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- "Brandmannen är drygt två met…
"Brandmannen är drygt två meter lång."
Translation:The firefighter is slightly more than two meters tall.
26 Comments
1446
Adding a link to an interesting newspaper article about the new usage of drygt: http://blog.svd.se/sprak/2012/04/16/dryga-metern-%E2%80%93-ar-det-95-eller-105-cm/
The author has asked 1000 people and 80% of them use drygt the traditional way, 13% think it means 'about' and 7% think it means 'slightly less than'.
It's not very practical if people start to change the meaning of words like this, and there is no other word that means drygt in Swedish, so the author recommends sticking to the traditional usage, I quote
Knappt = slightly less than
Ungefär = about
Drygt = slightly more than
As a native English speaker, this suggestion makes my inner book nerd very happy. The only potential problem I see is that "The firefighter was fully 2m tall" sounds rather expressive, like something I would read in a novel but wouldn't ever really say. Sometimes it might be a good, poetic translation, but...
1446
It's an adverb here, so it always ends in -t.
If it's used as an adjective, it means 'which lasts for a long time' about things, or something like 'stuck-up' about a person, and then it changes: Brandmannen är dryg 'The firefighter is stuck-up' but Brandmännen är dryga 'The firemen are stuck-up'.
I think in some cases "good" works for this in English, just like in German. In German it's knapp, ungefähr, gut (knappt, ungefär, drygt). In English you can say "it took a good two weeks" to mean something like "drygt". I am not sure though if that works for things other than time. Any native English speakers here to whom "he's a good two meters tall" sounds natural? I live in Canada but am not a native speaker, and I'd totally use that construction.
I agree with you. I’ve always seen it as a synonym for ”ungefär”, but this is a newer usage I think. I know many people have protested when I’ve used it to mean slightly less.
Also think of ”dryga ut” which is to add more, but not take away.
It’s the opposite of ”knappt” which is slightly less but not above. You can read more here.
1446
Totally agree, the around meaning is a new usage that has not (yet) spread to the point where it has to be accepted.