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B1Swedish·21 cards

Effective Communication Expressions

Idioms for making yourself understood in Swedish — gå rakt på sak, läsa mellan raderna, and the cat circling the hot porridge.

Talking about talking, in Swedish idiom: getting the point across versus talking past each other, the directness axis (gå rakt på sak versus the cat circling hot porridge), the floor mechanics (ha ordet, avbryta, turas om), the summarizing toolkit (kort sagt, sammanfattningsvis, lång historia kort) — and the failure state every meeting knows: vi kommer ingen vart.

Men performing traditional rituals with incense in vibrant cultural festival setting.
Photo: Saharsh Bejgum on Pexels
  1. 1

    att få fram sin poäng

    to get your point across

    Tip: 'få fram' = to get through or deliver

  2. 2

    att läsa mellan raderna

    to read between the lines

    Tip: identical image to English

  3. 3

    att tala samma språk

    to speak the same language (understand each other)

    Tip: figurative, exactly as in English — to be on the same page

  4. 4

    att prata förbi varandra

    to talk at cross purposes

    Tip: literally 'to talk past each other' — both talking, neither connecting

  5. 5

    att gå rakt på sak

    to cut to the chase

    Tip: literally 'to go straight to the matter'; extremely common and very Swedish

  6. 6

    att gå som katten kring het gröt

    to beat around the bush

    Tip: literally 'to walk like the cat around hot porridge' — one of the best-known Swedish idioms

  7. 7

    att ha ordet

    to have the floor

    Tip: literally 'to have the word'; 'ge någon ordet' is to hand over to someone

  8. 8

    att säga vad man tycker

    to speak your mind

    Tip: neutral in tone; Swedes often soften it with 'jag tycker nog att...'

  9. 9

    att avbryta någon

    to interrupt someone

    Tip: 'avbryta' = to break off; interrupting is treated as notably rude in Swedish meetings

  10. 10

    att turas om att prata

    to take turns speaking

    Tip: 'turas om' = to alternate, from 'tur' (turn)

  11. 11

    tonfall

    tone of voice

    Tip: literally 'tone fall'; 'hitta rätt ton' is to strike the right tone

  12. 12

    att hitta rätt ton

    to strike the right tone

    Tip: literally 'to find the right tone' — Swedish finds it where English strikes it

  13. 13

    att tappa tråden

    to lose the thread

    Tip: literally 'to drop the thread' — to lose your place in what you were saying

  14. 14

    att lyssna aktivt

    to listen actively

    Tip: in Swedish conversation, listening is signalled with 'mm' and 'javisst'

  15. 15

    att fatta sig kort

    to keep it brief

    Tip: literally 'to grasp oneself short'; the imperative 'fatta dig kort!' means get to the point

  16. 16

    kort sagt

    to put it in a nutshell

    Tip: literally 'short said'; opens a one-line summary

  17. 17

    sammanfattningsvis

    in summary

    Tip: the standard discourse marker opening a closing summary; the verb is 'att sammanfatta'

  18. 18

    för att göra en lång historia kort

    to make a long story short

    Tip: a direct parallel to the English phrase

  19. 19

    det säger sig självt

    it goes without saying

    Tip: literally 'it says itself'

  20. 20

    att ha sista ordet

    to have the last word

    Tip: same construction as 'ha ordet', with 'sista' added

  21. 21

    vi kommer ingen vart

    we're not getting anywhere

    Tip: 'ingen vart' = nowhere; said when a discussion is stuck