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America needs to introduce the cultural concept  that the Swedes call logom

Lagom. :)

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 at 03:42:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Thanks.

This explains why I have such a hard time find information on it.

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 at 03:43:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Is that related to the danish work "lokum"?

The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill
by r------ on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 at 03:49:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I have no idea what lokum means.

Lagom is "tilpas" in Danish.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 at 04:33:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
synonym of udhus, that's probably the same in swedish.

my danish is rusty as all hell and never was all that good, but when i was learning it, my friends got me to think the polite way to ask directions to it was to say jeg skal på lokum, (the equivalent of which would be to say: où sont vos chiottes ...)

The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill

by r------ on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 at 04:57:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
For those who haven't been in contact with the word, here is the Wikipedia entry with the relevant passage bolded.

Lagom is a Swedish word with no direct English equivalent.

The Lexin Swedish-English dictionary defines lagom as "enough, sufficient, adequate, just right." Lagom is also widely translated as "in moderation," "in balance," "optimal," "suitable," and "average." But whereas words like "sufficient" and "average" suggest some degree of abstinence, scarcity, or failure, lagom carries the connotation of perfection or appropriateness. The archetypical Swedish proverb "Lagom är bäst," literally "Lagom is best," is translated as "Enough is as good as a feast" in the Lexin dictionary. That same proverb is translated as "There is virtue in moderation" in Prismas Stora Engelska Ordbok (1995).



Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 at 04:36:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Try this as a close equivalent:
sufficiency
1.    the state or fact of being sufficient; adequacy.
2.    a sufficient number or amount; enough.
3.    adequate provision or supply, esp. of wealth.

Policies not Politics
---- Daily Landscape
by rdf (robert.feinman@gmail.com) on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 at 05:27:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The most interesting thing is that it means both "optimal", "sufficient" and "average"...

Books have been writen about this subject, and debates have raged. :)

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 at 08:21:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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