ättestupa
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Swedish
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]- (dated) ättestörta, (dated) ättestapul
Etymology
[edit]Compound of ätt (“kin, clan”) + stupa (“precipice”). Possibly folk etymology of Old Norse Ætternisstapi (“The Dynasty Precipice”), a fictional cliffside in Gautreks saga. First time used in 1664 as a translation for Ætternisstapi.
Noun
[edit]ättestupa c
- (folklore) a high steep inland cliff from which the elderly in Nordic antiquity were said to have thrown themselves, or been thrown, to their deaths in order not to be a burden to their relatives
- Coordinate term: ätteklubba
- 1829, Otto Sebastian von Unge, Vandring genom Dalarne, jemte Författarens Resa söderut[1]:
- Det är betydligt högt och på ena sidan lodrätt som en ättestupa.
- It is significantly high and on one side vertical like a precipice.
- (figuratively) inadequate social safety net for pensioners
- 2022 January 13, “Digitaliseringen – vår nya ättestupa”, in Katrineholms-Kuriren[2]:
- Med återkommande pandemier, digitaliseringshysteri, ensamhet med utfrysningen från samhällets sida blir dessa tre punkter sammantaget vår nya ättestupa.
- With recurring pandemics, digitalisation hysteria, loneliness with the expulsion from society, these three points together become our new ättestupa.
Declension
[edit]Declension of ättestupa