Some Swedes’ mastery of the English language is a bit frayed at the edges. I’ve been apartment hunting, and today I found a lovely place. But the owner–a pleasant if somewhat Teutonic dot commer moving to Hamburg to try his luck there–is going to show it to a few more people and then decide whom he likes most. He wanted to find out more about me–through an interview of sorts–so he asked me on my way out, “Are you pedantic?”

I had to think fast, as the place is newly renovated with brushed aluminium kitchen things like in the magazines and with hardwood floors, and I now had so say convincingly whatever he wanted to hear in order for me to get it.

“Me, no, I’m laid back, and easy-going about things.”

He looked crest-fallen. “Oh. because I am pedantic about my apartment.”

Shit. The word for ‘pedantic‘ in Swedish must have positive connotations, or maybe he means ‘meticulous‘ or ‘scrupulous‘. Better make it obvious to him that of course I am pedantic, but in a good way.

“No, no, I mean I am very fastiduous about keeping things clean, but I don’t get stressed about it. I live, how shall we say, ecologically, with a small footprint.” (Where the hell did that come from?) “But it’s not like I’m anal about it or anything.”

“Oh, because I am kind of anal about my apartment, I suppose.”

As I did not want to go into a discussion about all the possible connotations of being anal, I guess I’ll just keep my hopes in check about this apartment.

But, dotcom owner, if you googled my name and you find this blog, as I suspect you will, please let me have the apartment? As this post shows, I can be very pedantic if needed.