MovieChat Forums > Masjävlar (2004) Discussion > Why named 'Masjavlar'?

Why named 'Masjavlar'?

posted 17 years ago by odonnell_matthew
10 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone know why this film is called "Masjavlar" in the UK?
What does "Masjavlar" actually mean?

Matt.

[–] frblom 17 years ago

The english titel is "Dalecarlians". It´s the name of the people living in this region in Sweden.

[–] odonnell_matthew 17 years ago

So is "Masjavlar" the Swedish word for people who live in this region?

Nope - 'Jävlar' is quite strong, more like bastards. Dalecarlians is not a translation, more a totally different title for the English-speaking market. In Finnish it is translated "Back to the Countryside".

[–] odonnell_matthew 16 years ago

Thanks - now I understand, and can sleep in peace (this had been bothering me for some time...)

[–] m_ats 16 years ago

Though "Jävlar" has been explained (stemming from djävul; which means devil, and by extension and plural : devil-like, damned, bastards, etc), "Mas" hasn't been explained yet. It is an abbreviation of "Mats", a name so typical in Dalarna (Dalecarlia).

[–] Kung_JK 16 years ago

Mas = a person who's living in Dalarna, Sweden. (Used by everyone else except the people in question) :)
Jävlar = bastards.

There you have it, straight from the horses mouth :)

[–] urabutln 16 years ago

Dalecarlia is the English word for the people from this place.
Dalmasar is the Swedish word.

Masjävlar combines the word 'Mas' with the word 'Jävlar', and it ends up being something like 'Mas-bastards'.
Perhaps a British equivalent would be *beep* or Mancunian b****rds.

[–] Momaboy 16 years ago

"Dalmasar is the Swedish word."

No, it isn't. It's just masar. The word "dalmas" is a tautology. If you want to use dal-, then you should use the word dalkarl.

[–] widoff 16 years ago

Not Swedish? It has just been used since 1850! (According to Nationalencyklopedins ordbok) The fact that it's a tautology in respect of etymology and the special meaning of "mas" (from Mats), doesn't make it unswedish. And you could easily interpret the word as composed of "dal" and "Mats", and then its not even a tautology any more. So take your stuck-up comments elsewhere.

[–] MartinP666 12 years ago

He is correct though, dalecarlia stems from dalkarl, not from dalmas.