Skip to content
A Contemporary blog of Rhetoric,
Words and Culture. The languages in focus are primarily (but not exclusively) Swedish and Am. English.

Hux Flux

Hux Flux is a [Swedish] expression, which is used to mark when something happens:
all of a sudden / unexpectedly / abruptly / out of nowhere / without warning.

Hux flux, the electricity went out, and people started to panic.
She met a Hollywood actor and hux flux she was a Scientologist.
Hux flux winter is over.
He suffered a hit to his head, and hux flux he was speaking with a Germain accent.
Hux flux, the main witness changed his alibi.
You can’t just quit hux flux!
Hux flux, the sky opened up and rain started pouring.
You wake up one day and hux flux you realize you are not young anymore. But wise.
She left facebook hux flux and never looked back.
It seemed like your ordinary dinner party, but hux flux people were dancing on the table.

Bread text #1

The Swedish word for “text body” is brödtext = “bread text”.

ROLL. An American roll equals a Swedish
FRALLA. “Frallan” is also a nickname for the boy name Frans*
Another crusty bread is the
BAGUETTE, the french staple, which apparently isn’t even french to begin with. In Sweden, this bread is called
PAIN RICHE, “rich people bread”. The origin is disputed, it occurs in an old french cookbook but refers to an elegantly decorated white bread, and not the plain baguette kind. It is also believed to have been coined by the famous Swedish chef Tore Wretman, who owned the restaurant Riche in Stockholm. In the US, when this type of “french bread” is made into a sandwich, it is often referred to as a
SUB or a
HERO, which is a very New York specific name for this large sandwich, supposedly referring to the heroic act of eating something so big. The
SANDWICH, named after a British aristocrat, is in Swedish:
SMÖRGÃ…S, “buttergoose” (in the old school process of cherning, little lumps of butter formed and floated around on the cream surface, like geese on a lake). Or
MACKA, more casual.
SMÖRGÅSBORD (Swe), is a buffet of assorted food.
SMORGASBORD (Eng) is a variety of things, suggesting an eclectic mix.
RÄKSMÖRGÅS, is often used as a test word for computer programs, since it contains all the Swedish special letters Å, Ä and Ö.
RÄKMACKA, literally “shrimp sandwich”, but also used to describe someone who gets things easily or for free.
NATTMACKA. A sandwich eaten after a night out, usually with little or no care about presentation.

*Other bread related nicknames:
MACKAN, “the Sandwich”, short for Markus.
SKORPAN, “the Rusk”. Most famously used by Astrid Lindgren in “The Lionhearts Brothers”.
KAKAN, “the Cookie”,
TÃ…RTAN, “the Cake” and
SMULAN, “the Crum”, which is a top ranking name for pets. Google image SMULAN and enjoy.

smulan

Dead End

DEAD END = Ã…tervändsgränd (Swe) = “Return alley”

DÖTT SLUT sounds very final. Irreversible. You will possibly even die at the end…?
Ã…TERVÄNDSGRÄND has the emphasis on survival. You can go in, it’s a little bit scary and you don’t know what to expect. But you will most likely come back alive.

dead end

Prehistoric mammal Chaos

ISKAOS (Swe) = “ice chaos”
was recently added to the winter status vocabulary.
It is likely derived from the more commonly used:
SNÖKAOS = “snow chaos”

Other dramatic weather conditions:
BLIXTHALKA = “lightening bolt slipperiness”
OVÄDER = “un-weather”
RUSK= “filthy weather”
MAMMUTSTORM = MAMMOTH STORM
SVARTHALKA = “black-slipperiness” (freezing rain).

Perfect Stranger

This English term is genius. It implies that even if you’re a stranger, you’re already perfect. High expectations maybe, but definitely better than assuming the worst.
Hello perfect strangers!


Perfect Stranger

Another drawing from Idioms by Kids