die dummen Schweden

Swedish

Alternative forms

• Die dummen Schweden

Etymology

Pseudo-Germanism, derived from die (“the”) +‎ dummen (“dumb, stupid”) +‎ Schweden (“Swedes”).

Debated origin:

• Possibly from the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) when Swedish soldiers from the countryside where accommodated in German cities, and were there easy targets for local tricksters, fraudsters and swindlers.
• Possibly derived from Hungarian buta svábok (“dumb Swabian”), in German die dummen Schwaben (“the dumb Swabians”), about a German-speaking minority living in southern Hungary from the 18th century to 20th century, who allegedly had limited proficiency in the local language. Later distorted in Swedish to die dummen Schweden.

Cognate with Danish die Dummen Dänen (literally “the dumb Danes”).

Phrase

die dummen Schweden

1. An alleged German idiom that portray Swedes as gullible or naive.
   • 1865 June 19, “Lotterihumbug [Lottery Humbug]”, in Dagens Nyheter, number 140, page 2:

     Kroken är grof; men "die dummen Schweden" nappa villigt.

     The hook is crude, but the foolish Swedes take the bait eagerly.

   • 2019 May 23, Tina Gustafsson, “En rak "lönekarriär" frigör polisresurser! [A straightforward "salary career" frees up police resources!]”, in Blåljus:

     Den tyska polisen kommenterar vårt svenska i-lönesystem med det klassiska citatet " die dummen Schweden" – "de dumma svenskarna".

     The German police comment on our Swedish individual salary system with the classic quote "die dummen Schweden" – "the stupid Swedes".

   • 2024 August 2, Tove Lifvendahl, “Transportstyrelsen har varit naiv igen [The Transport Agency has been naive again.]”, in Svenska Dagbladet (editorial):

     Det råder skilda meningar huruvida uttrycket ”Die dummen Schweden” är en faktoid eller inte. Klart är i alla fall att vi gör vad vi kan för att ge fog för tillmälet.

     There are differing opinions on whether the expression "Die dummen Schweden" is a factoid or not. What is clear, however, is that we are doing our best to justify the label.

See also

• German: alter Schwede (“old chap”, literally “old Swede”)