The word that awakened my inner language police: 'Älskansvärd' vs. 'älskvärd'

In a personal reflection, a Swedish language commentator, who playfully refers to himself as the "language police," discusses his evolving relationship with the Swedish language and his past decision to step back from actively policing its boundaries. He recounts a childhood memory of his father using the phrase "ska du hänga på?" (will you hang along?) instead of "ska du hänga med?" (will you come along?), which struck him as odd at the time but ultimately led him to accept that language evolves.

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Jag är alltså i grunden positiv till språkomvandlig.

This acceptance, he explains, is why readers have been spared "Herr B" headlines lamenting grammatical errors or the misuse of pronouns. He generally supports linguistic change, believing that if a new usage is functional, it will persist; otherwise, it will fade away. This perspective has often provided him comfort when tempted to criticize linguistic novelties.

However, the commentator finds himself unable to remain silent on a specific issue: the blurring of the lines between "älskansvärd" and "älskvärd." He notes that "älskansvärd" means "worthy of love," while "älskvärd" translates to "extremely kind" or "making a generally pleasant impression." He first noticed this confusion in the podcast Tuttosvenskan (now 90MinSvenskan), where football personalities were frequently described as "älskvärd" when the intended meaning was clearly "älskansvärd," as evidenced by a player being called "älskvärt svinig" (lovably obnoxious).

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Men nu kan jag inte hålla mig. Och den språkkulle jag väljer att dö på är denna: Låt inte ”älskansvärd” och ”älskvärd” flyta i hop! Hmpff! Bara det första betyder värd att älska.

This conflation has since appeared elsewhere, even in Dagens Nyheter, where a review's headline mistakenly used "älskvärd" when the text originally stated "älskansvärd." The commentator argues that this distinction is significant, as it reflects a broader trend where words are losing their nuanced meanings. He laments that while he has been contemplating these two beautiful words and their subtle differences, the world seems to be moving towards their "offensive opposites."

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För medan jag har funderat på dessa två vackra ord, med sina fina, glidande betydelser, har jag inte ägnat ett ögonblick åt att världen just nu rör sig mot deras stötande motsatser.