# Swedish: prylbög



## Lili Marlen

Hej alla,

Vad betyder "prylbög"? Jag kunde inte hitta det i lexikonet!

Tack!


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## Södertjej

Enligt Wiktionary...


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## baltazark

pryl is lets say a gadget, bog is gay.. so prylbog is somebody who buys any products of apple.


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## cocuyo

Wictionary gives it as "at least from the 1990:s". However, the expression was common in the sixties also, and by then it applied to such things as cameras, digital watches and other paraphernalia that could be bundled under the term "prylar". Particularly system cameras, with an array of components could qualify, but also the latest watch that preferredly would be different from thee mainstream, as the Bulova tuning fork watches or digital LED watches (at the time the absolutely latest technology). 

The term lives on, and the gadgets change, now it's iPods and cellphones, while not too long ago it was cassette players and pagers. 

Bög in this word has no connotation of homosexuality, it is used for the addiction to things.


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## Wilma_Sweden

Interesting...

Norstedtsord gives the translation technojunkie, and gadget freak is another synonym that I've found, in the Spanish-English section here on WR. There may be others.

However, I'm not sure which one of those that are most in use in AE/BE. Also, the fact that technojunkie was written as one word bugs me, because compounds in English are usually written separately, i.e. techno junkie.

I'm posting a thread about it in English only, and will post a link to it here as and when there are any worthwhile replies.


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## e2efour

Bonniers Slang Lexikon ger som definition _person med habegär_.
I BE använder man mest _gadget freak_, i AE _technojunkie_.

Är det givet att pryl bara avser "gadget"? Kan exempelvis Imelda Marcos med sina skor räknas bland prylbögarna?


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## cocuyo

Nej, den omåttliga mängden skor gör henne inte till prylbög. Det är lite mer komplicerat. Prylbögen är personen som ständigt har en ny teknisk pryl, helst innan andra vet att den alls finns. Det handlar alltså om ständigt nya prylar, en stor mängd _olika_ saker med någon slags funktion. Man kan inte bli prylbög av att ha många smycken eller kläder. Och det gäller främst dem som skaffar prylar som andra inte har, eller inte vet om att de finns. Som när man skaffar en ny telefon med kamera, tangentbord, GPS och inbyggda kartor (och dumpar den gamla som bara hade kamera).


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## Sepia

e2efour said:


> Bonniers Slang Lexikon ger som definition _person med habegär_.
> I BE använder man mest _gadget freak_, i AE _technojunkie_.
> 
> Är det givet att pryl bara avser "gadget"? Kan exempelvis Imelda Marcos med sina skor räknas bland prylbögarna?


 

Would you really count shoes to "gadgets"? To me they are not even "accssoires". (Not that I don't think owning 4-digit quantities of shoes freaky.)


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## cocuyo

To give some idea of what would count as a "pryl", you might for example Google "ultimata prylen", which would give scores of hits on this category.


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## e2efour

If _pryl_ means _gadget_ nowadays, is its use in the following sentences historical? Perhaps the definition (_[onyttig eller överflödig] sak, mindre föremål_) is an obsolescent one?

1) Målare och murare samlade ihop sina prylar och lämnade bygget.
2) [om prylsamhället] Så visst, kanske du blir en bättre människa av en ny kashmirtröja i höst_.

_In 1) I would use "bits and pieces" or "tools". In 2) I would not call a Kashmir jumper (or any article of clothing) a "gadget". This reminded me of Imelda Marcos.

Perhaps the semantic range of _pryl _is wider than that of _gadget_, which is sometimes used for a special tool, but perhaps more often as an electronic device of some kind (e.g. a Blueberry).


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## cocuyo

It's rather that in the term "prylbög", the definition of "pryl" is a bit more narrow than in general speech. "Prylar och pinaler" is very wide, and there is even a specific tool that is called pryl. This thread is discussing "prylbög", and therefore we suppose the more narrow usage. The kind of gadgets that are included aren't necessarily electronic junk, although most modern electronic gadgets would qualify. However, kitchen utensils and other typical "gadgets" surely may be included in the kind of "prylar" discussed in conjunction with the "prylbög" term. Many of those things could be present among the belongings of a person without defining him/her as "prylbög"; it's the exaggerated interest in them that qualifies. 

And when the gadgets get more common, they lose their value as qualifiers. When Bluetooth was new, a hands-free phone accessory with bluetooth was indeed such a "pryl", and it may still be, but it might fade when your aunt gets herself the same gadget for rational reasons. 

So the discussion on "pryl" and the limitations in this thread do not withdraw from other uses of "pryl" as a mainstream word.


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## Wilma_Sweden

e2efour said:


> If _pryl_ means _gadget_ nowadays, is its use in the following sentences historical? Perhaps the definition (_[onyttig eller överflödig] sak, mindre föremål_) is an obsolescent one?
> 
> 1) Målare och murare samlade ihop sina prylar och lämnade bygget.
> 2) [om prylsamhället] Så visst, kanske du blir en bättre människa av en ny kashmirtröja i höst_.
> 
> _In 1) I would use "bits and pieces" or "tools". In 2) I would not call a Kashmir jumper (or any article of clothing) a "gadget". This reminded me of Imelda Marcos.
> 
> Perhaps the semantic range of _pryl _is wider than that of _gadget_, which is sometimes used for a special tool, but perhaps more often as an electronic device of some kind (e.g. a Blueberry).


To be honest, I think that pryl and gadget are very similar. Look at the OED definition of gadget:


> Used as an indefinite or general name for: a comparatively small fitting, contrivance, or piece of mechanism.


Your understanding of 1) is correct, partly. Prylar in plural often refer to a someone's tools/personal equipment/belongings, collectively. I wouldn't hesitate to ask my child to pick up all her stuff/bits and pieces (=prylar) off the living-room floor, where she'd strewn her assorted school books, PE gear and the contents of her pencil case. This sense, as far as I'm aware, is alive and kicking as we speak, and not obsolete in any way. However, I agree that gadgets probably wouldn't work in English in this context, and your bits and pieces would probably be the best translation equivalent. Tools would be OK in some cases, but it's a bit too formal for the colloquial register of prylar.

2) Prylsamhälle (acquisitive society): In this compound we have a wider use of pryl, in the sense of any goods that don't fulfil basic human needs - you don't need an expensive kashmir sweater to keep you warm, a cheap wollen sweater will do the job... I haven't found a good definition for prylsamhälle, so this is my understanding based on life experience.

I would agree, however, that pryl as in prylbög or gadget freak doesn't normally involve items of clothing, or Imelda Marcos' shoes, though accessories such as high-end brands of handbags or sunglasses might qualify if the behaviour is such as described above by cucuyo. Today, as you mentioned, most but not all of them would be electronic devices. I would include the Indian spike mat, definitely ! What is important, of course, is that prylbög is a pejorative word.

In the English Only thread I started yesterday there are also a couple of neutral/formal synonyms mentioned, such as early adopters and lighthouse customers. Link: Technojunkie, gadget freak

/Wilma


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## cocuyo

I recently found a near perfect counterpart in English for ""prylbög": gearfaggot 

It seems to be used mostly for photographic items as lenses and other paraphernalia that may be essential for taking photos, but to some become an obsession. In the word gearfaggot, the same connotation of "bög" (faggot) is used in the same sense.


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## e2efour

I assume that prylbög is a "respectable" word and might come from the lips of, say, Crown Princess Victoria.

I know nothing of "gear faggot", but it seems to be used in the "underworld" and often by bikers (motorcycle fanatics). The language used, if you google it, is rather crude.


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## Tjahzi

Ehm, I would not agree about the respectability of "prylbög". Personally, I cannot think of a situation in which I personally would use it. I consider it to be very informal, if not pure slang/belonging to certain sociolects, such as "prylbögar" talking among themselves and/or with other people similar to their kind.


Disclaimer: I did not read all of the posts above.


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## Ben Jamin

Beware all that may find themselves talking in Swedish to Norwegians! It may cause misunderstanding. Pryl means whipping or beating in Norwegian!


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## Wilma_Sweden

Ben Jamin said:


> Beware all that may find themselves talking in Swedish to Norwegians! It may cause misunderstanding. Pryl means whipping or beating in Norwegian!


Hehe, it does in Swedish, too. But to stay on topic, I'm more curious to find out what Norwegian word there may be with the same meaning, i.e. prylbög.


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## cocuyo

It is jargon, for sure, and maybe the term "gear faggotry" is more common than denominating someone a "gear faggot". Nevertheless, the Swedish term is very informal.


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## Ben Jamin

Wilma_Sweden said:


> Hehe, it does in Swedish, too. But to stay on topic, I'm more curious to find out what Norwegian word there may be with the same meaning, i.e. prylbög.


 I think it is techno freak. Anyway not used very much.


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## Pteppic

Ben Jamin said:


> I think it is techno freak. Anyway not used very much.



Or "teknofrik" with Norwegian spelling. You can also say that the person in question has "teknodilla". Other, less common options include "dingsenerd", "dingsofil", "duppedittgal" (adj.) etc.


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## Poposhka

I usually say "In Sweden we would call you a gadget faggot", then stare at them intently. Explaining will be necessary.


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## Lugubert

Wilma_Sweden said:


> Hehe, it does in Swedish, too. But to stay on topic, I'm more curious to find out what Norwegian word there may be with the same meaning, i.e. prylbög.


Rather, in _Southern_ Swedish. Elsewhere, it's prygel.

I think that nobody so far has mentioned what I think is the origin of pryl = gadget etc., namely pryl = awl. A synonym to (the tool) pryl is syl, which explains why you can hear sylar for gadgets in Stockholm.


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