björntjänst

Swedish

Etymology

björn (“bear”) +‎ tjänst (“service, favor”), used since 1891. Compare Danish bjørnetjeneste, German Bärendienst, and similar forms in other languages. From a French fable (L’Ours et l’Amateur des jardins by Jean de La Fontaine) in which a tame bear wants to do his master a favor by hitting the fly who sat down on the master's forehead, but hits the fly so hard that the master too is killed.

Noun

björntjänst c

  1. a disservice, a mistaken kindness, a misguided helpfulness, an attempted favor which turns out to be detrimental, or at least causes more damage than it helps
    Synonym: otjänst
    I alla händelser är det uppenbart, att man gör de människor som nu tillhöra jordbruksbefolkningen samt deras barn en björntjänst genom att tvinga dem att förbli jordbruksbefolkning, om de kunna få bättre villkor i andra sysselsättningar.
    In any case it is obvious, that we will do those people who now belong to the peasantry and their children a disservice by forcing them to to remain peasants, if they could get better conditions in other occupations.

Declension

Declension of björntjänst
nominative genitive
singular indefinite björntjänst björntjänsts
definite björntjänsten björntjänstens
plural indefinite björntjänster björntjänsters
definite björntjänsterna björntjänsternas

References

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