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[Image description: a perfectly round peeled bulb of garlic on a cutting board, with unpeeled normal cloves behind it.]
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this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
614 points (98.6% liked)
Mildly Interesting
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Here is another mildy interesting fact, in Swedish we group onions and garlic together by using the word "lök" with a color and different spacing to differentiate them:
"lök" - onion
"gul lök" - onion or yellow onion
"rödlök" - red onion
"vitlök" - garlic
We never talk about "vit lök", it doesn't really exist as a concept in Swedish, but we have more types of "lök"...
"gräslök" directly translates to "grass onion", but the proper translation is "chives"
"prujolök" is the Swedish name for "leek"
Garlic, onions, chives, and leeks (plus shallots, spring onions / scallions, and ramsons) are actually very closely related, being part of the same allium genus. ~~That's the same level of closeness as dogs to wolves, for example~~ my example is bad, see AlotOfReading below
Dogs and wolves are the same species (Canis Lupus), not just members of the same genus. Genus Allium is much bigger than genus Canis (over 800 species) and its members are much less closely related to each other. The common food species are at least evolutionary cousins though, unlike other parts of the category. The onions and chives all share subgenus Cepa, while garlic and leeks are off in subgenus Allium.
Ahh, I think I was misled by reading Canis familiaris. Thanks for the correction
Very interesting, I did not know that!
i love swedish. i drive an old volvo every day and frequently end up on weird SE-language forums as a result.
What about shallots?
That would be "schalottenlök"
Funny, in Norwegian hvitløk is talked about a great deal.
Dows that refer to garlic?
Yes, hvitløk = vitlök in Swedish. It's the same word really (the h is silent), and ø (Norwegian, Danish) = ö (Swedish, Finnish, German).
Ah, I think you missed the spacing when I said that "vit lök" wasn't a thing in Swedish, "vitlök" is as you say "garlic", and is a common word
Oh ok, I thought that was more a space for emphasis. That explains it then :-)
Exactly the same in Finnish also. I wonder if these words came from Swedish into Finnish, even though our languages share different ancestors. I imagine all these onions came a lot after the base Swedish / Finnish was already established.
What's the difference between "vitlök" and "vit lök"?
"vitlök" - garlic
"vit lök" - "white onion"
White onions does not exist.
We use white onions for Mexican food here in the US. I guess it's obscure enough that they aren't used in Europe. Not a huge taste difference between white and yellow onions.
Looks at his red onion cheese Quesadilla...
I thought it was Whateveronionyoualreadyhavecutinthefridge?
There's nothing wrong with using red onions. It's just not usually what the recipe calls for in Mexican dishes.
Many Mexican dishes are improved by adding pickled onions, and red onions are best for that. They make lovely pink brine with pink pickled onions.
Username really checks out.
Oh my God they do though!
Huh, I did not know that, thank you!
They are called silverlök, i believe
Ah, I did try to find that, but only had linuted time and didn't find it...
Thank you for telling me!
i mean there's silverlök, which is a very white-looking onion..
one is a word, the other is a word with a descriptor in front of it. like greenhouse vs green house, one means a building made of glass where you grow stuff, the other is a house painted the colour green.
rödlök*
Tack, gjorde kommentaren när jag var väligt trött
Du lukter skitgott, but not when you're eating vitlök, broder. (This is the extent of my swedish)
Allmost...
lukter is incorrect, it is luktar instead.
The other Swedish words are correct, even if we seldom use "skitgott", unless you are 5-10 years old or so.
The normal word is "jättegott"
I screw it up because I use it in both Norwegian and swedish. It's du lukter dritgodt in Norwegian. I generally forget how to properly spell "drag it to hell" between the two. And in my heart I'm 5-10.
as a västgöte i take deep offense to this, it's perfectly normal to say something is sketagôtt
Meh, I said that we seldom use it, not that we never do.
What about Shallots? Do they also have a lök name?
E: Nevermind, just saw your response below!
Do you mean to say there isn't garlic in Sweden??
They mean there is no white onion.
As I said, garlic is called "vitlök", not "vit lök"
"Vit lök" means "white onion", and does not exist
Given what you wrote, my question makes sense. Not sure why I was downvoted for a reasonable question.
Because I just explained it and even noted the spacing difference between "vitlök" and "vit lök"
You didn't explain it originally. You could have easily but you didn't. Apologies for being curious. I do know that most Swedes aren't jerks.
I try to not be a jerk, and this is what I wrote in my inital comment in this thread.
So yes, I did mention the spacing
No one said you didn't.
You did not define what it means with the space though, and you were kind of arrogant when I asked.
Not to mention it doesn't really make sense to say there is a term for something that doesn't exist. Which btw does exist. Most onions are white. So either get better at explaining or have patience with a question. I actually wanted to know. I intended to come across in a joking way because I obviously know garlic is used worldwide these days.
Your inital question was about us not having garlic in Sweden, when I litterarly wrote that in my inital post, hence the downvote, I even explained the difference the spacing makes in the reply to you.
Then you started whining about downvotes....
Whatever dude. I know what happened and I stand firm you're a jerk. Tagged as such, and I won't make the mistake with you again
Ps you are terrible at explanations and understanding another perspective
You're really taking this personally. Was your grandpappy an onion or something?
Genuine curiosity isn't something to shit on but whatever you're super hilarious
Passive aggressive whining absolutely is though.
What about unsolicited nosy opinions? Do I have your permission to dislike those?
You can dislike them but I'd perhaps avoid Internet discussion forums.