Swedish word of the day: värme

Today's word doesn't mean quite what English-speakers tend to think it does.

Swedes are known for their understated modes of expression, both facially and linguistically. On the language front, that can show up not only in word choice but also in how words are used, and the word värme is perhaps a perfect example.

It's one of those confusing ones for English speakers because not only does it look very similar to the English word "warm" (and is etymologically related to it), it also almost means the same thing. Almost.

The difference is one of intensity. In Swedish, the noun värme (often used in its definite form, värmen ), means "heat," not "warmth." So "to lower the heat" in your home is att sänka värmen and a "heatwave" is värmebölja .

The related adjective varm , technically means "warm," but in common colloquial usage generally means "hot". The adjective het , which is cognate with the English "hot," would not, for example, be used when referring to food served hot, in Swedish, that would be varm mat . If food is described as het in Swedish, that means either that it's spicy (you can also say stark to refer to spicy food), or that it's hot in an abnormal or unpleasant way.

So as summers in Europe are set to get hotter and hotter, don't mistake the Swedish word värmen for something pleasant or tepid. It's more likely to mean dripping with heat.

I Sydeuropa råder värmebölja där det på vissa håll varit över 40 grader.

Southern Europe is experiencing a heat wave where temperatures have been above 40 degrees in some places .