"Indira" is at this page says an Indian name and also the name of an India-inspired IKEA bedspread. But bedspred in Swedish would be "överkast" which would translate directly as "over throw" but could also be read as "over caste". From a Swedish PoV the Indian caste system looks like a social ranking system and to Swedes one of the most famous (and thus presumably socially high ranking) Indians "just happened" to be named... Indira.
Or the "Poäng" chair, which sounds like "Po eng" meaning tight on the butt.
The bit connecting Indira Gandhi to a high/”over” caste is a bit more tenuous to me, I’d just have thought the idea was as simple as caste -> India -> Indian name (Indira), but it’s certainly possible.
https://www.facebook.com/IKEASingapore/posts/129956202012053...
> We’re about to transform Småland from a playground into a ‘press-play-ground’!
> Our studies of children's play habits reveal that today's kids prefer tablets to physical activity. So we're replacing the magical forest with a haven of sitting pods with tablets—recreating the way your kids play.
Edit: I guess it might be an April fools' joke, though timezone differences show it as March 30 for me: https://mashable.com/article/ikea-trolls-everyone. Man am I tired of corporate April fools. It's lame and literally never ends.
IKEA also originates from Småland, but not sure that matters in this case.
In general I'd agree with you, as they're usually blatant PR attempts instead of actual pranks, but some of the comments on that Facebook link are glorious.
https://offerup.com/item/detail/33576960
I still have mine, almost 20 years later. It's currently my 4yo's bed.
What really surprised me though is that Ikea apparently has another item called Dromminge. It's a wall lamp that looks like a balloon:
https://www.ikeaddict.com/ikeapedia/en/Product/40330895/ca-e...
Why on earth would they recycle the name? Did they run out of Swedish words? What does it mean?
> https://offerup.com/item/detail/33576960
On a slightly different topic, it sucks that Ikea seems to delete the information about discontinued products. They really should keep it online (with manuals, etc).
[1]: https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=Dr%C3%B6mminge#ma...
Do not, under any circumstances, trust Google Translate to give you a reasonable answer.
Also note product names are not the same in different countries. My favourite is electrical extension cord KOPPLA what is similar to "kopla" - past tense of verb to give electric shock.
Skulle to kunna koppla i sladden?
Can you plug in the cable.
So I just think it's a coincident
> Beds, hall furniture and wardrobes are named after town and cities in Norway such as Asker, Ulsberg and Klubbo. The rugs at IKEA are named after places in Denmark, so expect to see names like Hellum, Elverdam and Nysted. Finland rounds out the Scandinavian neighbors with having dining tables and chairs named after places like Pello, Bredskär and Harola.
https://ortnamnsregistret.isof.se/place-names/1304478?place-...
Bergsbo - could be a made-up town name, but it could also roughly be translated to "mountain dweller".
Bertby - Would literally translate to Bert (Swedish boy's name) village.
Biby - Bee village.
Billsta - -sta is a common suffix for places in Sweden.
Bjurön - Bjur is an old name for beaver, and the name literally translates to Beaver Island. Furthermore, bjur is (according to the Swedish National Encyclopedia) a common prefix used in village names. https://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/encyklopedi/l%C3%A5ng/bjur.
I'm Swedish and I didn't know this was an actual name. The word is more well-known here as a slang term for police (it's mainly used in immigrant-dense areas).
I'm also from Sweden and I have never ever heard "aina" used as a slang word, much less for the police. I believe you, but, as for "more well-known", I will go with "Doubt" on that one.
But I've heard of the name and am surprised that there are people who haven't. I'm pretty sure it's a Finnish name (but cf. Anna, Anya, etc..). You sometimes see it spelled "Ajna", which probably is a Swedification.
But I do agree that probably today "Aina" is more familiar to people (born after the 90s at least) as a nickname for the police. First times I came across it I think was from Swedish gangsta rap songs, where the phrase "Aina, La hora" seems to be a popular phrase, something that I think would be translated to "The cops, The whores" or something like that.
Slightly disappointed it's not on the list...
Or "Appelkaka", the Apple-Cake. "Kaka" sounds like the word for vulgar word for excrements....
Or the Ikea "Jerker", which is a desk
Jerker is just a name, surely not limited to Sweden.
*It can be “related to Gotland” I guess but that’s a stretch.
I looked briefly at the list, and didn't see anything that stood out, btw. Native Swedish speaker here.
<script type="text/fikascript">
om (x < 5) {
konsol.log("hej!");
} annars {
konsol.log("nej!");
}
</script>And then there was a scene (in the second book, IIRC), where there literally is a listing of products from the IKEA catalog.
But a couple of chapters later there is a scene when Blomkvist visits the place and the description through his POV is totally different. It shows how different these two perceive the world.
Beyond these groups, there is a curious taxonomy of product names.
● Bathroom items: Names of Swedish lakes and bodies of water
● Linens: Flowers and plants
● Bedroom and Living Room Furniture: Norwegian places
● Bookcases: Professions and Scandinavian boy’s names
● Bowls and Vases: Swedish place names, adjectives, spices, herbs, fruits, and berries
● Boxes, Pictures, and Wall Decorations: Swedish slang expressions and Swedish place names
● Children’s Products: Mammals, birds, adjectives
● Desks and Chairs: Scandinavian boy’s names
● Fabrics and Curtains: Scandinavian girl’s names
● Outdoor Furniture: Scandinavian islands
● Kitchen Accessories: Fish, mushrooms and adjectives
● Lighting: Units of measurement, seasons, months, days, shipping and nautical terms, Swedish place names
● Rugs: Danish place names
● Sofas, Chairs and Dining Sets: Swedish place names
There was also some brouhaha a while ago, about product names for floor coverings, like doormats used as placeholders for an 'in-joke'.
>Academics in Denmark have accused Ikea of “Swedish imperialism” because it names cheaper products such as doormats after Danish places.
They claim that more expensive items such as chairs and beds are named after Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian towns, while cheaper items such as draught excluders have been given Danish town names.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/mar/08/danish...