Thursday 19 March 2009

Hi in Swedish and Polish

To continue my obsession with Sweden I started to read more about Swedish. You see in Swedish hi is Tjéna. The way to say it: http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/2-2.wav

Informal and friendly. Actually an abbreviation of 17th and 18th century phrases like ‘Jag förbliver Eder ödmjukaste tjänare’ (I remain your most humble servant).

I really like this... I remain your most humble servant, it reminds me of old days, like a knight is a servant of his princess.

In Polish hi is "cześć", which means reverence. When you approach someone and tell them cześć what you in fact are saying is that you greet them but also that you respect them. It immediately creates trust, trust is a cornerstone of every relationship.

1 comment:

Krzysiek said...

I am in Sweden almost one year now and the only greating I have heard is something that sound like "hej, hej" in Polish. "hej" is correct, but in 95% cases they will say it 2 times :)