Meme illustrating the phrase Hacerse el Sueco with Spanish and Swedish flags, showing a person pretending not to understand and another looking indifferent.

Hacerse el Sueco: The Curious Story Behind Spain’s Phrase About the Swedes

Hacerse el Sueco: The Curious Story Behind Spain’s Phrase About the Swedes In languages across the world, certain expressions embed stereotypes, histories, and cultural assumptions, often in ways that surprise those they describe. In Spain, one such phrase is “hacerse el sueco”, literally, “to act like a Swede.” Yet the meaning has little to do…