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B2Swedish·47 cards

Workplace Slang

What Swedes call the boss, the pay and the Monday feeling when nobody official is listening.

How Swedes actually talk about work when HR isn't listening: jobs good and bad, money words (stålar, deg, kosingen), the office fauna from fjäskare to högsta hönset, meeting misery, pandemic-era classics (du är mutad), and the sacred rituals — fika, AW, julbordet. Spoken register throughout; use with colleagues, not in the personligt brev.

Close-up of wooden letters spelling 'blah', arranged on a black background, offering a conceptual design with copy space.
Photo: Ann H on Pexels
  1. 1

    ett extraknäck

    a side job

    Tip: casual, universal

  2. 2

    jobba svart

    to work cash-in-hand

    Tip: casual; illegal, everyone knows the phrase

  3. 3

    ett gig

    a gig

    Tip: youth, casual; English loan

  4. 4

    sommarjobb

    a summer job

    Tip: neutral; a rite of passage at 16

  5. 5

    ett skitjobb

    a rubbish job

    Tip: casual, mildly vulgar

  6. 6

    drömjobbet

    the dream job

    Tip: neutral-casual

  7. 7

    slita

    to slog away

    Tip: casual; 'slita och släpa'

  8. 8

    övertid

    overtime

    Tip: neutral-casual

  9. 9

    få sparken

    to get the sack

    Tip: casual; lit. 'get the kick'

  10. 10

    åka ut på dagen

    to be out the same day

    Tip: casual

  11. 11

    säga upp sig

    to hand in your notice

    Tip: neutral-casual

  12. 12

    stålar

    money

    Tip: casual, all ages

  13. 13

    deg

    cash

    Tip: youth, casual; lit. 'dough'

  14. 14

    kosingen

    the pay

    Tip: casual, slightly dated but alive

  15. 15

    pank

    skint

    Tip: casual

  16. 16

    arbetskompis

    a workmate

    Tip: casual, friendly

  17. 17

    en polare på jobbet

    a colleague you like

    Tip: casual; 'polare' is a mate

  18. 18

    gänget

    the team

    Tip: casual; lit. 'the gang'

  19. 19

    en vik

    a temp

    Tip: casual; short for vikarie

  20. 20

    fjäska

    to suck up to the boss

    Tip: casual, disapproving

  21. 21

    en fjäskare

    a brown-noser

    Tip: casual, disapproving

  22. 22

    högsta hönset

    the boss upstairs

    Tip: casual, teasing; lit. 'the highest hen'

  23. 23

    en arbetsnarkoman

    a workaholic

    Tip: casual, half-admiring

  24. 24

    utbränd

    burnt out

    Tip: neutral; a serious and common word in Sweden

  25. 25

    måndagskänsla

    the Monday feeling

    Tip: casual

  26. 26

    äntligen fredag

    thank God it's Friday

    Tip: casual

  27. 27

    fika

    the coffee break

    Tip: neutral; the institution, not just a word

  28. 28

    smita

    to skive off

    Tip: casual

  29. 29

    huvudkontoret

    the head office

    Tip: neutral-casual; often said with an eye-roll

  30. 30

    kontorspolitik

    office politics

    Tip: casual, disapproving

  31. 31

    ett onödigt möte

    a pointless meeting

    Tip: casual

  32. 32

    mötesträsket

    death by meetings

    Tip: casual; lit. 'the meeting swamp'

  33. 33

    en snabb avstämning

    a quick catch-up

    Tip: neutral-casual

  34. 34

    vara nerlusad med jobb

    to be swamped

    Tip: casual; lit. 'be louse-infested with work'

  35. 35

    släcka bränder

    to firefight

    Tip: casual; lit. 'put out fires'

  36. 36

    en snabbfix

    a quick fix

    Tip: casual

  37. 37

    köra på känsla

    to wing it

    Tip: casual; lit. 'go on feeling'

  38. 38

    träffa mitt i prick

    to nail it

    Tip: casual

  39. 39

    missa bollen

    to drop the ball

    Tip: casual

  40. 40

    täcka upp för någon

    to cover for someone

    Tip: neutral-casual

  41. 41

    vabba eller sjukanmäla sig

    to be off sick

    Tip: casual; the two Swedish reasons

  42. 42

    hemmajobb

    working from home

    Tip: casual

  43. 43

    kameran av

    camera off

    Tip: casual

  44. 44

    du är mutad

    you're on mute

    Tip: casual; the phrase of the decade

  45. 45

    AW

    an after-work drink

    Tip: casual; 'after work' shortened, a Swedish institution

  46. 46

    julbordet på jobbet

    the Christmas party

    Tip: casual; approach with care

  47. 47

    stämpla ut

    clocking off

    Tip: casual; lit. 'stamp out'