Languages are interesting. It shows how different interest areas are valued higher in some languages than others. Take "mushrooms", for example. Yes, of course there are different names of the mushrooms in the English language, but I find that it's only the gourmet lovers who actually use the different type of words. For most people, a mushroom is a mushroom! Ah ah. Not for a Swede. We would never go to a store and ask to buy "mushrooms". That's like going into a candy store asking for "candy". There are so many kinds to choose from!
Swedes are nature lovers, and one thing we love to do while out in the nature is to pick "mushrooms" (or blueberries, lingonberries etc). It's a big hobby. Many fanatics find their favourite spot in the woods to come back to year after year. And if you do find your gold mind (the chanterells are called "the gold of the forests") you don't tell anyone! Keep it a secret, so you can enjoy your variety of mushrooms to yourself!
Time to harvest the wild delicacies is from later summer until frost. That's now! So here are some vocabulary for you:
- Plocka svamp - pick mushroom
- Lingon - lingonberry (Ikea sells this jam all over the world if you haven't tried it and if you don't live in Sweden)
- Vilse - lost
- Svampställe - favourite place for your mushroom picking
- Champinjon - champignon (or common mushroom)
- Kantarell - chanterell
- Karljohanssvamp - king bolete, or cepe
- Flugsvamp - death cap/fly agaric (non-edible)
