"Borg sounds Swedish?" (First Contact) Why is it funny?

[Aike]

After Picard first mentions the Borg to Lily in FC, she says:

"Borg, sounds Swedish."

Later when she sees them she says:

"Definitely not Swedish."

I am Swedish so I find these lines hilarious. And I know exactly why. But I won´t tell you now since I want to know why non-Swedes think it is funny.

I´d love to hear responses from people who saw TNG during its initial run in the US and maybe in the UK.

 

[The Borg Queen]

Because Borg is a Swedish surname?

 

[Therin of Andor]

I am Swedish so I find these lines hilarious. And I know exactly why. But I won´t tell you now since I want to know why non-Swedes think it is funny.

Wasn't it a joke aimed at Bjorn Borg?

 

[cultcross]

I am Swedish so I find these lines hilarious. And I know exactly why. But I won´t tell you now since I want to know why non-Swedes think it is funny.

Wasn't it a joke aimed at Bjorn Borg?

That's what I assumed. They'd picked a name derived from 'cyborg' which also happened to be the surname of a very prominent tennis player whose demeanour as the 'Iceman' might have made a connection to the Borg's emotionless attacks. Given the time period, it was therefore a bit of fun to have Lily mix the two up.

 

[Timo]

Of course, there's the famous Swedish culinary catchphrase "Bork, bork, bork" as well.

(I guess the OP might also refer to the fact that "Borg" as in Björn Borg or Göteborg/Gothenburg is actually pronounced completely differently in Swedish - it sounds more like "borrj" or "burry", with the final "g" interpreted either as silent or then as transformed into that "j" or "y" sound. That is, there's nothing Swedish about the way Lily says it.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Bacl]

Uh, I always assumed it was funny because it does sound Sweedish. The Borg are supposed to be a chop-off of cyborg, and it is funny that they ended up with a Sweedish word, and one that many other Sweedish words sound like.

 

[DontFeedPhil]

I used to have a sports illustrated magazine that had Bjorn Borg on the cover playing tennis. I remember that well cause my friends and I took the cover off of that magazine and other SI's and put them around our penthouse mags so we could look at them on a trip to Great America theme park. My mom and Dad were very impressed with our interest in Sports Illustrated...They never did figure it out...hahahaha

 

[cardinal biggles]

That's great. And apart from the tenuous connection to Bjorn Borg, this has what, exactly, to do with the topic at hand?

 

[DontFeedPhil]

You mean my comment? It explains why I knew about the Borg comment. Cause that issue said Bjorn Borg on the cover...I remember it well. Thats what!
Ill be more carefull to not take up valuable space with a post that is only 50% relavant to the topic. I gotta remember it must be 90% or more...

 

[Haytil]

You mean my comment? It explains why I knew about the Borg comment. Cause that issue said Bjorn Borg on the cover...I remember it well. Thats what!
Ill be more carefull to not take up valuable space with a post that is only 50% relavant to the topic. I gotta remember it must be 90% or more...

I thought it was funny and interesting...

That's how stories are recalled and told - inspired by random tangents and flashes.

 

[Semah]

 

[Brutal Strudel]

You mean my comment? It explains why I knew about the Borg comment. Cause that issue said Bjorn Borg on the cover...I remember it well. Thats what!
Ill be more carefull to not take up valuable space with a post that is only 50% relavant to the topic. I gotta remember it must be 90% or more...

I thought it was funny and interesting...

That's how stories are recalled and told - inspired by random tangents and flashes.

This is the internet! Porn is always 100% relevant!

 

[Candlelight]

"Locutus? Sounds Italian"

 

[Elder Knight]

I thought that pianist-comedian Victor Borge was the inspiration.

 

[Bacl]

"Locutus? Sounds Italian"

"Jean-Luc? Sounds French...but you sound British! J'accuse!"

 

[Therin of Andor]

I thought that pianist-comedian Victor Borge was the inspiration.

You forget Ernest Borg Nine of "McHale's Navy".

 

[Outpost4]

 

[Aike]

Thanks for your answers.

I am Swedish so I find these lines hilarious. And I know exactly why. But I won´t tell you now since I want to know why non-Swedes think it is funny.

Wasn't it a joke aimed at Bjorn Borg?

This is what I always thought, too.

Of course, there's the famous Swedish culinary catchphrase "Bork, bork, bork" as well.

This is a reference I was not aware of, but it may very well be the inspiration for the joke, since the Swedish Chef was very popular among the usenet geeks back in the early to midninties.

I thought that pianist-comedian Victor Borge was the inspiration.

That is a good one. Too bad he is Danish

 

[Timo]

I'm too young to have solid data on this... Did Björn Borg pronounce his name the Star Trek way or the native way, after becoming famous?

Here in Finland, film director Lauri Harjola got fed up with his provincial name and became Renny Harlin of Hollywood. Too bad the local media continue to consider him a Finn - so his new surname doesn't get pronounced in the masculine manner that evokes Harley-Davidson and so forth, but "har-LEEN" as the natives would have it.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Chaos Descending]

That's great. And apart from the tenuous connection to Bjorn Borg, this has what, exactly, to do with the topic at hand?

Q: Is this comment necessary?
A: No, not at all.