# Swedish: shit pommes frites



## glaspalatset

What does that phrase mean? I can't seem to find what it is about... Thanks!

The context, in TV-conversation:

- Hur många lag är det som tävlar?
- Tio totalt. Men det är 80 000 elever som var med från början.
- De har blivit tio lag? Shit pommes frites!


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## jonquiliser

Hello Palatset, 

It's just an exclamation, pretty much like "oh shit!", with and added rhyme (frites being pronounced "fritt") - for comical value, I take it. Never heard it before, but if it's not common yet I image it will spread fast. There tend to be trends in these matters.


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## Wilma_Sweden

Yup, comical enhancer to 'shit'... 

I can't remember when I first heard the expression. It's been around for a while, and is popular enough to return over 9,000 hits in a Google search. At a quick glance, the oldest one was from 2002. I am told it first appeared in some TV ad for car cleaning products, but I leave it up to other Swedes to confirm or deny this.

/Wilma


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## glaspalatset

Did I understand correctly, that that expression is quite new and used by young people, and not at all meant to be offensive? 

For the record, That TV conversation in my first post took place in Bobster program (program for young people) on SVT, and that phrase is uttered by the host in her mid-20s.


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## Wilma_Sweden

glaspalatset said:


> Did I understand correctly, that that expression is quite new and used by young people, and not at all meant to be offensive?


You understood correctly, and I agree, it's predominantly used by young people - I use it myself! 

/Wilma


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## patronanejo

glaspalatset said:


> Did I understand correctly, that that expression is quite new and used by young people, and not at all meant to be offensive?



As most of us know, Sweden is a rational culture that isn't bullied about by the likes of a Jerry Falwell or Sean Hannity; as such, they are simply not stupid enough to take _offense_ at such a phrase.


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## DieuEtMonDroit

patronanejo said:


> Sweden is a rational culture...


 
THAT is a matter yet to be discussed, however this phrase isn't very new. I (being somewhat young) have been hearing it for years now.


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## solregn

Wilma_Sweden said:


> Yup, comical enhancer to 'shit'...
> 
> I can't remember when I first heard the expression. It's been around for a while, and is popular enough to return over 9,000 hits in a Google search. At a quick glance, the oldest one was from 2002. I am told it first appeared in some TV ad for car cleaning products, but I leave it up to other Swedes to confirm or deny this.
> 
> /Wilma



I think it was first mentionned in a tv commercial for a car brand. Two computer-animated flies are walking on the wind-shield, talking about either the quality of the car or whatever, and suddenly one of them is crushed by the windscreen-wiper. The surviving one exits the scene, somewhat surprised at his buddy's sudden departure, mumbling "shit pommes frites"... 

I still say it sometimes for fun, but used to say it more when the expression was "fresh" a couple of years ago


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## trosabon

Don`t use this expression if you are older than 12 yrs. If so you downgrade yourself.


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## Grefsen

jonquiliser said:


> Hello Palatset,
> 
> It's just an exclamation, pretty much like "oh shit!", with and added rhyme (frites being pronounced "fritt") - for comical value, I take it. Never heard it before, but if it's not common yet I image it will spread fast. There tend to be trends in these matters.



In Norwegian, how is *"frites"* pronounced when an *Oslo* dialect is used?


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## cocuyo

Grefsen said:


> In Norwegian, how is *&quot;frites&quot;* pronounced when an *Oslo* dialect is used?



Frites is pronounced as fritt - pom fritt -


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## Magb

Grefsen said:


> In Norwegian, how is *"frites"* pronounced when an *Oslo* dialect is used?



The standard pronunciation is "pom fritt". However you'll often hear people pronouncing it "pomfri", i.e. without the T at the end. The origin of that must be someone who knows some (but not enough) French trying to sound fancy by pronouncing it like a Frenchman would -- the perception being that sounds like /t/ and /s/ are always left off at the end of a word in French. But of course, in French the T at the end _is_ pronounced, so the pronunciation without the T ends up looking rather silly.

Anyway, I would think the majority of the people pronouncing it without the T aren't trying to sound fancy at all and couldn't care less what the French pronunciation is; they're just pronouncing the word the same way other people around them pronounce it. That the pronunciation without the T is technically incorrect is pretty well known nowadays, so I would think many of the people who still use it are aware that it's "wrong", but just don't care. I sometimes say "pomfri" myself, just to irritate people who get annoyed by that sort of thing.


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## Wilma_Sweden

Magb said:


> The origin of that must be someone who knows some (but not enough) French trying to sound fancy by pronouncing it like a Frenchman would -- the perception being that sounds like /t/ and /s/ are always left off at the end of a word in French. But of course, in French the T at the end _is_ pronounced, so the pronunciation without the T ends up looking rather silly.


We have the same situation with entrecôte (a cut of beef) - we use the French word, but most Swedes seem to think it should be pronounced without the final t. The problem is, apart from poor knowledge of French, that if you do pronounce the final t, it rhymes with kåt (horny), which is a bit embarrassing... 

/Wilma


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## cocuyo

It might be noted that in neither case, the t is the final letter of the written word.


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