
En svensk tiger - j-james
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_svensk_tiger
======
lqet
In Switzerland during WWII, the population was advised to be suspicious of
anyone not speaking the local dialect, especially of they asked for
directions. The army removed all traffic signs in case of an invasion [0] and
stores did not sell road maps anymore. Swiss German is (as most dialects)
notoriously difficult to learn in later life for speakers of other dialects.

(Slightly related story: some years ago, I traveled back to Germany by train.
A few minutes past the border, German border control went through the train
and asked me for my ID card. I then realized that I had left my German ID card
in the scanner at home a few days earlier because I needed a copy of it. The
border control then naturally went through my backpack, which (what I then
realized with horror) contained ca. 30 packs of matches. A few weeks earlier,
we had a BBQ at a local lake and realized on the way that we had no matches to
lit the fire, so we went to the next supermarket and just bought the cheapest
offer, which happened to be a pack of 30. So there I was, crossing the border
with no identification and nothing on me but a backpack full of matches. When
they asked why I had so many matches on me, my 20-year old brain went into
full self-destruction mode and I stuttered the following: "He-he-he, its not
enough to build a bomb, isn't it?".

Luckily, I have an accent which makes it absolutely clear that I grew up
around a major city in my home state. After asking me some questions about my
birth town, other personal facts and making some calls, they didn't even fine
me. I am quite sure that this would've been slightly more complicated if I had
spoken perfect standard German, or had a foreign accent.)

[0] [https://ulis-
buecherecke.ch/pdf_infos_zur_schweiz/die_schwei...](https://ulis-
buecherecke.ch/pdf_infos_zur_schweiz/die_schweiz_1939-1945.pdf)

~~~
draugadrotten
As recently as 2003, Swedish citizens abroad were sometimes forced to sing the
Swedish tune "Små grodorna" at the Swedish Embassy to prove they were indeed
Swedes. ( Source: [https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/BJWj4l/tvingades-
sjunga...](https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/BJWj4l/tvingades-sjunga-sma-
grodorna) )

Now, not even two decades later, Sweden's population is comprised of 18% born
outside Sweden and 24% with a non-Swedish background. (source
[https://www.migrationsinfo.se/fragor-och-svar/hur-manga-
utri...](https://www.migrationsinfo.se/fragor-och-svar/hur-manga-utrikes-
fodda-sverige/) )

~~~
INTPenis
I was born in the heart of Sweden in 1985 and I've lived in Sweden my entire
life. I don't know the 2nd part of Små grodorna.

Små grodorna, små grodorna, så lustiga att se. Små grodorna, små grodorna
...???

And the next thing I remember is that stupid noise they make as they dance
around the may pole.

~~~
carlhjerpe
2x: Ej öron ej öron och svansar havar de -

Born 94, I believe this is the second part.

~~~
muterad_murilax
Almost right!

 _Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.

Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.

Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.

Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.

Kou-ack-ack-ack, kou-ack-ack-ack,

kou-ack-ack-ack-ack-kaa.

Kou-ack-ack-ack, kou-ack-ack-ack,

kou-ack-ack-ack-ack-kaa._

~~~
carlhjerpe
Considering I've never read it I would give myself an E+ at least.

Cheers for remembering that last weird bit.

------
bjoli
In the early 2000s I made a t-shirt print with someone holding a seagull in
front of a Swedish flag. The caption was "En svensk håller truten", which
means both "A swede holds the seagull" and "a swede shuts up".

I gave it away and a random stranger online that was a bit more
entrepreneurial than me printed it and made what 17-year old me considered a
fortune.

Googling I think I actually found
it:[https://i.imagefra.me/88bf68ck](https://i.imagefra.me/88bf68ck) It is too
long ago for me to remember how it looked exactly and the quality leaves
things to the imagination, but iirc I actually drew that in an ancient version
of gimp.

------
hjorthjort
Question to all the non-swedes: why do you find this interesting? Is it the
play on words? War propaganda in general being interesting?

~~~
whalesalad
Hej, a non-Swede: I was incredibly disappointed in the wiki article and don’t
find this remotely interesting.

------
dvh
Not to be confused with Swedish lion:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_of_Gripsholm_Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_of_Gripsholm_Castle)

~~~
mongol
Better picture : [https://recondito.org/2017/05/12/lion-at-gripsholm-
castle/](https://recondito.org/2017/05/12/lion-at-gripsholm-castle/)

------
uberswe
Didn't think I would see Swedish on HN, awesome! I never heard about this when
growing up in Sweden during the 90's so it's interesting to learn about it
here.

~~~
scbrg
I saw it several times when growing up in the 80's, but I was apparently too
stupid to see the pun. I just kept thinking "Tiger? We don't have any damn
tigers, this makes no sense."

Oh, I wish we'd had Wikipedia back then, so I wouldn't have had to feel like a
complete moron when the penny finally dropped...

~~~
phamilton
I think about the line from Sverige, by Kent:

En tiger som skäms

And of course the cover of that album (Vapen och ammunition) being a black and
white photo of a tiger.

~~~
parski
I thought it was a regular (as in color) photo of a white tiger.

~~~
phamilton
It's probably a black and white photo of a black and white tiger.

------
mrisoli
When I first started my job in Stockholm there was a printout of this tiger
logo with the saying that 10-12 were quiet hours, I knew about the saying but
I didn't know about the history behind it, quite interesting!

------
xwowsersx
Aron Flam & Henrik Jönsson recently talked about this on Dave Rubin
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpRBfoQRdpY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpRBfoQRdpY)

------
JoachimS
If you enjoy this, there is a more recent version you might appreciate:

[http://i.imgur.com/16N9R.png](http://i.imgur.com/16N9R.png)

------
ComputerGuru
I didn’t see mention of the obvious double “entendre” in the design as well,
with the rather clear implication that prison awaits those that dare not
comply.

------
demosito666
Could it be that Kent references this tiger in their song "Sverige" [1]? Ber
om ursäkt from Swedish persons ITT if the question sounds stupid.

[1] [https://kent.nu/latar/sverige/](https://kent.nu/latar/sverige/)

------
abbe98
In addition to being printed on posters and similar public media it were also
printed on letter paper, suitcases and envelopes.

------
mmhsieh
a tiger is not an animal i associate with quietness.

a swedish fox would make more sense.

~~~
adunk
I have always thought that this slight cognitive dissonance was deliberate:

"A Swede stays silent" as one meaning, while suggesting "a Swedish roaring
aggressiveness" as the other meaning. In wartime, I think both these would
make perfect sense, and combining them into one in a simple three-word message
is very effective.

~~~
mmhsieh
thinking about it more, perhaps this was the intent; being a noncombatant
country, silence among the citizens was perhaps promoted as an act of
fortitude in furtherance of their self-preservation, which could be associated
with the character of a tiger.

------
timwaagh
so Tiger of Sweden clothes are actually for really quiet people?

~~~
tomlu
You are probably joking, but in case you are not the play on words only works
in this particular configuration (present tense, "a Swedish tiger" vs "a Swede
[keeps] quiet".

~~~
gargarplex
Could one also say "Tig er av Sweden?" :P

i.e., Hush, y'all!

~~~
mstade
Sadly no, but good effort! What you wrote would literally translate to
"Silence your of Sweden". If you want hush, I'd probably use "tyst" instead of
"tig" as the former is more colloquial. If you squint and have a bit of an
open mind, maybe you can construe your sentence as something like "Silence,
you Swedes!" but it's a bit of a stretch.

~~~
gargarplex
Nära skjuter ingen hare!

Inga ordvitspoäng för mig idag då. Varken särskrivningspoäng eller
ordvitspoäng :P

------
mnsc
I want to comment on this but...

------
outside1234
Did the Swedish actually fight in world war II? Didn't they just roll over and
let the Germanys roll through to Norway?

And if that's true, what was there to keep secret?

~~~
svrtknst
Unnecessarily hostile comment. Sweden remained neutral through the war and did
not partake in the fighting, as far as I know.

They didn't allow troop movements into Norway, but did allow troops to move
through from Norway, into Finland. They allowed off-duty German soldiers to
travel between Norway and Germany, and sold iron ore to Germany.

They also shared intelligence with the Allied forces, helped train Danish and
Norwegian troops to liberate Denmark, allowed Allied forces use of its
airbases, took in a lot of Jewish refugees from Norway and Denmark, The
Swedish Red Cross sent buses to evacuate concentration camp inmates, and RAoul
Wallenberg used his diplomatc status to save tens of thousands of Jews in
Hungary as well.

~~~
outside1234
I didn't mean it as hostile - it is just a statement of fact.

To the original point, if they were "neutral", then what secrets did they have
to hold?

What does "off duty" even mean in a world war? Not destroying Sweden but
allowing them to bring ammunition through to pound Norway?

And if they were "neutral", why were they helping the Allies?

All in all, your comment does not add up.

~~~
detaro
Could you explain why you think a neutral country would not have secrets? E.g.
currently being neutral doesn't mean you don't have preparations on what to do
if you get attacked (indeed, both sides in WW2 considered an invasion of
Sweden) and would like to keep those secret. You want to keep your diplomatic
strategies secret to avoid them being exploited against you. Being neutral
does neither necessarily mean "you allow everyone to do whatever they want in
your country" nor "you do not interact with the warring parties at all".

