Page 21 of 21


Finnishisms 2/2

I took some freedoms with the translations where I wasn't sure how to best convey meaning or where I thought I could make things funnier.




Meanings of the phrases:
- To be in a wolf = olla hukassa = to be lost/to have lost any chance of succeeding; "hukka" is both a common dialect/slang word for wolf but means "lack of X", "state of being lost" & various other similar things
- To have withers happen = käydä säkä = to have a strike of luck
- To feed willowrope = syöttää pajunköyttä = to knowingly lie
- To talk woodhay/wood-hay = puhua puutaheinää = to speak nonsense
- Fearer's seat = pelkääjän paikka = the front seat next to the driver in a car
- Pissboys = pissapojat = the nozzles that spray cleaning liquid on the windshield of a car ("peeboys" would've been more accurate, but yes, that is the actual name of those nozzles in Finnish)
- To important around = tärkeillä = to act more important/serious than is warranted
- Empty-deliverer = tyhjäntoimittaja = good-for-nothing/hanger-around/loiterer
- Muzzle sauna = turpasauna = beating
- To burn one's splints = polttaa päreensä = to lose one's temper (the word "splint" here refers to a splint of wood used both in old-timey roofing but also to be burned to provide light at a time when candles were expensive)
- To leave for pawhill = lähteä käpälämäkeen = to run away
- To throw one's crank = heittää veivinsä = to die
- To go smacking = lähteä lätkimään = to leave
- To have a long spoke = olla pitkäpinnainen = to be patient
- To be an eyestick = olla silmätikkuna = to be pestered/paid extra attention to by someone
- To bear (referring to the animal, not the act of carrying) = karhuta = to seek things owed to you
- Gettings = saatavat = things owed to someone
- To live in god's wallet = asua herran kukkarossa = to be in a very safe/good position in life
- Birdhomer = lintukotolainen = someone living with all their needs met; Finnish and several surrounding cultures have stories of an island called "birdhome" (lintukoto) that's near the edge of the world. Birds fly there during winter and people there live effectively in paradise
- To bile = sapettaa = be annoyed/upset
- Muzzle court session = turpakäräjä = beating; Finnish slang uses "muzzle" to refer to a face quite a lot. "Court session" is a bit of a bad translation; I think "council" or "thing" would be closer but I don't think the Nordic meaning of "thing" is well-known enough to be used here
- To detonate the bank = räjäyttää pankki = to make a spectacle out of things, to really finish things off; I actually found it kinda hard to figure out the exact nuance of this saying
- Someone's motorbike popping a wheelie = jonkun mopo lähtee keulimaan = to get ahead of things, to get overly excited
- Someone's spoke burns = jonkun pinna palaa = someone gets upset/angry
- To not go into circulation = olla menemättä jakeluun = something not being believed or understood
- To be on a horizontal plank = olla vaakalaudalla = to be on knife's edge
- Liverleaves = sinivuokot = cops; I hope I got the right plant name, there were a buncha options offered by my dictionary/wikipedia that seemed not to be quite accurate. The name derives probably from the blue colour and the bell-like shape of the flower, resembling an old-timey police helmet
- To be taken by barley bread = ottaa ohraleipä = to get in trouble; this (similarly to some others here) is probably a nonsense phrasing derived purely from the alliteration
- To keep one's surface = pitää pintansa = to keep one's ground, to not give up/lose
- To be visited by a doughnut = käydä munkki = to be lucky
- Rabbitpant = jänishousu = a scaredy-cat
- Yellowbeak = keltanokka = an amateur
- To head into a horse's spruce = painua hevon kuuseen = to go away, ordering someone to get lost
- Inherited by a wolf = hukka perii = to get lose, to lose, to fail; see above for how "hukka" is used both for "wolf" and various failure-related things
- To take a grandpa from advice = ottaa neuvosta vaari = to follow advice
- To head into a vagina = painua vittuun = also to go away & order someone to get lost. The c-word would be more accurate here but I didn't want to use it (in Finnish the c-word is much more akin to Australian in terms of strongness). You could also say "head into a horse's vagina" (painua hevon vittuun) for the same meaning, combining this and the entry above



PHP based on Looki's code. He's cool!