Comparle

Swedishblind word

fika

FEE-kah[ˈfiːka]

Pronunciation: Peter Isotalo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

the shared coffee break, with something sweet on the side

Closest in English: coffee-break, coffeebreak, elevenses. None of them covers it.

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The story

The word is nineteenth-century back slang: kaffi, an old word for coffee, with its syllables flipped. In Sweden it is close to compulsory: twice a day the whole office sits down, cinnamon bun included. English calls it a coffee break and eats at the keyboard.

How it went in the game

Contains the answers. If you want to play the word yourself first, leave this closed.

  1. Which language is it from?Swedish
  2. When is it sacred?Mid-morning and again mid-afternoon
  3. How does it sound to Swedes?Completely ordinary, twice a day
  4. What does it mean?A shared pause with a bun and a hot drink

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