Sunday, May 26, 2013

Forgetting while remembering

While working at the cabin, I couldn't find my water bottle.  I looked all around the cabin and a couple of workspots around it.  When I asked my wife if she had seen it, she pointed right at the bottle at another workspot, where I had been working most recently.  I immediately said "Tankspridd" which is Swedish for absent-minded.

Although I read a Swedish book or newspaper now and then and listen to a Swedish radio podcast, I haven't really used Swedish as a daily language since we lived in Sweden 1970-1974.  I think I've thought of the word "tankspridd" now and then, mostly in my own head.  Still, it was a bit startling that an older memory popped out while I had to dig for a more recent memory.

While double checking my translation, I came across Tankspriddas Riksförbund (National Association of the Absent-Minded). http://tankspridd.se/~/  According to this site, 99% of us are absent-minded.

Oh, yes!  Forget about the stereotype of the "dour Swede".  The Swedes have a very good sense of humor and tell lots of jokes and funny stories.