Johnson

Based on experience I've always tried to introduce "round on his feet" there are so many kennings and euphemisms for being drunk that its not much of a stretch and for those of us with friends who stagger when drunk its use is self apparent.

Don't anglophones use "thorn in my side" to mean annoying though? Holding my thumb is going to be a tough sell, who else other than Swedes holds their thumbs for luck?

Not to be the one who's the one, but shouldn't it be SweNglish?

As long as you do not incorporate the Swedish commonly used proverb "Evil gunpowder does not perish easily" into English ("Ont krut förgås inte så lätt").

It is is a Swedish trainwreck of a misunderstanding from the German proverb "Unkraut vergeht nicht" ("Ill weeds go apace.").

what came first - the birds or the flies?...does anyone know? i want to know!

@Colionalist: the Germans "press their thumbs" which is almost there. Some friends here told me that crossing fingers was a hex or something like that... Whatever it is, I'm not doing it anymore

I've seen "holding my thumbs" used in English before for hoping for luck -- it was frequently used in Noah Streatfeild's children's books, for example. So that's not really Sweglish, just a now-less-common English term that has maintained currency elsewhere.

From my experience as a Brit at the European Commission I can add the following:

Actions = steps
Comitology = committee procedure
Concours = selection procedure
Fiche = file
Vademecum = handbook
Corringendum = correction
The responsible = person responsible, or simply 'responsible'

"We Care About the Small People" by BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg did not translate too well ('den lilla människan' = 'average citizen').

The French get all upset when you talk about a "Walkman" it must be a "Baladere".

This is the reason English is dominant and French is moribund - it's freedom to express yourself whatever the hell way you want. Although English does have its share of prissy morons that complain about apostrophes and spelling but they are mostly confined to places like Tunbrige Wells, or Chipping Norton.

For instance, if you watch "The Wire" you will hear English butchered to an extent to make it barely intelligible to the denizens of the Cotswolds. Despite this, it is pure street poetry.

Isn't it idioms, rather than expressions that you talk about?

You might want to add that it is a bulls' horn, not the kind found in cars. Always serves to be lucent...

A few of my favorites are these:

"Other buns" - someone brings other buns when that someone brings about a radical change of some kind (we swedes are very fond of our buns!).

"Duck pond" - when rational decision making and processes in a group are hampered by loyalties and personal interests.

"A drop in the ocean" - when something is of very little importance with respect taken to that to which it relates.

"To make a hen out of a feather" - to make something seem bigger or more complicated than it is, to exaggerate its importance.

"To have a bun in the oven" - (once again a case of our love for buns) to be pregnant.

"The Interest Club makes a note" - ironic reply used when somebody tells you about something of which you have no interest.

"To exit the ashes, only to enter the fire" - to go from something bad, and end up in something worse.

"To have meat on ones bones" - to come prepared.

"To pick the raisin from the cake" - to only take the good parts, while leaving the rest.

"Like the devil reads the bible" - to misguide someone about something on purpose.

"To drop ones' chin" - to look surprised.

As children, we brits (or scots at least) would either have our thumbs up or hold our thumbs for immunity from tag. This was called 'bees', as in 'Bees up!'

Love that ruthless Swedish logic - why indeed would you kill two birds with one stone? Makes no sense! I will switch immediately!

Excellent examples! However, we usually say "Swenglish" instead of "Sweglish".

Incidentally, a non-paper is actually diplomatic jargon, not some sort of mistranslation or poor word choice. (Well, it may be a poorly chosen phrase, but it is an official one nonetheless) A non-paper is just an unofficial proposal - something a government (usually) is working from without being stuck to, or suggesting without attribution, usually to frame a conversation.

But I love these sorts of strange phrasings, literal translations, and malapropisms... great comments as well.

Continuing on the walkman example in French, in Sweden the device are - literally - called a "freestyle". I.e. using an English word that, at least to my knowledge, is unused for this purpose outside Sweden.

I wonder if this was originally an attempt in the anglophone world to create a non-trademark word for the devices which only stuck in Sweden, or if it is an example of the not uncommon tendency in Sweden to use cool-sounding English words regardless of how much sense they make.

I like the UK "legless" for drunk.

@Peter Liljenberg Well, Germans use "Handy" for mobile phone, so it's not just Swedes...

"To drop ones' chin" makes sense in Portuguese too, with the same meaning - to surprise.

As to the flies x birds controversy, in Brazil and Portugal people talk of "matar dois coelhos de uma cajadada" - to kill two rabbits with one strike of the "cajado", the shepherd's staff.

I guess Portuguese shepherds would consider killing two rabbits with one whack a crude measure of efficiency, but as we go around Europe the poor animals sacrificed for the sake of a metaphor are getting bigger and bigger.

As to the "not uncommon tendency in Sweden to use cool-sounding English words regardless of how much sense they make", I'm sure it is not only in Sweden, it's worldwide (no matter how hard the French try to resist).

There are books about Japanglish and Spanglish. And Brazilenglish is going strong too, with some particularly hilarious results in fashion, advertising and marketing.

Sorry for not quoting the commenters I was replying to, @Epistemology and @Peter Liljenberg