English Translation
Swimming across the lake almost finished me.
Not sure if it shouldn’t be “tog nästan kål på mig”.
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It’s definitely “ta kål på” (or even “göra kål på”)
In the 1700s and 1800s “Kål” (something more like a cabbage soup) was a common dish. If you were lucky you could have some small pieces of meat in it (probably pork or poultry)
So the expression comes from how you prepare the dish - chopping the cabbage into pieces.
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Is that comparable to the expression “making chop suey of someone”, when talking about murder? Or did I completely misinterpret the expression?
Well, I haven’t heard that English expression before (i think), but yes if you say Jag vill ta kål på dig/ Jag vill göra kål på dig it could meen that you intent to chop someone into pieces.
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