såkaldt

Såkalt is a Scandinavian adjective used to indicate that a term is the label by which something is commonly known, while not asserting that the speaker endorses the designation. It often carries a nuance of doubt, contestation, or distance from the label, and is frequently used to present or critique a label that others apply rather than the speaker’s own designation.

Orthography and language variants: In Danish, the form is såkaldt; in Norwegian Bokmål, såkalt; in Swedish the expression is usually written as two words: så kallad. All variants share the same core meaning, though hyphenation or spacing differs by language. The term is thereby a cross-Scandinavian reflex to signal a potentially contested or informal name.

Usage and nuance: The term appears in journalism, scholarship, and everyday speech. It is used before a noun to mark that the noun refers to a label commonly used for something that might be questioned. Examples include såkalt eksperter, såkalt forskning, or den så kallade løsningen. The tone can range from neutral descriptor to mild criticism, depending on context and punctuation, such as quotation marks or emphasis.

Etymology and relation to other terms: The word is composed from så, meaning so, and kalt, the past participle of kalla/kalla, meaning called. The concept is parallel to the English expression so-called. While typically informal, the term has a stable place in Nordic prose and dialogue as a way to flag noncanonical or disputed labels.