Swedish word of the day: möhippa
Today's word of the day is the Swedish word for a hen party, a party held for a bride-to-be by her friends shortly before her wedding. So, where does the word come from?
Möhippa is made up of two words. The first is mö, which can be translated as "maid" or "maiden" (i.e. an unmarried woman), "damsel" or "virgin".
A similar word to mö is jungfru, which translates literally to "young woman". Both mö and jungfru are archaic nowadays, but can still be seen in words such as fästmö ("fiancée", literally "attached-maiden") and sjöjungfru ("mermaid", literally "sea virgin").
You may also spot the word jungfru in the supermarket: extra virgin olive oil is extra jungfruolivolja in Swedish. The Virgin Mary is also a jungfru - she is referred to as jungfru Maria.
Although the words have the same meaning, they can't necessarily be used interchangeably. Swedes would be unlikely to understand who you were talking about if you referred to the little mermaid as a sjömö instead of a sjöjungfru, for example.
Mö is also the word for a young woman or virgin in Danish and Norwegian, which fans of the Danish musician MØ may already be aware of.
As for the second part of the word, hippa, this is an outdated term for a party often involving large amounts of alcohol. The etymology of hippa is slightly less clear, but it may come from the popular chant hipp hipp hurra! which is often shouted by guests at parties and other celebrations.
Historically, a möhippa was referred to as a mökväll ("maiden evening"). Möhippor have been celebrated in Sweden since as early as the 1500s, where they were held the night before the wedding. Originally, the bride-to-be was bathed and prepared for her wedding day by other young unmarried women from her village, where they could bid farewell to her unmarried life before she joined her husband's family the next day.
Möhippor seem to have always been a relatively alcohol-heavy event, to the extent that the Swedish church once felt the need to step in and try to ban the practice.
"The church wanted to ban mökvällar," Eva Knuts, doctor of ethnology at Gothenburg University told the Expressen newspaper.
According to Knuts, the wedding party often arrived at the church drunk and weren't able to behave during the ceremony as they had been partying all night. "The wedding happened just after the party, so they weren't very happy about it," she said.
Nowadays, möhippor in Sweden are less likely to involve the bride's friends giving them a bath, and more likely to involve them surprising her and whisking her away for party games - which do often still involve large amounts of alcohol. Luckily, they don't usually take place the day before the wedding anymore either, so the bridal party usually have time to sleep off their hangovers before the big day arrives.
Example sentences:
Vi ska ordna en möhippa för vår kompis som ska gifte sig i maj!
We're organising a hen party for our friend who is getting married in May!
Jag tror bara de ska ha ett litet bröllop så jag vet inte om hon förväntar sig en möhippa.
I think they're having a small wedding so I don't know if she is expecting a hen do.
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it – or join The Local as a member and get your copy for free.
It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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Möhippa is made up of two words. The first is mö, which can be translated as "maid" or "maiden" (i.e. an unmarried woman), "damsel" or "virgin".
A similar word to mö is jungfru, which translates literally to "young woman". Both mö and jungfru are archaic nowadays, but can still be seen in words such as fästmö ("fiancée", literally "attached-maiden") and sjöjungfru ("mermaid", literally "sea virgin").
You may also spot the word jungfru in the supermarket: extra virgin olive oil is extra jungfruolivolja in Swedish. The Virgin Mary is also a jungfru - she is referred to as jungfru Maria.
Although the words have the same meaning, they can't necessarily be used interchangeably. Swedes would be unlikely to understand who you were talking about if you referred to the little mermaid as a sjömö instead of a sjöjungfru, for example.
Mö is also the word for a young woman or virgin in Danish and Norwegian, which fans of the Danish musician MØ may already be aware of.
As for the second part of the word, hippa, this is an outdated term for a party often involving large amounts of alcohol. The etymology of hippa is slightly less clear, but it may come from the popular chant hipp hipp hurra! which is often shouted by guests at parties and other celebrations.
Historically, a möhippa was referred to as a mökväll ("maiden evening"). Möhippor have been celebrated in Sweden since as early as the 1500s, where they were held the night before the wedding. Originally, the bride-to-be was bathed and prepared for her wedding day by other young unmarried women from her village, where they could bid farewell to her unmarried life before she joined her husband's family the next day.
Möhippor seem to have always been a relatively alcohol-heavy event, to the extent that the Swedish church once felt the need to step in and try to ban the practice.
"The church wanted to ban mökvällar," Eva Knuts, doctor of ethnology at Gothenburg University told the Expressen newspaper.
According to Knuts, the wedding party often arrived at the church drunk and weren't able to behave during the ceremony as they had been partying all night. "The wedding happened just after the party, so they weren't very happy about it," she said.
Nowadays, möhippor in Sweden are less likely to involve the bride's friends giving them a bath, and more likely to involve them surprising her and whisking her away for party games - which do often still involve large amounts of alcohol. Luckily, they don't usually take place the day before the wedding anymore either, so the bridal party usually have time to sleep off their hangovers before the big day arrives.
Example sentences:
Vi ska ordna en möhippa för vår kompis som ska gifte sig i maj!
We're organising a hen party for our friend who is getting married in May!
Jag tror bara de ska ha ett litet bröllop så jag vet inte om hon förväntar sig en möhippa.
I think they're having a small wedding so I don't know if she is expecting a hen do.
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it – or join The Local as a member and get your copy for free.
It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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