#i just called my sister’s cat a ‘fluffy odjur’ so that’s why it came to mind

[imsorryimlate]

one of my favourite swedish words is “odjur”, which basically means a beast or a monster, but has also become something of an (old-fashioned) insult. because it literally means “not-animal”, and i love the idea of being pissed at someone and being like “you are NOT an animal!” because it seems quite opposite of what you’d say in english.

i haven’t studied the etymology too closely but it makes sense, if you consider animals to be the natural state of things, even humans are animals, so to refer to someone monstrous you’d say that they are not natural like an animal, they are something outside of it, like an abomination.

oh and in more modern times, it has kinda gone from being a proper insult to something you could affectionately call a pet or a child, especially an unruly one, just like “skitunge” (literally “shit child”) has become affectionate rather than an insult.