Trading bazooka, bridge sheet and balcony power plant. These are some of the words on the 2025 new word list.
Whether they will take hold in Swedish remains to be seen, but if you look at previous years' lists of new words, from 1986 onwards, the chances look quite small.
Sure, there are many familiar expressions, such as names of news items like “HIV” (1987), “website” (1995) or “e-sports” (2013). Others, like “to be at the forefront” (1995), have become so established that most people have probably forgotten where they came from.
But when was the last time you met a “cowboy surgeon” (1992)? Has anyone actually used the word “umarell” (2024) for real? And what does “Bamseteorem” (2011) even mean?
"PR stunt"
Mikael Parkvall, a linguist at Stockholm University, thinks the lists are more like chronicles than linguistics.
"It has no scientific value whatsoever, and that's what I think - or am afraid people think - it has," he says.
"Basically, it's a PR stunt, but my feeling is that people perceive it as 'Oh, now Swedish has been provided with 27 new words that we were unable to express a year ago.'"
He also thinks there is a certain richness in the selection. There are plenty of record-breaking words like "plastic diet" (2014), "carbon neutral wine" (2010) or "meat norm" (2014). But you rarely find any examples of coarser vocabulary, and hardly any magic words like "batik witch" or "bearded child".
"Then you get a little thoughtful. What is the intention here really? Should we control the language or should we document the language?" says Parkvall.
Very middle class
Many of the words are related to office work, such as "vobba" (2011), "knytkonferens" (2011), "hybridmöte" (2021) or "portföljfax" (1989). Parkvall believes it's a consequence of the middle class more often expressing themselves in writing and of their reading the newspapers from which many of the words are taken.
Some new words come directly from a person or organization that has actively tried to launch new expressions, like RFSU's "klittra" (2014) or business researcher Micael Dahlén's "förventningssamhälle" (2008) and "förväntis" (2011).
"One that has actually succeeded is the term 'outsiders', which was launched for political reasons by the bourgeoisie. But when people have consciously invested in launching a word, it is very rare that it succeeds. When it has succeeded, it is often more or less a coincidence," says Mikael Parkvall.
1986: hermit, startup, compartmentalized society
1987: did not dive, free class, puppy tax
1988: book video, broiler society, house teddy bear
1989: alternative milk, steep, portfolio fax
1990: Euro jargon, panther culture, steel pussy
1991: glammie, nocebo, nasal dilator
1992: cowboy surgeon, fishing Danish, signing up
1993: fax terror, opera hooligan, transmogrify
1994: alpha snake, frigga, trobbing
1995: everyday power, Märbacka dollar, Teflon age
1996: dance drug, computer porn, metrofication
1997: backward factory, declared null, novelette
1998: far away, the third sector, messageism
1999: charrette, identity journey, sympathizer
2000: mixed diet, value-added food, rock fat
2001: monkey trap, bin Laden discount, Lasse Berghagen wine
2002: flashed, crazy chip addiction, wasted his life
2003: glocalize, make a labrador, pomposity
2004: gay competence, rugby parent, sperm washing
2005: the glass ball people, gonna be, milton money
2006: memory spot, sverka, girl meat
2007: givomat, part-time job, mouth threats
2008: blog quake, skynka, swedish
2009: vacation, travel agency, procotta
2010: ashtray, beast, meat glue
2011: Bamseteorem, expectation, terja
2012: drink anorexia, meat space, memil
2013: phebodification, sextremism, two-handed decision
2014: kringis, kärrtorpa, yoloa
2015: klittra, obror, flat film
2016: peace ring, pokenad, question strike
2017: express kidnapping, hyber deduction, plow
2018: decision blindness, mandate ping-pong, mens certification
2019: ikigai, popcorn brain, sewing
2020: cli-fi, corona greeting, zoom bombing
2021: phono, cryptoart, maskne
2022: barbiecore, selfie museum, sports laundry
2023: dopamine fast, gargasnipe, multiloyal
2024: avocado scanner, bratsommar, swiftie dad
Source: Language Council
