Arts: What the Swedish Chef Sounds Like to Swedes

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Brow Beat What the Swedish Chef Sounds Like to Swedes By Jeremy Stahl Posted Tuesday, Aug 28, 2012, at 12:30 PM ET I recently went on a quest to investigate what Swedes really think of the shotgun-toting, gibberish-spouting chaos Muppet, the Swedish Chef. What I discovered was that they think he sounds Norwegian—and that they get that question a lot. Some Swedes, including House of Sweden general manager Cecilia Browning, even get asked to translate the chef's incoherent jabberings. While TSC speaks a language of his own that perhaps only Jim Henson and Muppets head writer Jerry Juhl could understand, some Americans seem to be under the misimpression that the chef is actually speaking some form of Swedish. While this is a touchy subject among Swedes—their language isn't just gibberish, after all—I did actually come across one native "translation." Swedish YouTube user Emanuel Tilly has uploaded clips of the Swedish Chef from the original Muppets Show alongside transcriptions of what it sort of sounds like he might be saying in actual Swedish. These subtitles don't perfectly match TSC's nonsense—they're "translated" into Swedish based on both the sound of the word and the context—but they do begin to give a sense of what he sounds like to the Swedish ear. We've translated them back into English so that you can get a sense as well. Herewith, we're serving up three videos of the Swedish Chef as "translated" into Swedish, and then into English. Bon appétit, or as TSC might say, gue der bork! "Translation" in English: Turtle... It's tasty ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why the Networks Should Ignore Ann Romney's Speech The Last Word In Hurricane Forecasts, "Cone of Uncertainty" Is Surrounded by Haze of Confusion	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036