Swedish word of the day: svensexa

The word for a stag do in Swedish is svensexa, which has a similar etymology to the female equivalent, möhippa.

The first part of the word, sven, is a common male name which was used archaically to describe a young unmarried man or a bachelor. Nowadays, you are more likely to hear the word ungkarl to describe an unmarried man, seen in the term ungkarlslya ("bachelor pad").

You may be thinking that the second half of the word, sexa, has something to do with sexual intercourse. However, the real meaning behind the word is much more innocent.

A sexa is a slightly outdated term for a party. A sexa was traditionally a light celebratory dinner which started at 6pm or klockan sex - hence the name. An event starting later than 6pm could confusingly be referred to as a nattsexa ("night sixer").

One place - besides in the term svensexa - where the word sexa is still used is at Swedish universities, where it can mean an informal meal or a quick meal eaten by staff after event guests have gone home. Often, this kind of sexa takes place closer to 6am.

Unlike hen nights or möhippor, which started as a tradition in the Swedish farming community in the 1500s, svensexor are a more middle-class tradition which originated in cities in the 1600s. In svensexor during the 1800s, men dressed up in white tie - the most formal type of suit - and went out to bars and restaurants in order to consume a large amount of alcohol.

During the 1900s, middle-class women planning möhippor became jealous of the svensexa tradition, and began to incorporate some aspects of it into their hen party celebrations.

"At the beginning of the 1900s, women dressed up as men in black tie at möhippor," Eva Knuts told newspaper Expressen. "They drank coffee, ate cake and maybe drank a glass of sherry."

"It was highly-educated women and artists who thought it was unfair that the phenomenon was for men only. It was about getting dressed up and kidnapping the bride," Knuts explained.

Around the 1960s and 70s, svensexor began to include party games for the groom: at King Carl XVI Gustaf's svensexa in 1976, guests dressed up as vikings and competed against each other - although the party games at his stag do were relatively tame, according to Expressen.

Nowadays, men attending a stag do in Sweden are likely to "drink whiskey, play golf, and maybe go out in the evening," wedding planner Katarina Krzyzinksa told Expressen. 

One thing has remained constant since the 1500s: both svensexor and möhippor are still a way for a bride or groom to celebrate their upcoming rituals and bid farewell to unmarried life alongside friends and family.

Swedish vocabulary:

Vi önskar oss en gemensam möhippa och svensexa.

We want a joint hen and stag do.

Min svensexa var fantastisk, vi åkte skidor i Italien.

My stag do was fantastic, we went skiing in Italy.