vagel i ögat

Swedish

A person suffering from a stye in their eye.

Etymology

Compound of vagel (“stye”) +‎ i (“in”) +‎ ögat (“the eye”).

Originally nagel i ögat (“prick in the eye”) from the Bible quote Numbers 33:55, "But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."

Today's use of the synonymous idiom vagel i ögat (“stye in the eye”) is most likely due to unfamiliarity with the archaic meaning of nagel (“prick”), which today often refers to a finger nail.

In 1917's Swedish translation of the Bible nagel (“prick”) has been translated to törnen (“thorns”) and in 2000's translation as taggar (“spines”).

Noun

vagel i ögat c

1. (literally) A stye in the eye.

   Jag har en vagel i ögat.

   I have a stye in the eye.

2. (idiomatic) A source of irritation, chagrin, vexation or annoyance.

   Synonym: nagel i ögat

   • 2018 February 17, Adelina Storkaas, “Elin, 30, vägrar skaffa barn – för klimatets skull [Elin, 30, refuses to have children - for the sake of the climate]”, in Expressen‎^[1]:

     Det är tydligen en riktig vagel i ögat på andra som vill ha barn, att man själv bestämmer att man inte vill ha barn, säger hon.

     It is apparently a vexing question in the eye of others who want children, that you decide for yourself that you do not want children, she says.

   • 2019 March 15, Erik Haking, “Allt var redan förberett [Everything was already prepared]”, in Flamman‎^[2]:

     En vagel i ögat på den brasilianska högern har länge varit Arbetarpartiets reformer rörande borrning efter olja och skövling av Amazonas, vilka nu rivs upp.

     A source of irritation for the Brazilian right has long been the Labor Party's reforms on oil drilling and the devastation of the Amazon, which are now being torn.

   • 2021 October 18, “Tre bröder – Kinesisk minneskonstnär träffar rätt i hjärtat [Three brothers – Chinese memory artist hits right in the heart]”, in Svenska Dagbladet‎^[3]:

     Att makten i Peking betraktar honom som en vagel i ögat tycks inte bekomma honom.

     That the power in Beijing regards him as an annoyance does not seem to bother him.

References

• From The Question Box at the Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore