Värsta språket explained

Presenter:Fredrik Lindström
Country:Sweden
Language:Swedish
Num Seasons:2
Producer:Sveriges Television
Runtime:30 minutes
Network:SVT2

Värsta språket (Swedish: "The Worst Language" (figuratively "The coolest language"))[1] was a Swedish television series about the Swedish language. The series, which was hosted by Fredrik Lindström and produced by Karin af Klintberg, was broadcast on SVT between October 2002 and April 2003. The series discussed issues with the Swedish language in an entertaining way.

After two seasons, Fredrik Lindström claimed that the attention from the programme was a burden to him and that he would no longer host it anymore. The show was therefore put on hiatus. Lindström did however return with another language-related series called Svenska dialektmysterier in 2006.

Lindström and af Klintberg were given Stora journalistpriset for the programme.

Much of what was mentioned in the show is recorded and can be read in Lindström's two books: Världens dåligaste språk ("The World's baddest [sic!] language"[2]) and Jordens smartaste ord ("The smartest words on Earth").

See also

Notes

  1. With a slang meaning of "värsta", the title could be interpreted both as worst or best.
  2. As English, the Swedish language uses a different stem for the comparative and superlative of this adjective; the correct superlative of dålig, "bad", is "sämsta" in written language, not dåligaste.