What is a plugghäst?

(By the way, it´s pronounced ploog • hest)

The Swedish word plugghäst is a common slang word used about someone who studies too much, and would essentially be translated to English as nerd or swot. The first part of the word, plugg-, is a slang word for study, and the second part of the word, -häst, means horse.

Even though the word is slang, it has been in use for hundreds of years. The great Swedish botanist, scientist, traveller, and plugghäst Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) (at left) often lectured his students at Uppsala University from a type of chair which was also called a plugghäst. It was designed to hold large, heavy books for study. Linnaeus' plugghäst can still be seen at his home, now a musuem, in Hammarby, Sweden.

We liked the word plugghäst because we think that both the current meaning ("nerd") and the historical one suit the our publishing philosophy and symbolized our mission to publish smart and fun books on a variety of subjects.

A quick word about our logo

Our logo is based on a dalahäst (called a "dalecarlian horse" in English), a traditional wooden toy horse which in produced only in the Swedish province of Dalecarlia.The dalahäst can be found everywhere in Sweden, is one of the most popular icons of Swedish culture and with eyeglasses on makes a perfect plugghäst.