The words that disappear from the dictionary

A number of everyday words disappear from Swedish dictionaries and lexicons. The reason is that the view of what is a brand and what is an everyday word collides.

Keso, lego, kesella, googla and tetra are some of the words that have been left out in the updated version of the dictionaries.

– It’s about the fact that the owners of the trademarks have turned to those who process the dictionaries and said that “you can’t treat our brand like this”. People are afraid that if the words are included in the dictionaries, they will lose their status as a brand, says Anders Svensson, editor-in-chief at Språktidningen.

Can spread fear

But what are the consequences when these words disappear from the dictionaries?

– It is about what you perceive to be general words in the language and how you, as an ordinary citizen, can get help from dictionaries to use the language. But there can also be a fear of using certain words. From the dictionary editors’ point of view, they don’t want to talk about this type of process, they lie flat to avoid a legal battle, says Anders Svensson.

Talk like we want anyway

Anders Svensson believes that the words disappearing from the dictionary will not affect our everyday language.

– You cannot access how we talk at the kitchen table with legal measures. Even if it says cottage cheese on the package, most people will continue to talk about cottage cheese.