Lagom

Lagom is kind of like the “Swedish motto” or way of life. It does not have a direct English translation, but can roughly be translated into meaning “just enough” or even “not too much not too little”. Back in the times of the vikings the etymological translation was “around the team” meaning that there was just enough food/drink for everyone at the table. In todays society lagom has almost infinite translations, meanings, uses etc which is part of the reason that I think the word is so cool.

“How are you” can be answered with lagom. The weather can be lagom, even someones height can be lagom.

The term really just means balance/moderation. It does not mean perfection, or lack there of, it is simply a feeling. It is very hard to describe what lagom means actually because it completely depends on the person, context, etc. What lagom may mean to one, could be something completely different to another.

I feel as though I am really failing at trying to describe what this special Swedish word means, but I hope you all at least kind of are making some sense of my word vomit. For me lagom is not only a cool, versatile word that can be used almost anywhere, but it also symbolizes Sweden’s core cultural ideas of social fairness, equality, and living life in moderation.