Swedish word of the day: unken
Advertisement
Unken is the Swedish word for something that smells a bit stale or otherwise unappetising, for example a room which has not been aired out or a bag of food waste which should have been thrown out a few days ago.
It's not clear exactly where the word comes from, although it has existed in Swedish since at least the 1720s, according to the Swedish Academy's dictionary. It appears to have mainly been used to describe stagnant water, stale hay or other crops which have gone mouldy due to water damage.
Don't miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading The Local's app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button
It may be related to a Proto-Indo-European word meaning wet or moist, which would explain how it has come to describe something smelling damp, mildewed or stale.
If you are worried that your room smells unket, the best solution is to vädra, or air it out, replacing the old, stale air with fresh, new air. Unless the smell is due to mould or mildew, in which case you've got a larger issue on your hands.
Swedes often consider it important to get rid of unken air, with good air quality believed to be important for health, so don't be surprised if you see your Swedish friends or family airing out their homes and letting new air in even in the depths of winter.
The word unken can also refer to something which is metaphorically stale, like an outdated idea or concept.
Advertisement
Example sentences:
Hotellet låg mitt i stan vilket var bra, men rummet luktade lite unket.
The hotel was in the middle of town which was good, but the room smelled a bit musty.
Det där är bara en gammal unken tradition.
That's just an old outdated tradition.
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local's Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local's journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Sweden
11-06-2025
- Local Sweden
'I love Sweden, I love the people, I love the traditions'
This week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra for Membership+ subscribers features an interview with Indian lawyer Aakritee Tiwari. Advertisement This week's episode features a chat host Paul O'Mahony had recently with Aakritee Tiwari, a corporate lawyer from India who has made a successful career for herself in Sweden. In the interview she speaks about how life in Stockholm compares to Dubai where she worked previously, and what it's been like raising twins in Sweden She also lets us know how she has gone about learning Swedish, how she juggles integrating in Sweden with preserving her Indian heritage, and how work life differs in Sweden and India. And we find out why her experience of Sweden has been overwhelmingly positive despite some bureaucratic hurdles along the way. Membership+ subscribers can listen to the interview in the latest episode of Sweden in Focus Extra, out June 11th. READ ALSO: Get Membership+ to listen to all The Local's podcasts Sweden in Focus Extra is a podcast for The Local's Membership+ subscribers. Sign up to Membership+ now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday. Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+ Read more about Membership+ in our help centre. Already have Membership+ but not receiving all the episodes? Go to the podcast tab on your account page to activate your subscription on a podcast platform. If you prefer to listen on the site, you can find all episodes at the bottom of our podcast page.
Local Sweden
04-06-2025
- Local Sweden
'The biggest shock in Sweden was how little people talk to each other'
This week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra for Membership+ subscribers features an interview with Francisca Leonardo, founder of the tour company Xperience Stockholm. Advertisement In this week's episode we hear from Canadian entrepreneur Francisca Leonardo as she explains how she first came to Stockholm as a tourist and immediately felt it was a place she could see herself living in. In her recent conversation with The Local's editor Emma Löfgren she talks us through how she went from being a master's student in biotechnology to setting up a flourishing tour company showing visitors sides of Stockholm they might otherwise miss. And what was it like working through culture shock as first impressions gave way to a more nuanced understanding of how Sweden works? Membership+ subscribers can listen to the interview in the latest episode of Sweden in Focus Extra, out June 4th. Get Membership+ to listen to all The Local's podcasts Sweden in Focus Extra is a podcast for The Local's Membership+ subscribers. Sign up to Membership+ now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday. Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+ Read more about Membership+ in our help centre. Already have Membership+ but not receiving all the episodes? Go to the podcast tab on your account page to activate your subscription on a podcast platform. If you prefer to listen on the site, you can find all episodes at the bottom of our podcast page.
Local Sweden
03-06-2025
- Local Sweden
Reader question: Do I have to attend a ceremony to get Swedish citizenship?
Swedish municipalities up and down the country host ceremonies for new citizens on National Day, June 6th. Do you have to attend one of these before you can officially call yourself Swedish? Advertisement The Swedish government and its allies, the Sweden Democrats, are currently in the process of tightening up the rules for citizenship and permanent residency, with an inquiry in January this year proposing extending the residency requirement for citizenship from five to eight years, introducing a self-sufficiency requirement and requiring that applicants pass language and civics tests. The government and the Sweden Democrats also asked the inquiry to look into introducing some sort of mandatory oath of allegiance or other ceremony for prospective Swedish citizens, in part to raise the profile of citizenship and make it mean more to applicants. The inquiry decided against this, arguing that the voluntary ceremonies that each Swedish municipality holds for citizens each year are sufficient and that organising extra mandatory ceremonies would be too much of an administrative headache. That might not always be the case. The government has already hinted it may overrule the inquiry on citizenship ceremonies. But for now at least, ceremonies held by municipalities – which you may have received an invite for if you became a Swedish citizen in the past year – are just that: voluntary. Advertisement The Migration Agency recently brought in a mandatory requirement to attend an in-person ID check for citizenship applicants, but these are unrelated to the ceremonies organised by municipalities, which you're only invited to once you already have citizenship. So feel free to attend the ceremony on National Day if you want, or do something else with your extra day off if that suits you better. READ ALSO:
