# Swedish: rutinerad leende



## e2efour

I am interested in the negative meaning of this word, for which my  dictionary gives as an example Hon besvarade hälsningen med ett  rutinerat leende (which might be translated as "a well-practised smile").

How would you understand the word in above sentence?


----------



## Tjahzi

Well, the exact meaning of _rutinerad(/t) _is the same. However, it's implied that a "practiced" smile is a faked smile and as such looked down upon. Being _rutinerad_ is generally a positive attribute, similar to _experienced/erfaren_.


----------



## BlueSuede

Tjahzi is perfectly correct, "Being _rutinerad_ is generally a positive attribute, similar to _experienced/erfaren_.".

In this case "Hon besvarade hälsningen med ett  rutinerat leende" however, it might be understood that the smile is a fake one. She gives a smile that doesn't mean anything. Like when a salesman gives you a smile to convince you that you chosed the right product to buy, i.e. _his _product. So in your example it doesn't have to be a positive attribute. It depends of the situation.


----------



## LilianaB

Casual smile?


----------



## Tjahzi

Yes, that would be an accurate translation/description.


----------



## Ben Jamin

Tjahzi said:


> Yes, that would be an accurate translation/description.


rutinerad = casual?


----------



## LilianaB

Not always. It depends on the context. Only 2x2=4, and I am not even sure about that. Translation is not a translation of words only.


----------



## Ben Jamin

Well, the smile in question may be similar, but the words give quite different background: rutinerad: practised in, not genuine, and casual: (here) of low quality, without effort.


----------



## LilianaB

Rutinerad is not a bad word in Swedish. It just means casual in this case, I think. Casual, without any effort, just something like that, but not bad, in any way. A made-up smile has a more negative connotations. Probably something done everyday
even without thinking about it, without assigning any importance to it, but not bad.


----------



## BlueSuede

"ett  rutinerat leende" doesn't sound positive in my Swedish ears.


----------



## LilianaB

Rutinerad is without any deeper meaning, but not really artificial, conceited, made-up. I think it is similar to routine, but you can't say a routine smile. It would not sound too good, to me, at least. This is why I thought it was closer to casual.


----------



## hanne

I agree with Ben and Blue - in this context, "rutinerad" _is_ a negative word, and does indeed mean artificial or made-up. "Rutinerad" means "experienced" - in this case it means that you've practised long enough that you can put that smile on your face at any time, regardless of how you feel. You could also call it as a "professional" smile. It's a negative thing, not neutral.


----------



## LilianaB

In fact everything routine is bad: you are right. However, rutinerat leende cannot be translated as  a routine smile, but I thought,  rather as a casual smile, which is pretty bad, I guess, too.


----------

