# Swedish: asså



## savolax

I cant figure out what word "asså" means. Keep seeing it constantly in informal texts. Quite often I can replace it with "också" with the sentence still remaining understandable, but not allways. 

Even the Språkrodet's very good svensk-finskt online lexikon dont know the word.


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## kirsitn

Could it be a slang version of "altså"? (If that word is the same in Swedish as in Norwegian.)


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## savolax

Jaha, asså jag visste att min svenskan är dålig, men att jag har också svårt att fatta ...


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## Wilma_Sweden

kirsitn said:


> Could it be a slang version of "altså"? (If that word is the same in Swedish as in Norwegian.)


Yes, it's alltså, but I wouldn't say that asså is slang per se, it's just how we pronounce it in informal spoken language.

/Wilma


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## Nethral

Wilma_Sweden said:


> Yes, it's alltså, but I wouldn't say that asså is slang per se, it's just how we pronounce it in informal spoken language.
> 
> /Wilma



Well, I wouldn't say that asså is the same word as alltså. Maybe it derives from that word, however alltså is an accepted swedish word with the meaning "consequently", "therefore" or "in other words". Asså, on the other hand, can be used in many ways (not in writing, though). Often, I would say, one can replace it with "seriously". For example:

Asså, den där läraren gör mig galen!
Seriously, that teacher is driving me crazy!

But often, asså can also mean "I mean..." or "Well..."


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## David A

Nethral said:


> Well, I wouldn't say that asså is the same word as alltså.



I would say they are the same words. The former with a relaxed pronunciation and informal (or rather incorrect) spelling.



Nethral said:


> Asså, on the other hand, can be used in many ways (not in writing, though). Often, I would say, one can replace it with "seriously". For example:
> 
> Asså, den där läraren gör mig galen!
> Seriously, that teacher is driving me crazy!



That example could be spelled and pronounced "Alltså, den där läraren gör mig galen!" with exactly the same meaning. But there is a difference in style. In this example asså convey the image of a young person.

A teacher could say

Alltså, den där eleven gör mig galen!
Seriously, that pupil is driving me crazy!


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## Nethral

David A said:


> I would say they are the same words. The former with a relaxed pronunciation and informal (or rather incorrect) spelling.
> 
> 
> 
> That example could be spelled and pronounced "Alltså, den där läraren gör mig galen!" with exactly the same meaning. But there is a difference in style. In this example asså convey the image of a young person.
> 
> A teacher could say
> 
> Alltså, den där eleven gör mig galen!
> Seriously, that pupil is driving me crazy!



I agree with you, however you can't to the same thing the other way around (replacing alltså with asså).

Dollarn är hög just nu, alltså (således) blev resan mycket dyr.

In this case, asså can not be used. That is what I meant earlier. If (in for example a forum) someone would write:

Dollarn är hög just nu, asså blev resan mycket dyr.

That would make sense only because thay are pronounced the same way, however it would not be "correct". What I mean is that in many cases they are in fact the same word, only spelled differently (asså being incorrect). However, there are cases when they cannot replace each other. Do you get my point?


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## jonquiliser

Nethral said:


> I agree with you, however you can't to the same thing the other way around (replacing alltså with asså).
> 
> Dollarn är hög just nu, alltså (således) blev resan mycket dyr.
> 
> In this case, asså can not be used. That is what I meant earlier. If (in for example a forum) someone would write:
> 
> Dollarn är hög just nu, asså blev resan mycket dyr.
> 
> That would make sense only because thay are pronounced the same way, however it would not be "correct". What I mean is that in many cases they are in fact the same word, only spelled differently (asså being incorrect). However, there are cases when they cannot replace each other. Do you get my point?



But that would only confirm it's a question of register (and region), wouldn't it? In "Dollarn är hög just nu, asså blev resan mycket dyr" sounds awkward because I imagine in spoken language, you'd say "så", not "asså/alltså" whereas you can, in a somewhat forced style (say, in logics) write the sentence the way you did with "alltså". The word is evidently the same, but with different uses in different registers. For me the pronounciation "asså" is alien, and the only difference between the colloquial and the more formal or literary _alltså_s is the way they're put to use.


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## Nethral

jonquiliser said:


> But that would only confirm it's a question of register (and region), wouldn't it? In "Dollarn är hög just nu, asså blev resan mycket dyr" sounds awkward because I imagine in spoken language, you'd say "så", not "asså/alltså" whereas you can, in a somewhat forced style (say, in logics) write the sentence the way you did with "alltså". The word is evidently the same, but with different uses in different registers. For me the pronounciation "asså" is alien, and the only difference between the colloquial and the more formal or literary _alltså_s is the way they're put to use.



Hm, I don't quite understand what you mean. But yes, you're right, "så" would be used in spoken language in the case I presented. However, here's another case.

Someone asks (on a forum, for example): Så det är alltså ingen skillnad mellan dessa ord?

In this case, alltså would mean "In other words..." or something similar, and then writing asså would only be confusing. What I want to say with all this is that one should be careful with saying that asså and alltså is the same word, only with different spellings, since this can lead to misunderstandings.


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## Wilma_Sweden

Nethral said:


> Hm, I don't quite understand what you mean. But yes, you're right, "så" would be used in spoken language in the case I presented. However, here's another case.
> 
> Someone asks (on a forum, for example): Så det är alltså ingen skillnad mellan dessa ord?
> 
> In this case, alltså would mean "In other words..." or something similar, and then writing asså would only be confusing. What I want to say with all this is that one should be careful with saying that asså and alltså is the same word, only with different spellings, since this can lead to misunderstandings.


The original question was '*What does it mean*', and the simple answer was alltså. My original intention was to keep the answer as simple as possible. The OP had obviously seen it used enough times and pointed out that it was in informal language, so I assumed usage patterns were not the main concern. Personally, when speaking informally, I say asså for alltså all the time, freely interchangeably, and see no problem with that. I would never ever *write* asså, (well, perhaps in online live chats...) but I regard them as basically the same word, although the spoken version is also used as a general 'filler word', like well, like, typ, ba', etc. It's possible that the usage is different in Stockholm, but Stockholm isn't all of Sweden...

/Wilma


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## Nethral

Wilma_Sweden said:


> It's possible that the usage is different in Stockholm, but Stockholm isn't all of Sweden...
> 
> /Wilma



Hm, no I don't think it's used in a different way here. But I get your point Haha, let's just leave the discussion here. ^^


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## Wilma_Sweden

Nethral said:


> Hm, no I don't think it's used in a different way here. But I get your point Haha, let's just leave the discussion here. ^^


Great!  Agree to disagree is a good thing!

/Wilma


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## JeanJean

Asså is slang for Alltså - its a word without meaning really. But the closest You get to a englisg word is "sort of".


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