Hector bygger en tidsmaskin med en kotte

What does “fejka” mean in Swedish?

Swedish took the English word “fake” and made it a real Swedish verb: fejka. Add -are and you get fejkare, “a faker.” In this clip a child proudly shows off his tidsfejkare — his homemade “time-faker,” a fake time machine he built. IKEA made the same joke: their line of fake plants is called Fejka.

Fejka acts like any normal Swedish verb: jag fejkar (I fake), jag fejkade (I faked), har fejkat (have faked). It’s everyday, casual Swedish — used for a sports feint, for faking sick, and as the IKEA brand name for fake plants. The ending -are turns a verb into the person who does it (lärare = teacher, spelare = player), and it works just as well on a borrowed word. That’s why a seven-year-old can invent tidsfejkare on the spot and every Swedish speaker gets it right away.