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Lagom (pronounced , ) is a Swedish language word meaning or .
The word can be variously translated as , , , , and (in matter of amounts). Whereas words like sufficient and average suggest some degree of abstinence, scarcity, or failure, lagom carries the connotation of appropriateness, although not necessarily perfection. The archetypical Swedish proverb "Lagom är bäst", literally , is also translated as , or as .Prisma's Stora Engelska Ordbok, 1995.
A common false etymology claims that it is a contraction of laget om (); according to this myth, the phrase was used in Viking times to specify how much mead one should drink from the horn as it was passed around in order for everyone to receive a fair share.
In a single word, lagom is said to describe the basis of the Swedish national psyche, one of consensus and equality. "My aunt used to hold out her closed fist and say, "How much can you get in this hand? It's much easier to get something in this open hand".
Finnish language has the word sopivasti, which carries similar connotations of .
The concept of lagom is similar to the Russian language or Ukrainian expression normal'no (нормально, literally ), which indicates a sufficient and sustainable state, for example of one's livelihood. In Russian, the word is often used as an answer to the question "how are you?". Polish w sam raz means the same as lagom. Comparable terms are found in some south Slavic languages, for example Serbo-Croatian umereno or umjereno. In Slovakian, the expression tak akurát is used.
Ιn ancient Greek, there was the famous phrase of Cleobulus, metron ariston (μέτρον ἄριστον), meaning .
In Albanian, the word taman has the same meaning. It is derived from Ottoman Turkish tamam meaning , borrowed from Arabic language where it means . In Albanian it is used in essentially the same way as lagom, as in "a taman amount", "not a taman person" (), taman! (), etc. The word taman is also used in some Slavic languages (South Slavic) and almost perfectly translates lagom to those languages.
In Chinese philosophy, the concept of () expresses the similar concept.
In Thailand, the word พอเพียง (phor phiang) expresses a similar meaning.
In Indonesia, both Indonesian and Javanese, there is a common word for it, pas, which means .
In Swiss German dialects, similar to lagom, is the word gäbig; in German, the term means something like in the case of objects, or in relation to people and conditions .
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