# Swedish Chef on The Muppets: Real Swedish or Gibberish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223 "2008-04-13T23:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/21 "2008-04-14T09:55:25Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] In high school a Swedish foreign exchange student said Swedish Chef sounded Norwegian. EDIT (because I know someone will say something): He didn’t mean that he was actually speaking Norwegian; just that he sounded Norwegian. [/QUOTE] He definitely sounds more Norwegian than Swedish. ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/22 "2008-04-14T09:57:47Z")
[QUOTE=jnglmassiv] That’s basically the same thing as the commercial for the 1988 Swedish Chef cereal, [Croonchy Stars (Wiki link)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%B6onchy_Stars). [Youtube link to commercial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%B6onchy_Stars) Ooh..scroompshious. [/QUOTE] That just added a new expression to my vocabulary: _gratuitous umlauts._ Thank you! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/23 "2008-04-14T09:59:20Z")
Back when my wife was working in Manhattan’s Russian Tea Room (right up until it last closed in 2002), her boss, the pastry chef, was an actual Swede. Ever so often she’s sneak up behind him, say “Bork bork bork!” and run away. He never got the joke. “Vat is this ‘bork bork bork’ you keep on sayink!?” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/24 "2008-04-14T12:26:08Z")
[QUOTE=Grammanaut] That just added a new expression to my vocabulary: _gratuitous umlauts._ Thank you! 😃 [/QUOTE] You can thank me; I’m the one who added that to the article. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/25 "2008-04-14T12:34:10Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] A Swedish Doper once told us that in Sweden, the character is called “The Norwegian Chef”. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard this before. I think it’s a conspiracy that I was never let in on. This Swede has never heard him referred to as anything other than Swedish. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/26 "2008-04-14T13:12:08Z")
[QUOTE=Grammanaut] That just added a new expression to my vocabulary: _gratuitous umlauts._ Thank you! 😃 [/QUOTE] Band name ! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/27 "2008-04-14T13:20:12Z")
“Ask your doctor about Borkivia ™ for gratutious umlauts.” ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/28 "2008-04-14T14:03:49Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] Wow, if I had known that stuff existed, I would have BEGGED my mother for it. Dang it. [/QUOTE] It was pretty good too. We had it several times before they stopped selling it. ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/29 "2008-04-14T14:16:30Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] You can thank me; I’m the one who added that to the article. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Thänk **yöü!** ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/30 "2008-04-14T15:37:05Z")
Darn, I’d have bought Croonchy Stars, too, if I had known they existed. The Swedish Chef is one of my favorite muppets. I have a SC doll who I had hanging on the wall near my kitchen but he fell down. His apron got dirty so I have to wash it. I don’t know how it got dirty, maybe he was cooking when I wasn’t home? That would explain why my kitchen is so messy.\* \*Or it could be because I don’t clean it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/31 "2008-04-14T16:49:09Z")
[QUOTE=Myglaren] Band name ! [/QUOTE] Except that, if you used it as a band name, it would obviously have to _have_ gratuitous umlauts. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/32 "2008-04-14T17:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Except that, if you used it as a band name, it would obviously have to _have_ gratuitous umlauts. [/QUOTE] I’m sure you meant to say “gratüitoüs ümlaüts”. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/33 "2008-04-14T17:36:44Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] I’m sure you meant to say “gratüitoüs ümlaüts”. [/QUOTE] I think you’d need the umlauts over the g and the m, instead of the u’s. A slash through the o wouldn’t be amiss, either. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/34 "2008-04-14T17:41:34Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] I think you’d need the umlauts over the g and the m, instead of the u’s. A slash through the o wouldn’t be amiss, either. [/QUOTE] And a pretentious “æ” (“grætuitous”) would go quite nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/35 "2008-04-14T17:43:20Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] I think you’d need the umlauts over the g and the m, instead of the u’s. A slash through the o wouldn’t be amiss, either. [/QUOTE] Why not go all the way?: ğřåţůĩŧøûś ūмłǎűтş ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/36 "2008-04-14T18:13:06Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] Why not go all the way?: ğřåţůĩŧøûś ūмłǎűтş [/QUOTE] Needs more umlauts. .. .. .. .. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/37 "2008-04-14T18:17:57Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] Needs more umlauts. .. .. .. .. [/QUOTE] that’s the joke 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/38 "2008-04-14T18:36:14Z")
Noticed the Bork Edition of Opera’s browser is no longer available on their ftp site. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/39 "2008-04-14T18:37:44Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] that’s the joke 😉 [/QUOTE] _Ducks as the joke wooshes past over my head 🙂_ ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223/40 "2008-04-14T18:56:55Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] Why not go all the way?: ğřåţůĩŧøûś ūмłǎűтş [/QUOTE] I seriously just spent about ten minutes laughing uproariously at this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-chef-on-the-muppets-real-swedish-or-gibberish/445223.md?page=3)