110: Swedish Culture

[Molly Cramer]

Something that I always find interesting about different cultures is what they deem to be polite and how they address each other respectfully, etc. I've probably already mentioned that Sweden is a very egalitarian country and so it would be uncommon in your workplace to call your boss Mr. or Mrs. because you would refer to them by their first names. In general people don't use the Swedish equivalents to ma'am, madam, sire, sir, miss, etc. because you are just much more likely to call someone by their name. That said, because I grew up in the states and we are taught to say please and thank you for everything, I found it interesting that Swedish has words for both please and thank you but that only thank you is ever used. A lot of times I find that my boyfriend and his family omit saying those words in general because it is assumed that if they are asking for something that they are doing it politely and are appreciative- so for them it would be unnecessary and redundant to say please and thank you. The word for please, as I said earlier, is never used. You could say "snälla" if you really wanted to but it's equated with begging in Sweden. A Swede is much more likely to say "thank you" at the end of a request rather than starting with the word please. So instead of saying "please, can you pass the bread?" or "can you please pass the bread", they would say "can you pass the bread, thanks?" And in fact, just like kids in the states are taught to say "please and thank you", Swedish children are taught to say the phrase "tack för maten" which means thanks for the food at the end of every meal and especially if someone else cooked for them or is picking up the check.