surt sa räven

Swedish

Alternative forms
  • surt sa räven om rönnbären
  • surt, sa räven

Etymology

From Aesop's fable The Fox and the Grapes. Literally, "'Sour', said the fox (about the rowan berries)".

Idiom

surt sa räven

  1. sour grapes

Usage notes

The idiom comes from a Swedish translation of the fable that opted for using rowan berries instead of grapes. Since rowan berries are actually sour, the point of the idiom is somewhat lost in Swedish.

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