Dec 30, 2008 18:23
15 yrs ago
Swedish term
United States
the long slow road to the perfect text
Native in: English 
Works in: Swedish to English, Spanish to English
gruvkusar
May offend
Swedish to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
From a novel.
Slang/ literary invention to describe a bunch of somewhat rough mineworker types, in contrast to the middle-class/ bourgeois students... Turn of the century...
In English?
JÄVLA GRUVKUSAR! ropade mina "klasskamrater".
...
"Gruvkusarna" var malmvaskare och gick nattskift.
Slang/ literary invention to describe a bunch of somewhat rough mineworker types, in contrast to the middle-class/ bourgeois students... Turn of the century...
In English?
JÄVLA GRUVKUSAR! ropade mina "klasskamrater".
...
"Gruvkusarna" var malmvaskare och gick nattskift.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +3 | derogatory term for 'miners' |
Anders Dalström
|
Proposed translations
+3
28 mins
Anders Dalström
Sweden
Sweden
Native in Swedish
Sweden
EN, DE, LA -> SV
Native in: Swedish 
Works in: English to Swedish, German to Swedish, Latin to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
derogatory term for 'miners'
I'm fairly sure there's no equivalent to this in English. The word itself means very little taken out of context, but here it is clearly meant to be a derogatory term for people who work in the mines. They're being considered as worth less than other workers by the class mates who say this. 'Kuse' in the north of Sweden means 'louse' or a similarly harmful small insect (in the south it's colloquial for 'horse'... Hope this helps.
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Note added at 4 days (2009-01-04 11:52:24 GMT) Post-grading
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As most mines are in the north of Sweden I would say 'kusar' doesn't refer to horses. 'Minerats' does have a nice ring to it and it also brings out the image of scurrying around in the drifts.
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Note added at 4 days (2009-01-04 11:52:24 GMT) Post-grading
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As most mines are in the north of Sweden I would say 'kusar' doesn't refer to horses. 'Minerats' does have a nice ring to it and it also brings out the image of scurrying around in the drifts.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Hugh Curtis
: Yes, bloody colliers
12 mins
|
| neutral |
Thomas Johansson
: miner bums ??
4 hrs
|
| agree |
EKM
:
17 hrs
|
| agree |
Anna Herbst
1 day 11 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you Anders. Someone else had suggested "minerats", which I kind of like the sound of... unless the original is a reference to horses or them being 'beasts of burden', which I am still uncertain of..."
Discussion