h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am surprised that paralysis in Swedish bushes is not thought of as "Valhalla".

Hmmm... Smart thinking...
The whole Nirvana thing is a quote from one of my friends though.
I'll think of that the next time I write such a thing.

I prefer Finland myself. Same climate, but they make good Vodka

I was speaking to a couple of Finnish girls the other day who were trying to persuade me that Denmark wasn't technically a part of Scandanavia, and neither for that matter, was Finland. Please clarify this for me someone.

Denmark isn`t part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, I dont know about Finland, but it still makes good vodka, and wemen

Are there any swedes in this discussion at all? I'm from sweden and I'd be glad to answer all your questions. (Finland is not a part of the scandinavian peninsula and sweden makes far better vodka.)

I am a Swede and I agree with Jules, Swedish vodka is better than Finnish. There is nothing wrong with the latter though...

Hello Skyman - I assume you are refering to your nationality and not that princely relative of the turnip that goes well with carrots. Anyhow - greetings. What I want to know is, how come you get a smiley face? Anything to do with Swedish Vodka?

I was told by an attractive Finish girl that Finland produced 5 world class exports; Ski jumpers, Rally Drivers,
hockey sticks, something I can't remember (possibly mosquitos) and Vodka. In my travels, I've had the opportunity
to try Swedish and Finish Vodka. They are both very good. What we need is a taste testing where everybody brings
a bottle of Swedish and a bottle of Finish vodka and we decide this debate once and for all and hope that somebody
remembers the result the following morning...

I think you were right when you said mosquitos. Apparently, there is an annual festival in some part of Finland where the whole village strip down to their undies and charge down to the local swamp to see who can kill the most mozzies in a certain time without contracting malaria.....sounds fantastic. Has anyone ever been to witness this?

...

Unexplainable. Both Denmark and Finland are part of scandinavia, although I'm puzzled as to why Finland is.
One can at least understand a word or two in a Danish sntence, but Finnish is absolutely uncomprehensible.
I know, because my mother-in-law is finnish and we tend to go there every once in a while.

Is your wife not Finnish as well then? How does she feel about being labelled as "incomprehensible" by her own husband?

No, she's born in Sweden, and her dad's a swede. Even she doesn't understand the language. And mind you, I didn't refer to any finnish person as incomprehensible as an individual. I'm merely saying that Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and even (but to a smaller extent) Icelandic have words and phrases in common, but finnish has not.

So how many words do you have for "snow", then - or is that just an urban myth?

I think the Greenlanders (technically Danish) have the most words for snow... 18 or so according to the book Ms Smilla's Feeling for Snow. In Sweden we pretty much have equivalents to the English words for snow, sleet, slush, whatever... and as far as I know, neither Finland nor Denmark are part of Scandinavia. The name is derived from the name of the mountain range Skanderna ("the Scandies") and last time I checked mountains were rare in Denmark... "Himmelsbjerget" is supposedly the tallest at a mere 300 meters or so... However, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Finland form the Nordic Union or the Nordic Countries.

Cheers
Magnus

I thought it refered to that time ABBA stopped dancing suddenly?

AG

A sad day, Arbie my friend, when ABBA decided to hang up the sequins.

Well, no World Cup for the Swedish ladies. They played a hard game against Norway (better than the effort against Australia), but the Norwegians were just too strong.

Will Swedish supporters be cheering for Norway in their semi-final match with China; or does the rivalry run too deep?

I protest and demand that this test includes the Norwegian "Vikingfjord" vodka as well.
(Yes, the rivalry goes deep)