hedersknyffel

Swedish

Etymology

From heder (“honor”) +‎ -s- +‎ knyffel, used since 1834. The word knyffel possibly originates from karnyffel/karnibel/karnobel (“a mean person”), from Danish karniffel and German Karnüffel, a card game and the jack in a deck of cards.

Noun

hedersknyffel c

1. (dated, humorous) a jolly good fellow, a regular trump, a really nice person

   Hör nu, hedersknyfflar, vi äro f.n. i en svår klämma.

   Listen now, my dear friends, we are currently in a very dire situation.

Declension

Declension of hedersknyffel

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	hedersknyffel	hedersknyffels
	definite	hedersknyffeln	hedersknyffelns
plural	indefinite	hedersknyfflar	hedersknyfflars
	definite	hedersknyfflarna	hedersknyfflarnas

Synonyms

• hedersman

References

• hedersknyffel in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• hedersknyffel in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• hedersknyffel in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)