pudelns kärna

== Swedish == === Etymology === Calque of German des Pudels Kern (literally “the poodle's core”). Coined by German writer and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, from a scene in Faust, Part One during which a black poodle follows Faust home and transforms into a wandering scholar, who is actually Mephistopheles in disguise. Faust exclaims: "Das war also des Pudels Kern!" (“So that was the poodle's core!”); that is, "So that's what was going on inside the poodle!". === Noun === pudelns kärna c the crux of the matter, the gist of the matter, the heart of the matter