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For those who are not from Sweden (or from Switzerland) this is a real "problem" that happens all the time, that people confuse the countries. And it is somethi

For those who are not from Sweden (or from Switzerland) this is a real "problem" that happens all the time, that people confuse the countries. And it is something we at least in Sweden take with a big smile :D And according to the comments to the video, those from Switzerland seem to do the same thing :) Here is an example when Swedish Spotify was listed in the US on the Nasdaq stock exchange and they used the Schweiz flag instead haha. The list goes on :) https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a47E046_460s.jpg https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a47E046_460s.jpg

darkclouds 3y ago
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frankjr 3y ago
Huh, I thought the website was some kind of a joke but I guess not. I still have no idea how anyone can confuse the two. Czechia-Chechnya, Austria-Australia I can somewhat understand those but Sweden-Switzerland? Come on.
- whelp_24 3y ago
  It's not so much that they sound the same. It's that they are small Germanic, historically neutral countries in Europe. The names are similar enough to misremember details about the two. It's hard to separate the two countries by just remembering stereotypes.
  - forinti 3y ago
    Oh c'mon, Swedes are the tall blond dudes and the Swiss wear funny german clothes and yodle all the time.
    - actionfromafar 3y ago
      Even reading that sentence I started to doubt which was which.
      - yencabulator 3y ago
        Here's a memory device for you: vikings don't yodel.
        LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago
        After having drunken mead out of bullhorns or skulls, they do!
  - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
    Sweden certainly isn't historically neutral at all.
    - jowea 3y ago
      It has been neutral from the early 19th century to 2009, according to wikipedia.
- pndy 3y ago
  > Czechia and Chechenya I have no idea how that can be a thing. I can understand mixing up Slovakia and Slovenia - their flags are quite similar and endonym in Slovak for that country is Slovensko, Slovenská republika. IMO it's as weird as this Sweden-Switzerland
  - egeozcan 3y ago
    I think it's about the sound. Something with "che-ia", something with "Swen"... Like, if you really don't know about the world, or the regions of aforementioned countries, which could very well be, then I see the possibility. When I revisit the words I kept confusing when I first started learning German, I'm like, did I have mental problems or what!? :)
  - frankjr 3y ago
    > I have no idea how that can be a thing. Yeah even that is a stretch. But at least you can pronounce them incorrectly to sound similar. You cannot do that with Sweden and Switzerland.
  - jccalhoun 3y ago
    > Czechia and Chechenya I couldn't find it but last week I read a twitter thread about a software company in Czechia that had gotten some crazy request for documentation because they had been flagged as being in Chechnya
  - Turing_Machine 3y ago
    > I can understand mixing up Slovakia and Slovenia Don't forget the historic regions of Slavonia and Slavinia. While neither of those two is an independent country at the moment, you never know what's going to happen in Eastern Europe.
- jowea 3y ago
  Slovenia-Slovakia is the big one that IIRC has their embassies having to exchange mail intended for the other one regularly.
- kristiandupont 3y ago
  I'm Danish and I have often had people hearing that and then asking me about The Netherlands. The two countries are very similar so maybe that's why but I have this suspicion that it's simply because Dutch and Danish both begin with a D...
  - yencabulator 3y ago
    And outsiders don't understand the pronunciation of either language.
- jeltz 3y ago
  In English I do not get it but the names are very similar in some languages, for example Spanish: Suecia vs Suiza. But as a Swede I can attest that people do mix up us and the Swiss for real.
  - frankjr 3y ago
    Hm, that's a good point.
  - _nalply 3y ago
    But as a Swiss I can attest that people to mix up us and the Swedes for real.
- actionfromafar 3y ago
  Yet, I have had English speakers mix them up several times.
- mikae1 3y ago
  > I thought the website was some kind of a joke but I guess not. It's a real "problem" AND it's a joke. A joke website about a real "problem".
- bojan 3y ago
  Serbia-Siberia is also a common one. I know that it went wrong when a follow-up question to "Where are you from" is "Is it really very cold there?"
  - phanimahesh 3y ago
    I thought both were cold places?

darkclouds 3y ago

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frankjr 3y ago

Huh, I thought the website was some kind of a joke but I guess not. I still have no idea how anyone can confuse the two. Czechia-Chechnya, Austria-Australia I can somewhat understand those but Sweden-Switzerland? Come on.

whelp_24 3y ago
It's not so much that they sound the same. It's that they are small Germanic, historically neutral countries in Europe. The names are similar enough to misremember details about the two. It's hard to separate the two countries by just remembering stereotypes.
- forinti 3y ago
  Oh c'mon, Swedes are the tall blond dudes and the Swiss wear funny german clothes and yodle all the time.
  - actionfromafar 3y ago
    Even reading that sentence I started to doubt which was which.
    - yencabulator 3y ago
      Here's a memory device for you: vikings don't yodel.
      - LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago
        After having drunken mead out of bullhorns or skulls, they do!
- 2-718-281-828 3y ago
  Sweden certainly isn't historically neutral at all.
  - jowea 3y ago
    It has been neutral from the early 19th century to 2009, according to wikipedia.
pndy 3y ago
> Czechia and Chechenya I have no idea how that can be a thing. I can understand mixing up Slovakia and Slovenia - their flags are quite similar and endonym in Slovak for that country is Slovensko, Slovenská republika. IMO it's as weird as this Sweden-Switzerland
- egeozcan 3y ago
  I think it's about the sound. Something with "che-ia", something with "Swen"... Like, if you really don't know about the world, or the regions of aforementioned countries, which could very well be, then I see the possibility. When I revisit the words I kept confusing when I first started learning German, I'm like, did I have mental problems or what!? :)
- frankjr 3y ago
  > I have no idea how that can be a thing. Yeah even that is a stretch. But at least you can pronounce them incorrectly to sound similar. You cannot do that with Sweden and Switzerland.
- jccalhoun 3y ago
  > Czechia and Chechenya I couldn't find it but last week I read a twitter thread about a software company in Czechia that had gotten some crazy request for documentation because they had been flagged as being in Chechnya
- Turing_Machine 3y ago
  > I can understand mixing up Slovakia and Slovenia Don't forget the historic regions of Slavonia and Slavinia. While neither of those two is an independent country at the moment, you never know what's going to happen in Eastern Europe.
jowea 3y ago
Slovenia-Slovakia is the big one that IIRC has their embassies having to exchange mail intended for the other one regularly.
kristiandupont 3y ago
I'm Danish and I have often had people hearing that and then asking me about The Netherlands. The two countries are very similar so maybe that's why but I have this suspicion that it's simply because Dutch and Danish both begin with a D...
- yencabulator 3y ago
  And outsiders don't understand the pronunciation of either language.
jeltz 3y ago
In English I do not get it but the names are very similar in some languages, for example Spanish: Suecia vs Suiza. But as a Swede I can attest that people do mix up us and the Swiss for real.
- frankjr 3y ago
  Hm, that's a good point.
- _nalply 3y ago
  But as a Swiss I can attest that people to mix up us and the Swedes for real.
actionfromafar 3y ago
Yet, I have had English speakers mix them up several times.
mikae1 3y ago
> I thought the website was some kind of a joke but I guess not. It's a real "problem" AND it's a joke. A joke website about a real "problem".
bojan 3y ago
Serbia-Siberia is also a common one. I know that it went wrong when a follow-up question to "Where are you from" is "Is it really very cold there?"
- phanimahesh 3y ago
  I thought both were cold places?