[Image description: a perfectly round peeled bulb of garlic on a cutting board, with unpeeled normal cloves behind it.]

    • stoy@lemmy.zip
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      5 months ago

      Here is another mildy interesting fact, in Swedish we group onions and garlic together by using the word “lök” with a color and different spacing to differentiate them:

      “lök” - onion

      “gul lök” - onion or yellow onion

      “rödlök” - red onion

      “vitlök” - garlic

      We never talk about “vit lök”, it doesn’t really exist as a concept in Swedish, but we have more types of “lök”…

      “gräslök” directly translates to “grass onion”, but the proper translation is “chives”

      “prujolök” is the Swedish name for “leek”

      • Skua@kbin.earth
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        5 months ago

        Garlic, onions, chives, and leeks (plus shallots, spring onions / scallions, and ramsons) are actually very closely related, being part of the same allium genus. That’s the same level of closeness as dogs to wolves, for example my example is bad, see AlotOfReading below

        • AlotOfReading@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Dogs and wolves are the same species (Canis Lupus), not just members of the same genus. Genus Allium is much bigger than genus Canis (over 800 species) and its members are much less closely related to each other. The common food species are at least evolutionary cousins though, unlike other parts of the category. The onions and chives all share subgenus Cepa, while garlic and leeks are off in subgenus Allium.

          • Skua@kbin.earth
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            5 months ago

            Ahh, I think I was misled by reading Canis familiaris. Thanks for the correction

      • mommykink@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        i love swedish. i drive an old volvo every day and frequently end up on weird SE-language forums as a result.

          • viking@infosec.pub
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            5 months ago

            Yes, hvitløk = vitlök in Swedish. It’s the same word really (the h is silent), and ø (Norwegian, Danish) = ö (Swedish, Finnish, German).

            • stoy@lemmy.zip
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              5 months ago

              Ah, I think you missed the spacing when I said that “vit lök” wasn’t a thing in Swedish, “vitlök” is as you say “garlic”, and is a common word

        • stoy@lemmy.zip
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          5 months ago

          “vitlök” - garlic

          “vit lök” - “white onion”

          White onions does not exist.

          • tacosplease@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            We use white onions for Mexican food here in the US. I guess it’s obscure enough that they aren’t used in Europe. Not a huge taste difference between white and yellow onions.

            • stoy@lemmy.zip
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              5 months ago

              Allmost…

              lukter is incorrect, it is luktar instead.

              The other Swedish words are correct, even if we seldom use “skitgott”, unless you are 5-10 years old or so.

              The normal word is “jättegott”

              • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                I screw it up because I use it in both Norwegian and swedish. It’s du lukter dritgodt in Norwegian. I generally forget how to properly spell “drag it to hell” between the two. And in my heart I’m 5-10.

      • vaionko@sopuli.xyz
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        5 months ago

        Exactly the same in Finnish also. I wonder if these words came from Swedish into Finnish, even though our languages share different ancestors. I imagine all these onions came a lot after the base Swedish / Finnish was already established.

      • HonkyTonkWoman@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        What about Shallots? Do they also have a lök name?

        E: Nevermind, just saw your response below!

      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        We never talk about “vit lök”, it doesn’t really exist as a concept in Swedish,

        Do you mean to say there isn’t garlic in Sweden??

        • stoy@lemmy.zip
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          5 months ago

          As I said, garlic is called “vitlök”, not “vit lök”

          “Vit lök” means “white onion”, and does not exist

          • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Given what you wrote, my question makes sense. Not sure why I was downvoted for a reasonable question.

            • stoy@lemmy.zip
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              5 months ago

              Because I just explained it and even noted the spacing difference between “vitlök” and “vit lök”

              • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                You didn’t explain it originally. You could have easily but you didn’t. Apologies for being curious. I do know that most Swedes aren’t jerks.

                • stoy@lemmy.zip
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                  5 months ago

                  I try to not be a jerk, and this is what I wrote in my inital comment in this thread.

                  we group onions and garlic together by using the word “lök” with a color and different spacing to differentiate them:

                  So yes, I did mention the spacing

                  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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                    5 months ago

                    No one said you didn’t.

                    “vitlök” - garlic

                    We never talk about “vit lök”, it doesn’t really exist as a concept in Swedish, but we have more types of “lök”…

                    You did not define what it means with the space though, and you were kind of arrogant when I asked.

                    Not to mention it doesn’t really make sense to say there is a term for something that doesn’t exist. Which btw does exist. Most onions are white. So either get better at explaining or have patience with a question. I actually wanted to know. I intended to come across in a joking way because I obviously know garlic is used worldwide these days.