Lagom

Template:Short description {{#invoke:Listen|main}} Lagom (pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, Template:Respell) is a Swedish word meaning Template:Gloss or Template:Gloss.

The word can be variously translated as Template:Gloss, Template:Gloss, Template:Gloss, Template:Gloss, Template:Gloss and Template:Gloss (in matter of amounts). Whereas words like sufficient and average suggest some degree of abstinence, scarcity, or failure, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} carries the connotation of appropriateness, although not necessarily perfection. The archetypical Swedish proverb "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}", literally Template:Gloss, is also translated as Template:Gloss,<ref name="guardian">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or as Template:Gloss.<ref>Prisma's Stora Engelska Ordbok, 1995.</ref>

Etymology

The origin of the term is an archaic dative plural form of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Gloss), in this case referring not necessarily to judicial law but common-sense law. Literally meaning Template:Gloss, a more close translation would be Template:Gloss or Template:Gloss.<ref name="ursprung">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The earliest attestations of the word are from 17th-century texts.<ref name="mörka">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A common false etymology claims that it is a contraction of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Gloss); according to this myth, the phrase was used in Viking times to specify how much mead one should drink from the horn as it was passed around in order for everyone to receive a fair share.<ref name="ursprung" />

Use

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is most often used as an adverb, as in the sentence "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" (literally Template:Gloss). {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} can also be used as an adjective: "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" (literally Template:Gloss), which would be equivalent to Template:Gloss. The adjective form is never inflected.

Cultural significance

The value of "just enough" can be compared to the idiom "less is more", or contrasted to the value of "more is better". It is viewed favorably as a sustainable alternative to the hoarding extremes of consumerism: "Why do I need more than two? {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} [It is] {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}"<ref>AtKisson, Alan. The Right Amount, 2000.</ref> It can also be viewed as repressive: "You're not supposed to be too good, or too rich".<ref>Gustavsson, 1995.</ref>

In a single word, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is said to describe the basis of the Swedish national psyche, one of consensus and equality. "My aunt used to hold out her closed fist and say, "How much can you get in this hand? It's much easier to get something in this [open] hand".<ref>Silberman, Steve. The Hot New Medium: Paper. 2001</ref>

Comparable terms in other languages

Template:More citations needed section The word "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" also exists in Norwegian, in both Bokmål and Nynorsk. The connotations in Norwegian, however, are somewhat different from Swedish. In Norwegian the word has synonyms as Template:Gloss. While some synonyms are somewhat similar in meaning (e.g. Template:Gloss and Template:Gloss, Template:Gloss and Template:Gloss), many present in Swedish do not exist in Norwegian and vice versa. The Norwegian words {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and the more common {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} are very similar, translating roughly as Template:Gloss in English. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} can be used in every context where the Swedish {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is used, e.g. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Gloss), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Gloss), etc.

Finnish has the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which carries similar connotations of Template:Gloss.

The concept of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is similar to the Russian or Ukrainian expression {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, literally Template:Gloss), which indicates a sufficient and sustainable state, for example of one's livelihood. In Russian, the word is often used as an answer to the question "how are you?". Polish {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} means the same as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. Comparable terms are found in some south Slavic languages, for example Serbo-Croatian {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. In Slovakian, the expression {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is used.

Ιn ancient Greek, there was the famous phrase of Cleobulus, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), meaning Template:Gloss.

In Albanian, the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} has the same meaning. It is derived from Ottoman Turkish {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} meaning Template:Gloss, borrowed from Arabic where it means Template:Gloss. In Albanian it is used in essentially the same way as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, as in "a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} amount", "not a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} person" (Template:Gloss), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Gloss), etc. The word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is also used in some Slavic languages (South Slavic) and almost perfectly translates {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} to those languages.

In Thai, the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) expresses a similar meaning.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In Indonesia, both Indonesian and Javanese, there is a common word for it, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which means Template:Gloss.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In Swiss German dialects, similar to {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, is the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; in German, the term means something like Template:Gloss in the case of objects, or in relation to people and conditions Template:Gloss.

See also

• Centrism, a political ideology
• Festina lente
• Gezellig
• Golden mean (philosophy)
• Goldilocks principle
• Hygge
• Law of Jante
• Mathematical optimization, choosing not too high, not too low values of input parameters in view to maximize/minimize an objective function
• Moderate, a middle position in a left/right political scale
• Moderation, eliminating or lessening extremes
• Simple living
• Slow movement
• Social model
• The Story of the Three Bears
• Sweden: The Middle Way
• Sweet spot
• Via media, the philosophy of the 'middle way'
• Wasat (Islamic term)

External links

• Template:Wikiquote-inline
• The Swedish Academy's dictionary, Svenska Akademiens ordbok.