Swedish profanity

Swedish profanity can be divided into several categories. A substantial number of curse words in Swedish have religious origins. Euphemistic 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 is commonly used in invectives, unlike many other languages (e.g., English ''fuck'', Spanish ''joder'', Mandarin ''cào'' / 肏/操). However, calques 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's long-standing secularism.

Some commonly used profanity is borrowed from other languages, such as English: ''Shit vad snygg hon är'' ('Damn, she looks good'), German: ''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, though more assimilated Swedish approximations, for ''shit'', for ''fuck'', are also common. More humorous is spelling pronunciation 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", as in being hit on the head with one.

;IQ-befriad (adj.)
: Devoid of IQ

;Efterbliven (adj.)
: Retarded

;CP (noun, adj.)
: Versatile insult referring to cerebral palsy

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 by the Swedish gay community and is today consider neutral or somewhat positive.

;Hora
:Lit. "whore". Compound ''horunge'' means "son of a bitch".

;Slampa, slyna
:Both meaning "bitch, slut - promiscuous woman"

;Lebb
:"Lesbian, dyke" - blend of ''lesbisk'' "Lesbian" and ''läbbig'' "creepy"

;Knulla (verb), knull (noun)
:Lit. "(to) fuck", but less commonly used and more offensive than ''fuck'' in English. The verb can be used both intransitively (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, meaning "to make horny", and from it is formed a passive participle ''uppkåtad'' which also means "horny" but with an inchoative nuance. Etymologically, ''kåt'' is an example of pejoration, 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 innuendos.

Religious profanities

;Fan
:A name for the Devil. May be pronounced as a disyllabic 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 in ''Dra åt fanders!'' (''Get lost!'') is increasingly becoming old-fashioned, but still commonly used are:
* fanken
* fasen
* fasiken
* farao "pharaoh"
;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)
;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 deformations for Jesus. 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. 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: " sabers". 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". 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")

Body parts

;arsel, arsle
:Lit. "arsehole". Used pejoratively about people: ''Vilket arsle han är!'' ("What an arsehole he is!")
;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!").

Ableist slurs

; mongo (adj. and noun)
: Slang term derived from '' mongolism''; the meaning is "retard" or just "weirdo".

; särbarn, sär
: Offensive slang term meaning approximately "retard". From ''särskola'', the Swedish term for special education. 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'' "cerebral palsy" and meaning approximately "retard". Can be used as a derogatory prefix, e.g. ''jävla cp-cykel'' "fucking shitty bike".

; missfoster, miffo
: ''Missfoster'' (from ''miss-'' "mis-" and ''foster'' "fetus") is an offensive term for "(the result of) miscarriage, a freak". ''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, 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", using a lengthened form of the basic ''ko''

;Pippa; göka
:Both meaning "to fuck". ''Pippi'' is child language for "bird". ''Gök'' means "cuckoo".

;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.

Death

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

;As
:Lit. "carrion". 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 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)

;blatte
:Derogatory term for immigrants of non-Swedish ethnicity in Sweden, especially those with a darker skin colour.

;svenne
:Derogatory word for people of Swedish 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.

;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.

;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.

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

;nasse
:Truncated from ''nazi'', also being traditional slang for "pig".

;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!''. Some can be preceded by ''fy'' "fie", especially ''fy fan!''.

Some traditional profanities are commonly constructed as genitive attributes (using genitive suffix/enclitic ''-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, thus ''din idiot'' in common gender, but ''ditt pucko'' in neuter.

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 is frequently used to coin novel profanities. Compounds of the bahuvrihi 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 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 bahuvrihi 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 with ''-jävel'' as a suffix. 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

{{Profanity

Profanity by language
Swedish language