Swedish: Eriksbadet, Eriksgatan

[Rejzko]

Hello, there is a text message in the TV series Hamilton, where one person wants to set a date with the other. He suggests meeting at Eriksbadet, Eriksgatan 30 (in Stockkholm). I know that there is Eriksdalbadet in Stockholm and that there is Eriksdalgatan leading to it. So I wanted to ask if it is common to shorten the name like this. Or is it something the writers have invented for the movie?

 

[MattiasNYC]

I only lived in Stockholm for a couple of years but my recollection is that people generally read out the entire name of a location. So I would never have expected "Eriksdalsgatan" to become "Eriksgatan".

In addition there is a "Sankt Eriksgatan" in Stockholm, so it would only bring confusion to shorten "Eriksdalsgatan" to "Eriksgatan" when shortening "Sankt Eriksgatan" likely would also result in just "Eriksgatan".

So, 'no', I wouldn't expect that to be shortened. Having said that I base my opinion on how we generally spoke in Sweden in general where I have lived and of course if natives of Stockholm in particular have different ways of going about it then I simply never encountered taht.

 

[AutumnOwl]

The shortening of the name Eriksdalsbadet/gatan to Eriksbadet/gatan is not what I would consider a 'normal' method of shortening of a name in Swedish. In Stockholm there is Kungan (Kungsträdgården), Medis (Medborgarplatsen), Zinken (Zinkensdamm), Rålis (Rålambshov), Grönan (Gröna Lund), and so on. The ending is usually -is or -an. So a more traditional way to shorten it would be Ersisbadet or Ersanbadet.

So for Eriksbadet/Eriksgatan could be something made up by the author, or something that's used within a specific group of people.