Swedish word of the day: kickoff
To be totally accurate, perhaps we should call this our Swenglish word of the day.
Kickoff is one of those words that looks English, sounds English, but has a specific Swedish context.
When used in English, the term kick-off (usually hyphenated) most often refers to the start of a sports event such as a football match, but can also refer more generally to the beginning of other events and activities.
The Swedish language uses the term avspark (from av meaning "off" and sparka meaning "kick") for the sporting sense, and can use the verb kicka igång to mean "to kick off/to start/to begin".
Meanwhile, in Swedish kickoff frequently refers to an activity held at the start of the business year, such as a conference, party, or team-building session, or perhaps a combination of the three. Although you'll also hear it in some other contexts, this is the most common.
It comes directly from the term "kick-off meeting" used in English to refer to the first meeting between a team working on a project and their client, to introduce them all and start project planning.
Kickoff has lost the hyphen which you'd see in English, because of the tendency in Swedish to favour compound nouns over hyphenated nouns.
- Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading The Local's new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button
These events usually take place at the start of the year, or in late August or early September, around the same time as the start of the academic or school year. That's largely due to the fact that many employees in Sweden choose to take the main chunk of their holiday allowance in July, both to coincide with school holidays and because Sweden's Annual Leave Act safeguards their right to do this.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about annual leave in Sweden
After the summer or Christmas break, many workers are getting back into the swing of things after a few weeks' rest, while companies are also likely to be welcoming new employees. A kickoff event is a chance to set out the company's goals and priorities for the year ahead; some go all-out and make the event a huge party or even an international trip.
And so kickoff joins the ranks of words like afterwork; words which come from English but have a distinctly Swedish meaning.
Examples
Syftet med en kickoff är att stärka teamkänslan
The goal of a kick-off event is to increase team spirit
Mitt företag har planerat vår kickoff utomlands i år
My company has planned our kick-off event overseas this year
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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Kickoff is one of those words that looks English, sounds English, but has a specific Swedish context.
When used in English, the term kick-off (usually hyphenated) most often refers to the start of a sports event such as a football match, but can also refer more generally to the beginning of other events and activities.
The Swedish language uses the term avspark (from av meaning "off" and sparka meaning "kick") for the sporting sense, and can use the verb kicka igång to mean "to kick off/to start/to begin".
Meanwhile, in Swedish kickoff frequently refers to an activity held at the start of the business year, such as a conference, party, or team-building session, or perhaps a combination of the three. Although you'll also hear it in some other contexts, this is the most common.
It comes directly from the term "kick-off meeting" used in English to refer to the first meeting between a team working on a project and their client, to introduce them all and start project planning.
Kickoff has lost the hyphen which you'd see in English, because of the tendency in Swedish to favour compound nouns over hyphenated nouns.
- Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading The Local's new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button
These events usually take place at the start of the year, or in late August or early September, around the same time as the start of the academic or school year. That's largely due to the fact that many employees in Sweden choose to take the main chunk of their holiday allowance in July, both to coincide with school holidays and because Sweden's Annual Leave Act safeguards their right to do this.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about annual leave in Sweden
After the summer or Christmas break, many workers are getting back into the swing of things after a few weeks' rest, while companies are also likely to be welcoming new employees. A kickoff event is a chance to set out the company's goals and priorities for the year ahead; some go all-out and make the event a huge party or even an international trip.
And so kickoff joins the ranks of words like afterwork; words which come from English but have a distinctly Swedish meaning.
Examples
The goal of a kick-off event is to increase team spirit
Mitt företag har planerat vår kickoff utomlands i år
My company has planned our kick-off event overseas this year
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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