'Ogooglebar' ... and 14 Other Swedish Words We Should Incorporate Into English Immediately

Köttrymd! In other words, everything's better in Swedish. (Oliver Hoffman/Shutterstock)

Today brought the news that Google has officially objected to one of the best words that has ever graced this planet: ogooglebar, which translates -- if such a glorious word must be subjugated to the indignities of translation -- to "ungoogleable."

That the wondrous word is Swedish is unsurprising. Many of the world's most delightful expressions, it seems -- among them smörgåsbord, sliddersladder ("gossip"), and kackerlacka ("cockroach") -- are, indeed, Swedish in origin. The North Germanic language has not only given us the pragmatic pronoun "hen"; it has also offered up highly useful expressions for people and circumstances like "ugly parkers," "attitude incontinence," and "tree murder." Some of these offerings even have umlauts.

Swedish, adding to all the awesomeness, has proven especially adept at coining new words for the new circumstances occasioned by new technologies. Below, some of the best Swedologisms I could find, via the Swedish news site The Local. We should, obviously, incorporate them into English as soon as possible.

1. Bloggbävning, n.
Definition: Literally translating to "blogquake," the word describes the process by which a topic explodes in the blogosphere and is then picked up by more mainstream media outlets.
Used in an English sentence: "Man, that 'ogooglebar' thing really caused a bloggbävning today."

2. Livslogga, v.
Definition: Literally translating to "life log," the word refers to continually documenting one's life in pictures.
Used in an English sentence: "I know my Instagram is full of retro-looking pictures of salads, but what can I say? It's fun to livslogga."

3. Ogooglebar, adj.
Definition: Literally meaning "ungoogleable," the term is used to describe someone or something that doesn't show up in Google results.
Used in an English sentence: "I'm going on a date tonight, but he's totally ogooglebar! What are the odds he's an axe murderer?"

4. Nomofob, n.
Definition: A person who feels anxious at the very thought of being separated from his or her mobile phone. (Adapted from the clunky English "no mobile phone phobia.")
Used in an English sentence: "I'd love to go swimming, but I can't be in the water for very long -- I'm sort of a nomofob."

5. Fulparkerare, n.
Definition: Literally translating to "ugly parker," the word describes someone who parks his or her car in a particularly egregious or unlawful manner.
Used in an English sentence: "Whoa, did you really just double-park? Come on, don't be a fulparkerare."

6. Mobildagis, n.
Definition: Literally meaning "mobile phone daycare," the term describes a place -- often in or near schools -- where mobile phones are stored.
Used in an English sentenc: "While you're in class, you can keep your phone at the mobildagis."

7. Appa, v.
Definition: Literally, "to app": to solve a problem using a mobile phone app
Used in an English sentence: "How can I keep track of how many steps I take in a day? Is there a way to appa it?"

8. Padda, n.
Definition: a nickname for someone's iPad or tablet computer
Used in an English sentence: "Are you bringing your padda on the trip?"

9. Terja, v.
Definition: To manipulate a photograph. The term gets its name from the nature photographer Terje Hellesø, who confessed to manipulating his award-winning photos of animals.
Used in an English sentence: "Wow, that's a gorgeous photo. I can't believe it's not Terja'ed!"

10. Trädmord, n.
Definition: Literally translating to "tree murder," the term increased in usage in 2011, after several trees near Stockholm were either damaged or poisoned, causing them to die. Can be adopted, however, to describe excessive and/or wasteful use of paper and packaging.
Used in an English sentence: "Hey, guys, whose 80-page article is on the printer? Trädmord!"

11. Attitydinkontinens, n.
Definition: Literally meaning "attitude incontinence," the term describes the inability to keep one's opinions to oneself
Used in an English sentence: "Sorry for that long comment I left on your post just now. I guess I had a temporary case of attitydinkontinens."

12. Flipperförälder, n.
Definition: Literally meaning "pinball parent," the term describes a parent who's the opposite of a helicopter parent -- who lets his or her kids have freedom. (It refers to the ball's tendency, in a pinball game, to bounce around the board after it's been let loose.) Can also, in translation, refer to a parent who lets his or her kids loose on the Internet, without parental controls.
Used in an English sentence: "Of course I let Bobby have his own Facebook account. I'm trying to be a flipperförälder."

13. Åsiktstaliban, n.
Definition: Literally "opinion Taliban," the term refers to someone or a group of someones who tolerate only one opinion on a given issue. (In translation, might also refer more generally to "trolls.")
Used in an English sentence: "Word to the wise: Don't read the comments right now. They're full of Åsiktstaliban."

14. Nakenchock, n.
Definition: Literally "naked shock," the term could refers to the shock you get when clicking on a link that leads you, unsuspectingly, to images of people who are less than clothed. The other side of NSFW.
Used in an English sentence: "Don't click that link! You'll get a nakenchock."

15. Köttrymd, n.
Definition: A derivation of the English "meatspace," the term refers to the entirety of the non-digital world.
Used in an English sentence: "Thanks for reading! Now I'm signing off -- going to see what's going on in Köttrymd."

About the Author

Megan Garber is a staff writer at The Atlantic, covering culture.

Americans don’t realize how fast the country is moving toward becoming a better version of itself.

I have seen the future, and it is in the United States.

After a several-year immersion in parts of the country that make the news mainly after a natural disaster or a shooting, or for follow-up stories on how the Donald Trump voters of 2016 now feel about Trump, I have a journalistic impulse similar to the one that dominated my years of living in China. That is the desire to tell people how much more is going on, in places they had barely thought about or even heard of, than they might have imagined.

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In the case of China, that impulse matched the mood of the times. In the years before and after the world financial crisis of 2008, everyone knew that China was on the way up; reporters like me were just filling in the details. In the case of the modern United States, I am well aware that this message runs so counter to prevailing emotions and ideas as to seem preposterous. Everyone knows how genuinely troubled the United States is at the level of national politics and governance. It is natural to assume that these disorders must reflect a deeper rot across the country. And indeed, you can’t travel extensively through today’s America, as my wife, Deb, and I have been doing in recent years, without being exposed to signs of rot, from opioid addiction to calcifying class barriers.