Swedish word of the day: snus
There are fewer things more Swedish than snus, the small nicotine pouches wedged under the lips of one in seven Swedes. But where does the word snus actually come from?
Snus originally started out as a variant of snuff, finely ground or powdered tobacco leaves which are snorted or sniffed into the nose.
It has been popular in Sweden since at least the mid-1500s. Originally used by the upper classes, farmers began growing their own tobacco around the 1600s, with the practice becoming even more widespread after King Fredrik I encouraged Swedes to increase their tobacco production.
This homegrown tobacco was mixed with salt and water to make loose snus (lössnus) which was rolled between the fingers into a ball and placed under the upper lip.
Nowadays, the word snus usually refers to the small pouches (portionssnus), as these are more popular, but it is still possible to buy lössnus sold in tins as a moist powder. Dry powdered snus designed for sniffing is known as torrsnus or luktsnus ("dry-" or "smell-snus").
The pouches can be bought in original or white portions. Original pouches are pre-moistened while white ones are dry, and there are also variants of snus which don’t contain tobacco, often marketed as "nicotine pouches".
Snus is similar to other tobacco products such as American-style dipping or chewing tobacco and central Asian naswar, although snus is pasteurised and placed in the upper lip while these types of tobacco are placed in the lower lip and often cause increased saliva production, meaning users need to spit regularly.
Snus pouches – known as a prilla – come packaged in a tin or snusdosa, with a roll of multiple tins (usually ten) referred to as a stock, literally translating as a "log". Most tins have a small compartment in the lid which can be used to store used pouches before they are disposed of.
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The majority of snus is made by Swedish Match, a company which emerged out of the country’s former state-owned tobacco monopoly, Svenska Tobaksmonopolet, originally founded in 1915 and abolished in the 1960s.
Although Swedish Match still makes matches, most of the company’s profit comes from tobacco products like snus in the US and Scandinavia – Swedish Match sold 277 million tins of snus in Sweden and Norway in 2021.
The word snus comes from the verb att snusa, which is related to snut, a word which originally meant “snout” or “mouth”, but is now a slang term for a police officer.
Snusa can mean sleeping or snoring lightly – similar to snooze in English – or it can refer to sniffing, which is probably where the word snus for tobacco pouches came from. You can also use it to refer to the act of using snus.
You’ll also see snus used in compound words and phrases, like snustorr (extremely dry, literally: dry as snus) and fint som snus (literally: as fine as snus, used to describe something good) and snusförnuftig, which literally translates to "snus-sensible", but refers to someone who is a bit of a know-it-all.
It’s difficult to get hold of snus outside of Sweden – it’s illegal throughout the rest of the EU, although tobacco-free snus is available in some countries. Fans of English football may be surprised to hear that usage of snus is apparently widespread among top players, with some players calling for it to be banned.
This may seem bizarre to Swedes – snus is extremely normalised here and is used by one in seven Swedes.
According to the government, snus has helped slash the number of smokers from 15 percent of the population in 2005 to 5.2 percent last year, a record low in Europe. Having said that, its growing popularity, especially among young women and non-smokers, is not uncontroversial.
It’s such an important part of Swedish culture that the country’s membership of the EU in 1995 was conditional on securing the right to continue to produce and sell snus within Sweden, despite it being banned in the EU since 1992.
It even features in Pippi Longstocking – she suggests to her friends Tommy and Annika that they write utan snus i två dagar försmäktar vi på denna ö ("without snus for two days we will perish on this island") in a message in a bottle when pretending to be shipwrecked on a desert island.
Example sentences
Den snustorra sommaren förra året var katastrofalt för svensk jordbruk.
The snuff-dry summer last year was catastrophic for Swedish agriculture.
"Kan man köpa snus i utlandet?" "Är det inte dags att sluta snusa om du inte kan klara en vecka utan?"
"Can you buy snus abroad?" "Isn't it time to stop using snus if you can't manage a week without it?"
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. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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Snus originally started out as a variant of snuff, finely ground or powdered tobacco leaves which are snorted or sniffed into the nose.
It has been popular in Sweden since at least the mid-1500s. Originally used by the upper classes, farmers began growing their own tobacco around the 1600s, with the practice becoming even more widespread after King Fredrik I encouraged Swedes to increase their tobacco production.
This homegrown tobacco was mixed with salt and water to make loose snus (lössnus) which was rolled between the fingers into a ball and placed under the upper lip.
Nowadays, the word snus usually refers to the small pouches (portionssnus), as these are more popular, but it is still possible to buy lössnus sold in tins as a moist powder. Dry powdered snus designed for sniffing is known as torrsnus or luktsnus ("dry-" or "smell-snus").
The pouches can be bought in original or white portions. Original pouches are pre-moistened while white ones are dry, and there are also variants of snus which don’t contain tobacco, often marketed as "nicotine pouches".
Snus is similar to other tobacco products such as American-style dipping or chewing tobacco and central Asian naswar, although snus is pasteurised and placed in the upper lip while these types of tobacco are placed in the lower lip and often cause increased saliva production, meaning users need to spit regularly.
Snus pouches – known as a prilla – come packaged in a tin or snusdosa, with a roll of multiple tins (usually ten) referred to as a stock, literally translating as a "log". Most tins have a small compartment in the lid which can be used to store used pouches before they are disposed of.
-
Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button
The majority of snus is made by Swedish Match, a company which emerged out of the country’s former state-owned tobacco monopoly, Svenska Tobaksmonopolet, originally founded in 1915 and abolished in the 1960s.
Although Swedish Match still makes matches, most of the company’s profit comes from tobacco products like snus in the US and Scandinavia – Swedish Match sold 277 million tins of snus in Sweden and Norway in 2021.
The word snus comes from the verb att snusa, which is related to snut, a word which originally meant “snout” or “mouth”, but is now a slang term for a police officer.
Snusa can mean sleeping or snoring lightly – similar to snooze in English – or it can refer to sniffing, which is probably where the word snus for tobacco pouches came from. You can also use it to refer to the act of using snus.
You’ll also see snus used in compound words and phrases, like snustorr (extremely dry, literally: dry as snus) and fint som snus (literally: as fine as snus, used to describe something good) and snusförnuftig, which literally translates to "snus-sensible", but refers to someone who is a bit of a know-it-all.
It’s difficult to get hold of snus outside of Sweden – it’s illegal throughout the rest of the EU, although tobacco-free snus is available in some countries. Fans of English football may be surprised to hear that usage of snus is apparently widespread among top players, with some players calling for it to be banned.
This may seem bizarre to Swedes – snus is extremely normalised here and is used by one in seven Swedes.
According to the government, snus has helped slash the number of smokers from 15 percent of the population in 2005 to 5.2 percent last year, a record low in Europe. Having said that, its growing popularity, especially among young women and non-smokers, is not uncontroversial.
It’s such an important part of Swedish culture that the country’s membership of the EU in 1995 was conditional on securing the right to continue to produce and sell snus within Sweden, despite it being banned in the EU since 1992.
It even features in Pippi Longstocking – she suggests to her friends Tommy and Annika that they write utan snus i två dagar försmäktar vi på denna ö ("without snus for two days we will perish on this island") in a message in a bottle when pretending to be shipwrecked on a desert island.
Example sentences
Den snustorra sommaren förra året var katastrofalt för svensk jordbruk.
The snuff-dry summer last year was catastrophic for Swedish agriculture.
"Kan man köpa snus i utlandet?" "Är det inte dags att sluta snusa om du inte kan klara en vecka utan?"
"Can you buy snus abroad?" "Isn't it time to stop using snus if you can't manage a week without it?"
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. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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