Kiehtoa appears in our example in the 3rd person singular present tense form, kiehtoo.
MEANING:
Verb: to fascinate, to captivate, to charm, to bewitch.
RELATED WORDS:
The adjective kiehtova, which means ”intriguing” or ”fascinating” is derived from kiehtoa.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Let’s translate the whole headline, ”Kirppis kiehtoo. Herttoniemessä parveilli lähes 100000” or ”In Herttoniemi swarmed nearly 10,000.”
Read more about Sunday’s record breaking flea market crowds in Herttoniemi here.
telakka-asema
MEANING:
Compound term: docking station.
DERIVED FROM:
Telakka comes from tela, which means a place where something is left or stored, plus the suffix –kka which is often used to form diminutive noun. Telakka also means ”shipyard” or ”dockyard.”
Asema has several meanings including ”station,” ”status” or ”state.”
MEANING:
Noun: A strip, or a shred (long, narrow piece cut or torn off).
Shown in the photo is suikalepossua, (”shredded pork”) that you might order from a Chinese restaurant menu.
RELATED WORD:
The verb suikaloida is a term often seen in cooking that means ”to shred” (to cut into strips), ”to French” (to cut food into strips), or ”to julienne” (to cut vegetables, into thin strips).
tuttu juttu
MEANING:
Phrase: familiar story.
DERIVED FROM:
Tuttu is an adjective that means ”familiar.” It is the past participle of the archaic verb tuta, which means “to feel.” The verb tutustua, which means ”to meet,” ”to get acquainted with” or ”to become familiar with” is derived from the adjective tuttu.
Juttu is a noun that means ”talk,” ”tale” or ”story” or ”affair.”
EXTRA CREDIT:
”Tuttu Juttu” was an YLE TV 2 Finnish television show from 1992-2002. There is also a board game (pictured) based on the TV show that lets couples test how well they know each other.
Another common phrase that includes juttu is ”yhden yön juttu” which means a ”one-night stand.”
MEANING:
Compound term: cable tie, hose tie, zap-strap, zip tie, or tie-wrap (a type of fastener, designed for bunching electric cables or wires and to organize cables and wires.)
DERIVED FROM:
Nippusideis a compound word made from nippu (“bundle” or ”bunch”) + side (“tie”).
Note that nippu is the same word used when talking about a ”bunch,” as in of flowers.
Side comes from the verb sitoa, which means ”to bind,” ”to fasten” or ”to tie.”
EXTRA CREDIT:
Cable ties were first invented by Thomas & Betts, an electrical company, in 1958 under the brand name Ty-Rap. Initially they were designed for airplane wire harnesses
MEANING:
Noun: reason, sense.
Järki appears in our example in the partitive singular form, järkeä.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Let’s translate the whole phrase, ”Onko koulussa mitään järkeä?” or ”Is there a point to school?”
You may sometimes see the phrase ”terve järki” which means ”common sense.”
pajunoksa
MEANING:
Compound term: Willow branch.
DERIVED FROM:
Pajun is genitive singular of paju which means ”willow.” And oksa means ”branch.”
EXTRA CREDIT:
One Easter tradition in Finland is for children to go door to door dressed up as witches carrying willow branches with bright colored feathers and streamers attached. They wave their willow branch and say the following spell when you open the door:
Virvon, varvon, tuoreeks terveeks, tulevaks vuodeks; vitsa sulle, palkka mulle! (”I wave a twig for a fresh and healthy year ahead; a twig for you, a treat for me!”)
The little witches are more likely to be out on Easter Saturday in western Finland, but on Palm Sunday in other regions, including Helsinki.
Read more on the tradition here.
MEANING:
Verb: to rule, to govern, to reign, to master, to control, to be in charge, etc.
Hallita appears in our example in the 3rd person singular, hallitsee.
DERIVED FROM:
Hallita is a cognate (has the same linguistic derivation) of the English word ”hold.” Like ”hold” it comes from the German halten or the Swedish hålla.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Let’s translate the whole headline about Johnny Depp’s new movie Transcendence, ”Kuka hallitsee ketä,” or ”Who controls whom?”
Kuka means ”who.”
Ketä is partitive singular of ken which is an archaic or dialectical interrogative pronoun also meaning ”who.”
Finnish Word of the Day 