It has been a while since a proper non-English word has featured in A Word on Vocabulary. There are some things in life that just cannot be expressed in English—at least not as beautifully as in other languages. For example, your special place, your treasured safe haven. What do you call it in English? The Swedes have a word for it: smultroställe.
Meaning: a special place where one goes for relaxation, to unwind, to get away from it all, or to find solace; a place, physical or mental, that is free from stress or sadness.
Origin: from the Swedish smultrostället, which literally means “a place of wild strawberries” or “the wild strawberry patch”.
Example: “The apiary was her smultroställe, where she would go to watch the bees and let their peaceful labour settle her tumultuous heart.”
Everyone should have a place where they can go to for peace. Some visit libraries and get lost in the shelves of books, savouring the aroma of aging paper. Others are fortunate enough to have a garden. Some of you may even have a sentimental location that reminds you of a lost loved one, perhaps that tree in the park where you carved your names in a love heart. Wherever your smultroställe is, may it remain as your treasured spot, untouched by the world and its problems.
