Language matters or now it's all about the sausage

”Now it's about the sausage – literally translated ”now it's about the sausage” – that's a German idiom meaning that now is the crunch, now it's for real.

Across the EU's 27 member states, it was all about sausages in the true sense of the word when the European Parliament voted through a high-profile proposal: plant-based products should no longer be allowed to be marketed with words like sausage, steak, burger, beef and schnitzel. These words will in future be reserved for meat products, but what other designations should be allowed to be used instead for what still looks like a – that's right – sausage?

A non-issue or language matters?

In Sweden, many consider the whole debate to be a non-issue. ”Rubbish”, as one parliamentarian put it. The waves of discussion are running high all the same, as is often the case when completely different conflicts are projected onto language use and word choice in particular. Already there is wild speculation about what veggie products are to be called if it becomes prohibited to market them as sausages and burgers.

For everyone working with language and marketing, it is an exciting and interesting discussion, regardless of whether you are for or against the current proposal. In an era where linguistic messages are increasingly being replaced by images, or where AI is allowed to formulate things for us, the debate itself seems to send a reverse signal:

Language still matters, triggers emotions, creates identity and can be linked to various interests.

Language matters – language skills and language awareness as an important competence

Language proficiency and language awareness are and remain an important skill to have in an organisation.

• We humans are incredibly creative and at the same time economical in the way we use language. We can borrow concepts from a certain sphere and transfer them to another. Based on the context, we mostly understand intuitively what it means in different settings.
• Through our use of words, not least in marketing, we help shape a reality, arouse desires, and highlight new perspectives.

Perhaps this is why we humans are still one step ahead of AI when it comes to working creatively and communicatively with language. AI can combine and generate material based on statistical probabilities and mimic human language, but it cannot consciously renew language use and linguistic tradition on its own. It is the same with the human ability to perceive linguistic nuances and linguistic playfulness – it is lightning-fast.

When the word sausage is combined with ”vegetarian” on a product packaging, we quickly realise that it refers to a specific shape which in certain contexts is associated with meat, but in this case is based on another meaning of the word. At the same time, with a tongue-in-cheek nod, it also alludes to the meat sausage, challenging the notion that a sausage can only have an animal content. For AI programs, it will be difficult to keep up with those twists and turns initially, especially if the legislation changes from one day to the next.

Language matters – words are powerful

There are also more serious examples of how language and word choice matter:

• that indigenous peoples should not be designated against their will by names they do not want
• that one should try to use a language that is inclusive regardless of gender
• that using certain words can be a criminal offence
• that when it comes to classic children's books, outdated wording is increasingly being adapted to the norms of our time.

The trade-offs can be difficult and often spark debate.

Language matters – long live the sausage or language lives

Language is not only a starting point for controversy, but also a way of creating community. Language often has an inclusive function. Calling a veggie product a veggie sausage or veggie burger can perhaps mean that even those who do not eat meat can join in a barbecue evening without any problems and long explanations. People speak and write based on living language habits, and try to find smart solutions, regardless of whatever rules and regulations pop up. 

In the case of the veggie sausage, it is difficult for practical reasons to imagine people starting to use some artificial designation for it instead of words that one is already familiar with and which are generally accepted. And if other designations emerge that work better than the old ones for vegetarian foods, it will probably be people out in society, both consumers and marketing experts, who decide what becomes common in the future.

Food for thought about sausages

The word ”korv” has a somewhat unclear origin. Historically, it is considered to go back to Old Norse and denote a stump, a cut-off piece or something curved. Etymologically, it therefore does not seem to have been reserved solely for a certain type of meat product. The roots of the word appear to have had more to do with the shape of an object than with the contents itself.

From the 15th century onwards, a specific definition then emerged where sausage primarily referred to an animal casing filled with minced meat, linked to slaughter and animal products. It is that definition that the European Parliament's decision seizes upon.

In modern times, however, the concept of the sausage has widened again to encompass a variety of things that have a kind of round and elongated shape, without necessarily even having anything to do with food.

From a linguistic-historical perspective there would be no major problems with calling a vegetarian foodstuff sausage, at least not in Swedish (nor in German for that matter). Definitions change and develop all the time, language is living matter.

The sausage, boudin, saucisse, bilder, kiełbasa, kobasica, klobása, klobasa, kolbász, salami, desa, dasa, dešra, cârnat, sausage, Maltese sausage, sheftalia, pølse, pylsur, makkara, vorst, Wurst, Wurscht, salchicha, salsicha, salsiccia, korv etc: The sausage culture is widespread in Europe and there appears to be one or more words for sausage in every language used within the EU.

According to AI via Google, there are no figures for how many types of sausage exist within the EU; Germany alone is said to have more than 1,500 different varieties.

If you ask AI via Google (in German) whether there is a language that does not have a word for sausage, the answer will be that the constructed language Toki Pona has no word for sausage, because it was created with a minimal vocabulary and maximum simplicity in mind. The language was developed in 2001 by the linguist Sonja Lang and uses only 120 words to describe complex ideas. 

Almost all Swedes – as many as 97 % – eat sausages.

The sausage is celebrated every year on the 12th of March on Sausage Day.