Det är risk att du blir en rejäl karl.

Sentence Discussions Swedish
#1
English Translation

You’re in danger of becoming a good man.

I can’t make much sense of this sentence. My understanding is that:

  • “karl” means “man”, in particular an especially “capable man” or especially “manly man” (as opposed to some sniveling simp, not in the sense of toxic masculinity)
  • “rejäl” means “proper” or “reliable” or “stable” as in “stable antifascist”, describing someone who doesn’t fold and cave in, even under pressure, or gets the job done even under stress

A “rejäl karl” then would be some amazing male role-model. A man who resembles every mother’s idea of a perfect father figure for her child, and who is admired by every decent man.

  • Is this about right so far?
  • Is “good man” the best translation for “rejäl karl”? It seems like an understatement for some amazing male role-model. Or rather, the Swedish translation is more likely inadequate at translating “good man” without overselling it.

I’m going to ignore the rest of the sentence that apparently warns to not do too much good.

#2

I think you are reading a bit too much into the concept of “rejäl karl”. :slightly_smiling_face: It’s something you can say about any decent and reliable man.

1 Like
#3

Thank you! Yes, entirely possible. :slightly_smiling_face:

I had never seen either word (“rejäl” or “karl”) ten minutes before I wrote my comment.

“rejäl” reminded me of the English word “royal” and “karl” reminded me of the English “earl” which is related to the Old Norse “jarl”. So initially I thought that “good man” was translated to “kingly king”. :smiley: And then I spent some minutes reading the dictionary immediately before I wrote my questions, and I was in all likelihood overanalyzing it. Now I know better, thanks! :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like