# Swedish: det kunde man ge sig fasen på



## *Louis*

Hi! I am having really hard time figuring out what this sentence means. It is said by someone just like that and I think it's an idiomatic expression.

Det kunde man ge sig fasen på.

Swedish native speakers, can you please help me? Thanks.

*Louis*


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## Ben Jamin

*Louis* said:


> Hi! I am having really hard time figuring out what this sentence means. It is said by someone just like that and I think it's an idiomatic expression.
> 
> Det kunde man ge sig fasen på.
> 
> Swedish native speakers, can you please help me? Thanks.
> 
> *Louis*



Give the context, please.


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## *Louis*

It's a bit complicated to explain because there are two people talking about doing housework. I don't think it has to be a context for this expression. Swedes, please!


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## Ben Jamin

*Louis* said:


> It's a bit complicated to explain because there are two people talking about doing housework. I don't think it has to be a context for this expression. Swedes, please!



Such kind of expletive expression can have plenty of meanings depending on context. Remember the forum rules!
"fasen" is an expletive expression that means something like "damn". "ge seg på" is a very undetermined expresion and can mean almost anything.


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## Lugubert

One possibility:

I('m so stupid, I) really should have expected that. (On a negative outcome that realistically should have been anticipated or at least considered as a possibility.)

Might also have been expressed as

Det kunde jag gett mig fan på!


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## Ogago

Det kunde jag gett mej
den / tusan / fanken / sjutton (choose one, and there are surely a lot more of them...)
på!


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## MissLonelyHearts

Following up this old post as I am reading En man som heter Ove and came across the expression. I am finding it difficult to translate.

Basically, one character asks him to check her radiator because it is not working and her husband is not good at fixing things. He replies ´Nä det kunde man ju ge sig fasen på.´ I am not sure what he means by this. Thanks!


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## MattiasNYC

Like the others said it could mean a few different things. I understand that you gave some context, but if you could give the rest of the text surrounding it that would help.


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## raumar

I agree with Mattias that more context would be useful. In addition, who is the "him" who says this sentence? That is not clear from your post - is it Ove or somebody else? That would be useful information for those of us who have read the book and know the characters.


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## MissLonelyHearts

Of course. Sorry, it is Ove who says this sentence. Here is a longer section:

– Jag skulle behöva hjälp att bära bort stegen …, säger hon som om hon var mitt i en mycket längre tanke. 
Ove sparkar förstrött i asfalten. 
– Och vi har nog ett element som inte funkar också, tillägger hon som i förbifarten. 
– Hade varit snällt om du kunde ta en titt på det. Patrick vet inte hur man gör sånt där vet du, säger hon och tar treåringen i handen. Ove nickar sakta. – Nä. Nä det kunde man ju ge sig fasen på.


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## MattiasNYC

Interesting topic. I've never had a problem understanding the phrase and its versions, yet now I struggle with how to express what I think it... "means".

In that context I would say that there are two options that seem likely;

- He's being somewhat dismissive of Patrik by basically saying it was to be expected that he wasn't that handy with repairs.

- He's being somewhat annoyed that he now has another task to deal with, so it's not just the one task... always more...

The tone is generally negative I think. Maybe like "exasperation _light_"... But I think both of those could be reasonable ways of looking at the expression, and thus even more context would be helpful... You don't have to quote more, but perhaps you could explain their characters personality / relationships..


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## Abbe

Maybe something like "I bet he doesn't" or "I'm sure he doesn't" or "It doesn't surprise me" or "That's what I thought"

None of the suggestions are as strong as the Swedish expression but they express the same contempt


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## MattiasNYC

Agree.


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## MissLonelyHearts

Ah great. Yes, that is exactly what I had suspected. So something like 'Why doesn't that surprise me!' comes across quite sarcastic and rude in English or 'I wouldn't expect anything else from him'. Thank you! The book is pushing my limited Swedish to the max but really enjoying it


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