My Chinese wife had no idea what a Chinese Firedrill was. Calling it an American Firedrill didn’t ring any bells. After explaining it to her, her only response was “You’re weird.” Not very scientific, but I have to live with her.
I have good friends in Sweden and I have asked them this exact question. They said that no, the character isn’t speaking real Swedish or anything that even sounds like real Swedish; it’s just a funny character in a popular, funny show that they enjoy as much as the rest of the world; it’s no big deal.
In general, I find the Swedish people to be delightful - mature, level-headed, pleasant, likeable, good sense of fun. They don’t get worked up about things like this, and would never start complaining that the character isn’t accurate, or claim to be ‘offended’.
I have to cast some doubt on the story that in Sweden he’s called ‘the Norwegian chef’. I haven’t come across anything to corroborate that - all my Swedish friends refer to him as ‘the Swedish chef’ and know the character by that name. But it IS true that Swedes and Norwegians like to poke fun at each other, in the same way as many other ‘rival’ neighbour nations do. But this seems to be done in a very good-natured way (from what I can tell) with no real venom or unpleasantness about it.
This comes from the “friend of a friend” file, but my housemate’s best mate from Uni is Swedish, and Gazz (the housemate) has asked Johan (the Swede) what he thinks of the Swedish chef. Johan’s response was allegedly “The Swedish Chef? We call him the Norwegian Chef back in Sweden. He’s funny”
Did you know the more you type “Swedish” or “Sweden” the less it looks like a real word?
No. It was “The Swedish Chef”
I find him funny and completely inoffensive. And yes, he is in fact known as “the Swedish Chef” in Sweden too, and if there’s a conspiracy to convince Americans otherwise, no-one told me.
The Swedish FE student didn’s say he was called ‘The Norwegian Chef’. He said he sounded Norwegian.
No, but the people Bites When Provoked and Sierra Indigo talked to said he was.
er, what is a chinese firedrill?
Stop at a stoplight. There needs to be at least 4 people in the car. Everyone gets out, and runs to another place in the car, so the original driver isn’t the driver anymore, but in the backseat etc. Drive away (light is green by now).
Good times. Those baby boomers knew how to have fun.
I have no idea why it’s called a Chinese firedrill. If you want to see it in action-watch an episode of “Happy Days”–there is one in the opening credits in the early shows.
Re the Swedish chef–I thought the bit played on his general cluelessness, with the accent and nonsense words just underscoring that (he and Beaker have a lot in common). The Norse (can one say that-or do I have to type out Norwegian?) and the Swedes like to poke fun --just dont’ get those Finns involved… 
Rats. It sounded kinky (baby, I’m gonna give you a "Chinese Firedrill"you’ll never forget!)
No-*that’s *the “Aunt Jemima” treatment, according to Bill Murray in Stripes!
Have you ever really thought about the word “drawer”?
There is some other commercial that has been running lately that features a chinese firedrill too. And for the record, I’m the son of a baby boomer.
My grandmother was born on the boat between Sweden and the US right after the turn of the 20th Century, so she was for all purposes Swedish. She also was quite religious, and had very little sense of humor; anything more sophisticated than a knock-knock joke whooshed by her at supersonic speed.
However, when the Muppets were on, and the SC was doing his shtick, her reaction was a big ol’ smile and, “Oh, he’s SILLY!”
Fond memories all around…
OK. I’m not the daughter of one–I am said to be one, although I was born in 1962 and knew nothing of Vietnam or Haight(?)-Ashbury etc.
My memories are all of Watergate and the OPEC energy crisis…and I’m probably old enough to be your mother.
I need the Swedish chef to cheer me up, now!
What’s really weird about that is we’re both - as far as I recall - in Adelaide, SA.
Clearly there’s a conspiracy of Swedes-to-Australia behind this false information.
Sneaky devils.
I’ll have to check with my brother, who spent six months Down Under a few years back.
When we did it, the point was always to get the same seat back, so you would have to complete a lap around the car. Since everyone except the original driver had invariably imbibed alcohol, this was probably a good idea.
Years ago I was on a train somewhere in mid-Europe, and struck up conversation with fellow inter-railers, one of whom happened to be Swedish. Another traveller started a Muppets Swedish chef routine and the Swede dismissed it “Oh, all you stupid foreigners think Swedes speak like the chef from the muppets. We don’t, except for in the south of Sweden”.
Later on another backpacker joined us, and it turned out that she too was Swedish. She and the other Swede launched into conversation in their own language, and the moment we heard her speaking, we all said, almost in unison “she’s from the south of Sweden, right?” Indeed she was.
And Manuel in Fawlty Towers was ‘Mario, the Italian waiter’ in the dubbed Spanish version.
I’m Swedish and I saw the Swedish chef on TV when I was little. I thought he was confusing, because he just doesn’t sound Swedish at all. “Bork, bork, bork? Is he really Dutch?”. He does not really look like anybody I’ve ever met either.
I think they could have given him any nationality and it would have been funny still. I also think that’s the entire point with his character. They picked his nationality to be Swedish because it’s a gentle country yet still a bit obscure. And of course, Swedes appreciate what comes their way.
And, of course, chinese food is just food in China. 