Oliver on Sweden and nudity

[Guest guest]

On the topic of Swedes and then non-euphemistic way of speaking about some things in Swedish, I came to think about this. It's Oliver's (the "naked chef", you know) take on Stockholm and Sweden in general, especially from a food and cooking perspective. And I'd agree with most things he says – well, I might not put the Surströmming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surströmming ) on top of my Swedish-herring-toplist (in fact, I don't eat it at all), but that's just me, and to each his own ; ) You can listen to Oliver here, it's a beautiful slide show too:http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/audioslideshow/2010/apr/26/jamie-oliver-does-stockholm-foodHowever, when he talks about sauna and nude outdoor swimming, and somehow immediately jumps to the conclusion that this is somehow sexual, because it is done without clothes on, I think that illustrates a difference between the Swedish and the English/British culture. To a Swede sex and nudity are not synonyms in that way. Some times the taking off of clothes may be purely practical: If you've ever tried to sit in a sauna with your clothes on, you'll know what I mean... And swimming naked in a lake or in the sea, is also a very practical thing: If you are alone at the lake, or if the only people around are friends and family, why bother with swimsuits? (especially if it's an after sauna swim: ever tried to

get a swimsuit on when you are soaked in sweat?...).I've always thought that language and culture are closely related, and now it seems that science is proving me right in that:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575383131592767868.html?mod=fox_australian (interesting article in the Wall Street Journal)OK. Musings on culture and language ends here. love/Reb