Swedish food idioms: pancakes, butter and soup from a nail

Food is a rich source of Swedish idioms. Pancakes, butter, salt and soup turn up in everyday speech, and the images are easy to remember. Each entry gives the literal translation first, then the meaning you will hear, the nearest English phrase and an example. For the food habits behind some of them, see fika and the café.

These are informal expressions. Check the example sentences with a Swedish speaker before you rely on them in formal writing.

Quick reference

Lätt som en plätt

• Literal: "Easy as a pancake." A plätt is a thin Swedish pancake, and the phrase works because it rhymes.
• Meaning: Very easy to do.
• English equivalent: Easy as pie. A piece of cake.
• Example: Provet var lätt som en plätt. (The exam was a piece of cake.)

Det går som smort

• Literal: "It goes as if it was buttered."
• Meaning: Something proceeds without any trouble, like a well-oiled machine.
• English equivalent: It goes like clockwork. It is plain sailing.
• Example: Projektet gick som smort från början till slut. (The project went like clockwork from start to finish.)

Smöra för någon

• Literal: "To butter someone."
• Meaning: To flatter someone to get something from them.
• English equivalent: To butter someone up.
• Example: Han smörar för chefen för att få ledigt. (He is buttering up the boss to get time off.)

Koka soppa på en spik

• Literal: "To cook soup from a nail."
• Meaning: To make a meal, or any result, out of almost nothing. It can be praise for resourcefulness, or a complaint when someone has little to work with.
• English equivalent: To make something out of nothing. To make do.
• Example: Hon kan koka soppa på en spik. (She can make something from nothing.)

The phrase comes from a folk tale about a traveller who tricks a household into giving him everything for a soup, by claiming that a nail makes a delicious one.

Ta något med en nypa salt

• Literal: "To take something with a pinch of salt."
• Meaning: To be sceptical about a claim.
• English equivalent: To take something with a pinch of salt.
• Example: Du ska ta nyheterna med en nypa salt. (You should take the news with a pinch of salt.)

Swedish and English share this idiom almost word for word.

Using these well

• Keep the nouns. The rhyme of lätt som en plätt is half the point, so do not swap the pancake for another word.
• Mind the preposition. With smöra you say för (smöra för någon), not till or åt.
• Know the register. Lätt som en plätt is casual, and ta med en nypa salt works in any setting.

Practice

For more everyday idioms, see everyday Swedish idioms.