this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
9 points (84.6% liked)

General Discussion

14418 readers
92 users here now

Welcome to Lemmy.World General!

This is a community for general discussion where you can get your bearings in the fediverse. Discuss topics & ask questions that don't seem to fit in any other community, or don't have an active community yet.


🪆 About Lemmy World


🧭 Finding CommunitiesFeel free to ask here or over in: !lemmy411@lemmy.ca!

Also keep an eye on:

For more involved tools to find communities to join: check out Lemmyverse!


💬 Additional Discussion Focused Communities:


Rules and Policies

Remember, Lemmy World rules also apply here.0. See: Rules for Users.

  1. No bigotry: including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia.
  2. Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
  3. Be thoughtful and helpful: even with ‘silly’ questions. The world won’t be made better by dismissive comments to others on Lemmy.
  4. Link posts should include some context/opinion in the body text when the title is unaltered, or be titled to encourage discussion.
  5. Posts concerning other instances' activity/decisions are better suited to !fediverse@lemmy.world or !lemmydrama@lemmy.world communities.
  6. No Ads/Spamming.
  7. No NSFW content.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I was reading by a greentext involving Blåhaj in c/4chan and my brother asked me what was one.

"Why is the shark named that?"

top 16 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 32 points 1 day ago (2 children)

"It's a blue shark. Blåhaj means blue shark in Swedish."

[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 hours ago

Not just any shark. A very cute shark!

[–] Kowowow@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ya like is there some deeper meaning than stuffed ikea shark?

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It has been embraced as a symbol of transgenderism. That's the only deeper connection I know of, anyway.

[–] betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Since 2020, Blåhaj has also been associated with the LGBTQ and particularly transgender communities, in part because observers noticed that the primary colors of the toy (blue body, pink mouth, and white belly) matched the colors of the transgender flag.

Blåhaj - As a cultural phenomenon

[–] MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So... a shark plush transgender people like?

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well what did you think it was?

[–] MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't know, a mascot for a specific organization?

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Your original question sounds like you thought it was something unsavoury that needs some kind of child-friendly explanation so as to not traumatise the kid.

[–] MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Well, my brother asked what was one and I don't know how to explain him. He knows what a transgender person is, though.

[–] Kowowow@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

well I knew it was adopted by them but I just figured it was like a furby for one group

[–] Watermark710@piefed.social 7 points 1 day ago

"It's Swedish for blue shark."

It's really not complicated.

It's a cute blue shark

[–] VibeSurgeon@piefed.social 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's sold at IKEA which tend to name their things in Swedish on account or being a Swedish company.

Blåhaj means blue shark:

Blå - blue

Haj - shark

Swedish has compound words similar to German, so it's literally just Blueshark.

It's pronounced approximately "Bloh-hai"

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Let me know if you figure out how to explain it to a 44 year old.

[–] MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

"A shark trans people like."