[Image description: a perfectly round peeled bulb of garlic on a cutting board, with unpeeled normal cloves behind it.]

    • stoy@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      33
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      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”

      • Skua@kbin.earth
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        30
        ·
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        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

        • AlotOfReading@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          3 months ago

          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.

          • Skua@kbin.earth
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            3 months ago

            Ahh, I think I was misled by reading Canis familiaris. Thanks for the correction

      • mommykink@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        i love swedish. i drive an old volvo every day and frequently end up on weird SE-language forums as a result.

          • viking@infosec.pub
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            edit-2
            3 months ago

            Yes, hvitløk = vitlök in Swedish. It’s the same word really (the h is silent), and ø (Norwegian, Danish) = ö (Swedish, Finnish, German).

            • stoy@lemmy.zip
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              3 months ago

              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

        • stoy@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          3 months ago

          “vitlök” - garlic

          “vit lök” - “white onion”

          White onions does not exist.

        • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          3 months ago

          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.

      • vaionko@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        3 months ago

        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.

            • stoy@lemmy.zip
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              3 months ago

              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”

              • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                3 months ago

                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.

      • HonkyTonkWoman@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        What about Shallots? Do they also have a lök name?

        E: Nevermind, just saw your response below!

      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        3 months ago

        We never talk about “vit lök”, it doesn’t really exist as a concept in Swedish,

        Do you mean to say there isn’t garlic in Sweden??

        • stoy@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          3 months ago

          As I said, garlic is called “vitlök”, not “vit lök”

          “Vit lök” means “white onion”, and does not exist

          • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            3 months ago

            Given what you wrote, my question makes sense. Not sure why I was downvoted for a reasonable question.

            • stoy@lemmy.zip
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              4
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              3 months ago

              Because I just explained it and even noted the spacing difference between “vitlök” and “vit lök”

              • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                6
                ·
                3 months ago

                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.

                • stoy@lemmy.zip
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  3 months ago

                  I try to not be a jerk, and this is what I wrote in my inital comment in this thread.

                  we group onions and garlic together by using the word “lök” with a color and different spacing to differentiate them:

                  So yes, I did mention the spacing

                  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    arrow-down
                    3
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    3 months ago

                    No one said you didn’t.

                    “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”…

                    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.