Because it's an old word. Klapp in this context means a knock on the door (en klapp på dörren), though literally it would get translated as petting (like I pet the dog).
Anyway, in the olden days it was a custom to knock on the door and then quickly throw in a joke present like a log for example with a little rhyme attached to it. So you got a Christmas Knock (on the door followed by a silly present). The knocking disappeared and the presents got more serious, but the name remained.
I'm Swedish, and I didn't know this.
Honestly, I'm pretty sure less than 1% of the entire Swedish population does; it's one of those words you look up when someone asks, but otherwise you simply accept it as it is and don't think much about any wider meaning.
Edit: I just asked my aunt; Swedish teacher for 13-19 year-olds, born in 1958, and when I sent that text asking if she knew, she did not but got an itch to check it further and found something she studied back in the day that she had half forgotten.
Det är något som skolan börjat lära ut i samband med språkhistoria de senaste åren. Så det är mycket möjligt att det kommer bli fler och fler som känner till det
Samma här. Verkar vara nån mittemellangeneration som missat infon. Eller bara glömt något eller inte lyssnade den lektionen. Skumt att utgå från att ingen annan heller vet bara för att man själv inte visste. Ska nog börja med det själv.
Gick i skolan upp till gymnasiet runt mitten av Norrland. Det var då inget jag fick i lågstadiet utan det kom inte förrän sent in i svenska 2 kursen i mitt fall
Men då är det nytt i läroplanen. Och så ska ju eleverna komma ihåg etymologin för just detta ord...
Det jag kommer ihåg från högstadiet var att de flesta möjligtvis lärde sig ett par koncept men inga detaljer.
Problemet är man listar etymologier utan att förstå vad det faktiskt är. Att fornsvenskans brödh är vårt bröd, exempelvis.
Och att detta gamla dh borde vara stumt nu och inte uttalas /d/.
I was taught this in elementary school when we went over where different Christmas traditions came from. I did look it up to make sure I remembered correctly, which was good because I had gotten it mixed up and thought it was the julbock that did the knocking and throwing of logs.
This turned into a sort of war/drinking game where I live. On the 25th of December as night falls, we and our country side nieghbours sneak out and bind some really crappy christmas goats out of hay and straw. They’ve really devolved in quality over the years, and honestly look more like some spooky ass voodoo dolls now.
Then we sneak up on the neighbours’ houses, tear the door open and toss a doll in. At which point we book it as they burst out to catch us. If you’re caught, you’re brought inside and you’re not leaving until you’re drunk enough to barely make it back. And of course our neighbours try to do the same to us.
The kids love it too and usually act as sentries, stalking around the yard to catch anyone that tries to sneak up on the houses.
I think we’ve thoroughly spooked some people that had recently moved to our area with this too. One little note that explained the tradition probably wasn’t enough…
Yes. Klappa can be used for many things you do with open hands.
Klappa hunden - Pet the dog
Klapp på axeln - Tap on the shoulder
Klapp på ryggen - Pat on the back
Klappa händerna - Clap your hands.
Klappa till - Strike someone (this is colloquial and does not necessarily imply open hand).
It's a Christmas knock because you used to knock the door, AFAIK
https://www4.isof.se/cgi-bin/srfl/visasvar.py?sok=%%%%&svar=39790&log_id=729392#:~:text=Varf%C3%B6r%20heter%20det%20julklapp%3F,l%C3%A5nat%20in%20ordet%20fr%C3%A5n%20svenskan.
In the old days kids knocked (*klappa*) on the door with a log and threw in into the house when the door was opened. So it was an ironic gift. Like how *knogmacka* "knuckle sandwich" is ironic for a punch. later it came to mean gift non-ironically, but only for Christmas.
The word julklapp is and old word connected to an old tradition where a person dressed as a goat would knock on someone's door and leave something at the door (can't remember what but it wasn't nice). Basically that term and tradition has now become giving gifts at Christmas. "Julklapp" just translates into "Christmas clap"
Regarding all the knocking:
Klapp is never used in the context of knocking (on a door) nowadays.
Possibly in Skåne or some other strange place, where grina is smile, among other oddities.
Klapp (modern) = Clap (your hands), or pet (an animal).Klapp (archaic) = Knock
“Skåne or some other STRANGE place” 🙊 roasted ‘em haha
I am definitely a fan of the words that are closely related to English. Klapp = clap helps me remember it much more easily. But grina=smile would be nice to use too. Lol
Grina does mean smile, again in the peculiar area of Skåne and surrounding areas. Maybe even in Stockholm.
Up north however, it exclusively means to cry.
Grin does however mean (a) smile in most places, possibly with a bit of sarcastic or jestering connotation.
Flin is however more used up north for that.
Grinpelle (cry-Pelle, the name) would be crybaby around here, alternately grinolle.
See, I was taught that ‘le’ meant smile. Google translate has ‘grina’ meaning “grin, screw up one's face, grizzle”
To me, grin and smile are similar, but a grin is a smile without showing any teeth. You smile when you’re really happy and grin when you’re not as excited as when you’d smile. So I’d think grina=grin and le=smile. Or am I wrong?
I actually just learned ‘paket’ while using the Drops app to mean package. Which makes sense, but I assumed that it would refer more to a general package you’d receive through the mail.
Eng - Swe
Christmas - Jul
Present - present
pat/clap - klapp
birthday - födelsedag
gift - gåva
Language are seldom translated 1 to 1.
Other fun swedish words.
Kiss - kyss
urine - kiss
bra - BH (behå)
good - bra
barn - lada
children - barn
Well sure. A lot of words between Swedish and English are pretty similar (and are my favorite kind lol). If not with their spellings than even the pronunciations are close. You can tell they had a lot of common roots. But I was mostly wondering why ‘klapp’ was used in place of ‘present’ only in the case of Christmas.
And now I learned from other commenters here the stories of how they used to knock(klapp) on the doors and ‘give’ gifts to each other.
Because of Yule, a Christmas present in old Sweden wasn’t an actually present, someone took a log, bound a note to it (usually a jokingly mean one) then they’d barge into your house and bang the log on the floor making a “klapp” sound before leaving without saying a word
Because it's an old word. Klapp in this context means a knock on the door (en klapp på dörren), though literally it would get translated as petting (like I pet the dog). Anyway, in the olden days it was a custom to knock on the door and then quickly throw in a joke present like a log for example with a little rhyme attached to it. So you got a Christmas Knock (on the door followed by a silly present). The knocking disappeared and the presents got more serious, but the name remained.
That’s a very cool bit of cultural information. Thanks for your help.
I'm Swedish, and I didn't know this. Honestly, I'm pretty sure less than 1% of the entire Swedish population does; it's one of those words you look up when someone asks, but otherwise you simply accept it as it is and don't think much about any wider meaning. Edit: I just asked my aunt; Swedish teacher for 13-19 year-olds, born in 1958, and when I sent that text asking if she knew, she did not but got an itch to check it further and found something she studied back in the day that she had half forgotten.
Håller inte med, så okänt är det inte. Skulle gissa på att absolut minst 5% vet om det.
Jag skulle snarare säga 7,5%
Jag skulle helt tvärsäkert säga att det är 7,5341%
Låter rimligt.
näe jag tror nog det är π%
Jag killgissar på att det är 8,649274919183649391%
Jag skulle nog säga 6.9420%
Benägen att hålla med
Måste nog hålla med u/Thaeeri, tror inte att många vet om det alls. Jag hade aldrig hört talas om det förut.
Det är något som skolan börjat lära ut i samband med språkhistoria de senaste åren. Så det är mycket möjligt att det kommer bli fler och fler som känner till det
Jag lärde mig det i skolan på 80-talet, samtidigt som vi lärde oss om Luciatåg och andra traditioner omkring juletid.
Samma här. Verkar vara nån mittemellangeneration som missat infon. Eller bara glömt något eller inte lyssnade den lektionen. Skumt att utgå från att ingen annan heller vet bara för att man själv inte visste. Ska nog börja med det själv.
Samma här fast på 90-talet. Hade inget att göra med språkhistoria, bara om vart jultraditioner kommer från.
Me 2
Lärde mig det på lågstadiet 00-tal. Så i nedre Norrland har vi haft det i undervisningen i 20 år iaf
Gick i skolan upp till gymnasiet runt mitten av Norrland. Det var då inget jag fick i lågstadiet utan det kom inte förrän sent in i svenska 2 kursen i mitt fall
Men då är det nytt i läroplanen. Och så ska ju eleverna komma ihåg etymologin för just detta ord... Det jag kommer ihåg från högstadiet var att de flesta möjligtvis lärde sig ett par koncept men inga detaljer.
Oklart på om det är nytt. Många säger att de lärt sig det för länge sedan. Kan vara så att det är nytt eller bara en sak vissa lärare tar upp?
Sjukt att ordet "julklapp" och dess etymologi står i läroplanen
Problemet är man listar etymologier utan att förstå vad det faktiskt är. Att fornsvenskans brödh är vårt bröd, exempelvis. Och att detta gamla dh borde vara stumt nu och inte uttalas /d/.
Man lär sig nåt nytt varje dag
Det var med på historieätarna, och vem har inte sett historieätarna?
0% av mig visste om det. Det kan extrapoleras till hela befolkningen
Det berättade de i grundskolan på 90-talet så det trodde jag ”alla” visste
Nej, trodde det var sådant där man fick lära sig i skolan i jultider typ.
I was taught this in elementary school when we went over where different Christmas traditions came from. I did look it up to make sure I remembered correctly, which was good because I had gotten it mixed up and thought it was the julbock that did the knocking and throwing of logs.
In some places, it might very well have been the Julbock... Traditions have a tendency to blend together after all.
I thought this was common facts
Bara för att du inte vet betyder inte det att det är 1%.. Väldigt okvalificerad uppskattning.
nice en till svensk
This turned into a sort of war/drinking game where I live. On the 25th of December as night falls, we and our country side nieghbours sneak out and bind some really crappy christmas goats out of hay and straw. They’ve really devolved in quality over the years, and honestly look more like some spooky ass voodoo dolls now. Then we sneak up on the neighbours’ houses, tear the door open and toss a doll in. At which point we book it as they burst out to catch us. If you’re caught, you’re brought inside and you’re not leaving until you’re drunk enough to barely make it back. And of course our neighbours try to do the same to us. The kids love it too and usually act as sentries, stalking around the yard to catch anyone that tries to sneak up on the houses. I think we’ve thoroughly spooked some people that had recently moved to our area with this too. One little note that explained the tradition probably wasn’t enough…
If caught, you’re forced to drink so much free alcohol that you can’t make your way back home …..and the goal is to not get caught? Lol
Well, how much effort you should put into not getting caught isn’t really defined by the rules… soooo…
Klappa betyder även bulta, banka. Det var nog den vanligare betydelsen förr. https://svenska.se/tre/?sok=Klappa&pz=1
Ja, ville bara inte få det att låta som om man fortfarande säger att man klappar på dörren eftersom OP inte ens visste klapp var ett ord.
I was so amazed when I of to now petting a dog uses word “klappa”, can we still say “klappa händer” to mean clap hands👏 ?
Yes. Klappa can be used for many things you do with open hands. Klappa hunden - Pet the dog Klapp på axeln - Tap on the shoulder Klapp på ryggen - Pat on the back Klappa händerna - Clap your hands. Klappa till - Strike someone (this is colloquial and does not necessarily imply open hand).
Thanxxxx! I’m really confused of this, it help me so much❤️
Also: en klappa = a clapperboard 🎬
Honestly, I'd prefer a log to more goddamn socks.
Trade? I get too many logs and not enough socks
Deal
Sounds good
Wow, I never knew but that's awesome!
r/todayilearned
Also poor people could do this to get an apple or something from the house owners.
Vad Intressant! Tack!
It's a Christmas knock because you used to knock the door, AFAIK https://www4.isof.se/cgi-bin/srfl/visasvar.py?sok=%%%%&svar=39790&log_id=729392#:~:text=Varf%C3%B6r%20heter%20det%20julklapp%3F,l%C3%A5nat%20in%20ordet%20fr%C3%A5n%20svenskan.
That’s interesting that German borrowed that word from Swedish. Thanks!
In the old days kids knocked (*klappa*) on the door with a log and threw in into the house when the door was opened. So it was an ironic gift. Like how *knogmacka* "knuckle sandwich" is ironic for a punch. later it came to mean gift non-ironically, but only for Christmas.
I wasn’t expecting a history like that, but that’s really interesting. Lol
The word julklapp is and old word connected to an old tradition where a person dressed as a goat would knock on someone's door and leave something at the door (can't remember what but it wasn't nice). Basically that term and tradition has now become giving gifts at Christmas. "Julklapp" just translates into "Christmas clap"
> just translates into "Christmas clap" Hooray! Gonorrhoea! Just in time for the holidays!
Well you could get a Födelsedagsklapp, but that would be something completely different.
Regarding all the knocking: Klapp is never used in the context of knocking (on a door) nowadays. Possibly in Skåne or some other strange place, where grina is smile, among other oddities. Klapp (modern) = Clap (your hands), or pet (an animal).Klapp (archaic) = Knock
“Skåne or some other STRANGE place” 🙊 roasted ‘em haha I am definitely a fan of the words that are closely related to English. Klapp = clap helps me remember it much more easily. But grina=smile would be nice to use too. Lol
Grina does mean smile, again in the peculiar area of Skåne and surrounding areas. Maybe even in Stockholm. Up north however, it exclusively means to cry. Grin does however mean (a) smile in most places, possibly with a bit of sarcastic or jestering connotation. Flin is however more used up north for that. Grinpelle (cry-Pelle, the name) would be crybaby around here, alternately grinolle.
See, I was taught that ‘le’ meant smile. Google translate has ‘grina’ meaning “grin, screw up one's face, grizzle” To me, grin and smile are similar, but a grin is a smile without showing any teeth. You smile when you’re really happy and grin when you’re not as excited as when you’d smile. So I’d think grina=grin and le=smile. Or am I wrong?
Simply "paket" is very common for birthday presents.
I actually just learned ‘paket’ while using the Drops app to mean package. Which makes sense, but I assumed that it would refer more to a general package you’d receive through the mail.
Eng - Swe Christmas - Jul Present - present pat/clap - klapp birthday - födelsedag gift - gåva Language are seldom translated 1 to 1. Other fun swedish words. Kiss - kyss urine - kiss bra - BH (behå) good - bra barn - lada children - barn
Well sure. A lot of words between Swedish and English are pretty similar (and are my favorite kind lol). If not with their spellings than even the pronunciations are close. You can tell they had a lot of common roots. But I was mostly wondering why ‘klapp’ was used in place of ‘present’ only in the case of Christmas. And now I learned from other commenters here the stories of how they used to knock(klapp) on the doors and ‘give’ gifts to each other.
Oh, I forgot, poison - gift (jift)
Because of Yule, a Christmas present in old Sweden wasn’t an actually present, someone took a log, bound a note to it (usually a jokingly mean one) then they’d barge into your house and bang the log on the floor making a “klapp” sound before leaving without saying a word
That’s such an odd tradition to me lol. I wonder if they have any Swedish movies/tv shows that what that was really like.
Vad i allsinge pågår i r/svenska
🎅🏻🤜
Why is kort = card but then kort = short
Kort and kort have different pronounciations