Catherine Edwards

2 weeks ago | thelocal.com | Catherine Edwards

Almost every Swedish households will have several of these in their cutlery drawer, and if you go to a souvenir shop you're bound to see plenty of them, perhaps with an elk or Viking decoration carved into the handle.

Feb 16, 2025 | thelocal.com | Catherine Edwards

Who can get married in Sweden? Most consenting adults in Sweden are legally able to marry here. There's no requirement to be a Swedish citizen or resident, meaning it's an option for a destination wedding, and it was one of the world's first countries to legalise marriage for same-sex couples back in 2009. However, for same-sex couples where neither partner is a Swedish citizen or resident, at least one partner must have citizenship in a country where same-sex marriage or partnership is legal.

Feb 4, 2025 | thelocal.se | Catherine Edwards

Kattrappa means "cat staircase", and it's a ladder-like contraption for cats leading up to an apartment balcony. It allows the animals to come and go as they please – and means that owners can consider apartments above the ground floor without compromising on giving their cat some freedom.

Oct 30, 2024 | thelocal.se | Catherine Edwards

Bus means 'prank' or 'mischief' (if you're looking for the Swedish word for 'bus', that's buss with a double 's'). Bus is pronounced with a long 'u' sound, similar to the word "boo" in English. Over Halloween you'll hear it far more than usual, as children dressed in spooky costumes go from door to door asking bus eller godis (trick or treat, although the Swedish literally means 'trick or sweet/candy').

Oct 29, 2024 | thelocal.se | Catherine Edwards

Häxa is translated in English as 'witch', and the plural is häxor (witches). It refers to women with magical powers, and is much more common than trollpacka and trollkvinna, which are the female forms of trollkarl (wizard). There are plenty of compound words built using häxa. Häxkonst and häxeri both mean 'witchcraft', and häxa has a rarely-used male form, häxmästare, which could be translated as 'enchanter'.