LAGOM—“THE SINGLE WORD THAT SUMS UP THE SWEDISH PSYCHE”.

LAGOM—“THE SINGLE WORD THAT SUMS UP THE SWEDISH PSYCHE”. Dick Weisfelder in a comment on this post which asked a question about the Scandinavian social model wrote that: “There is a Swedish concept called ‘lagom’ meaning roughly to be enough or to be sufficient that explains why other values than wealth (including leisure and family time) regularly enter the discourse.” Now, in this article in Slate, Lola Akinmade-Akerstrom says that “lagom” is “the single word that sums up the Swedish Psyche”. She traces the derivation of the word to the 8th to the 11th century (a period when the Vikings were actively spreading civilization). The phrase was shortened from “laget om”, which meant “around the team”. It referred to what happened when mead (“mjod”) was passed around. Each Viking was expected to take only his own share and not more. One of the ideas still suggested by the word is sharing, not taking too many resources, and also not seeking too much attention.