Hej – and welcome to your weekly ScandiKitchen lesson.
This week, seeing as it is almost Valentines, we talk about love.
Every week, we give a little lesson on how to be a bit more Scandinavian in your everyday life. If you’d like the full-length version of these lessons direct into your inbox every Friday morning, simply click here to sign up.
Things you can call your chosen one this Valentine’s:
- Pulu (Finnish): city pigeon
- Krúttið mitt (Icelandic): cutie
- Kosepus (Norwegian): snuggle cat
- Sötnos (Swedish): sweet nose
- Sveskebasse (Danish*): chubby prune.
* Avoid the word Bae for a Dane, as this means poop. You’re welcome.
Love Air
In Norway, to live on air and love (Leve på luft og kærlighed) means to live without worries at all. The same sentence in Danish is to live on love and mineral water (kærlighed og kildevand).
Old love
There is a saying in Danish: Old love doesn’t go rusty, meaning if it’s meant to be, it will be, despite passing of time (Gammel kærlighed ruster ikke). Often used about someone’s first love.
Flirty love
In Iceland, if you give under the foot with someone, it means you are flirting with them (að gefa undur fótinn). You do not need to play footsie to give under the foot, though.
Chest hair love
Viking wives could request to divorce their husbands for reasons such as showing too much chest hair.
Early love
The word for boyfriend or girlfriend in Norwegian and Danish is kjæreste/kæreste, literally meaning ‘dearest’. This is non-gender specific.
Poison love
The word for marriage in the Scandinavian languages is gift. This is also the word for poison.
