Midsummer: sayings and set phrases
The fixed phrases and sayings Swedes use around Midsummer: the traditions, the songs, the food and, above all, the weather.
Midsummer comes with its own vocabulary of set phrases: what you do to the pole, what you say about the herring, how you talk about the rain, and the old flower tradition at night. These are the ones you'll actually hear.
- 1
Glad midsommar!
Happy Midsummer!
Tip: The greeting all week; the other common one uses 'nice' instead.
- 2
att åka ut på landet
to head out to the countryside
Tip: lit. 'travel out onto the country'; where the summer cottages are.
- 3
att gå man ur huse
everyone turns out (the whole village comes)
Tip: Old-fashioned idiom: every man leaves the house.
- 4
att klä stången
to dress the maypole
Tip: lit. 'to clothe the pole' with birch leaves and flowers.
- 5
att resa stången
to raise the maypole
Tip: Done together, often with a cheer.
- 6
att dansa kring stången
to dance around the maypole
Tip: The preposition means 'around'.
- 7
att ta ton
to start the song (give the note)
Tip: lit. 'take tone'; someone always has to.
- 8
att sjunga för full hals
to sing at the top of your lungs
Tip: lit. 'sing for a whole throat'.
- 9
att duka upp
to lay out the food
Tip: Used for setting out a buffet or a long table.
- 10
sill och färskpotatis, som sig bör
herring and new potatoes, as is only proper
Tip: Old-fashioned set phrase: as tradition demands.
- 11
Det smakar sommar!
It tastes of summer!
Tip: No preposition in Swedish: lit. 'it tastes summer'.
- 12
Helan går!
The first shot! (the song before it)
Tip: lit. 'the whole goes'; the classic drinking song and toast.
- 13
att skåla för sommaren
to toast the summer
Tip: lit. 'to cheers for'.
- 14
att tjuvstarta
to jump the gun
Tip: lit. 'thief-start'; e.g. eating the strawberries before dinner.
- 15
Den som väntar på något gott väntar aldrig för länge.
Good things come to those who wait.
Tip: lit. 'the one who waits for something good never waits too long'.
- 16
Vi får hoppas att vädret håller.
Let's hope the weather holds.
Tip: Here 'get' means 'have to': we'll have to hope.
- 17
att hålla tummarna för fint väder
to keep your fingers crossed for good weather
Tip: lit. 'hold the thumbs'; Swedes squeeze their thumbs instead of crossing fingers.
- 18
Det regnar alltid på midsommar.
It always rains at Midsummer.
Tip: The national joke, repeated every single year.
- 19
Det står som spön i backen.
It's pouring down.
Tip: lit. 'it stands like rods in the hill'.
- 20
Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder.
There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.
Tip: Every Swedish child has heard this.
- 21
Det är bara att gilla läget.
You just have to make the best of it.
Tip: lit. 'it's just to like the situation'.
- 22
Det ser ut att klarna upp.
It looks like it's clearing up.
Tip: lit. 'it looks out to clear up'.
- 23
årets ljusaste natt
the lightest night of the year
Tip: The possessive comes first: lit. 'the year's lightest night'.
- 24
Det blir aldrig riktigt mörkt.
It never gets properly dark.
Tip: In the north the sun doesn't set at all.
- 25
att ta ett dopp
to take a dip
Tip: Lakes in June are usually still cold.
- 26
att plocka sju sorters blommor
to pick seven kinds of flowers
Tip: Old tradition: picked in silence on Midsummer night.
- 27
att lägga dem under kudden
to put them under your pillow
Tip: Part of the same tradition.
- 28
att drömma om sin tillkommande
to dream of your future spouse
Tip: An old word for the person you'll marry.
- 29
att vara lite dagen efter
to feel a bit rough the day after
Tip: lit. 'to be a bit the-day-after'; a gentle way to say hungover.
- 30
Sommaren är kort.
Summer is short.
Tip: Said to justify making the most of every sunny day; also a famous pop song title.