virtsarakko

virtsarakko

MEANING:

Noun: (anatomy) urinary bladder.

DERIVED FROM:

Virtsarakko comes from virtsa ‎(“urinary” as a modifer, ”urine” as a noun) +‎ rakko ‎(“bladder” or ”blister”.)

EXTRA CREDIT:

Virtsakivi is a ”bladder stone.”

katkera

katkera

MEANING:

Adjective: bitter, resentful.

EXTRA CREDIT:

Let’s translate the photo headline, ”Ensimmäinen väittely sähköisti vaalitaiston. Katkera Trump syytti mikrofoniaan” or something like ”First debate electrified the election battle. A bitter Trump blamed his microphone.”

juliste

juliste

MEANING:

Noun: poster, placard.

DERIVED FROM:

Juliste comes from julistaa (”to proclaim” or ”to announce”) +‎ -e (a suffix that can be used to form nouns from verbs or adjectives).

väittely

vaittely

väittely

MEANING:

Noun: argument, debate.

DERIVED FROM:

Väittely comes from väitellä (a verb meaning ”to argue” or ”to debate”) +‎ -y (a suffix here used to turn verbs into nouns.)

EXTRA CREDIT:

You will also see vaaliväittely, which refers specifically to an election debate.

kirottu

kirottu

MEANING:

Adjective: accursed, cursed.

DERIVED FROM:

Kirottu comes from kirota, a verb meaning ”to curse” or ”to swear.”

EXTRA CREDIT:

Harry Potter ja kirottu lapsi is the Finnish title of the new J.K. Rowling book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

olkihattu

olkihattu

MEANING:

Noun: straw hat.

DERIVED FROM:

Olkihattu is a compound of olki ‎(“straw”) +‎ hattu ‎(“hat”)

EXTRA CREDIT:

There is a song in Finnish by Tapio Rautavaara called ”Isoisän olkihattu”. Here’s his version.

arvo

arvo

MEANING:

Noun: value, worth; rank, standing, title

DERIVED FROM:

Arvo comes from Proto-Finnic *arvo, from Proto-Finno-Ugric *arwa ‎(“price, value”). Cognate with Estonian arv and Hungarian ár.^[1]

EXTRA CREDIT:

Arvo is also a Finnish and Estonian man’s name.

köyhä

koyha

köyhä

MEANING:

Adjective: poor

DERIVED FROM:

Köyhä comes from Proto-Germanic *skeuha-. Compare to English shy.

EXTRA CREDIT:

köyhä kuin kirkon rotta is an idiom that means ”poor as a church mouse”
rutiköyhä means ”extremely poor” or ”poverty-stricken”

kapea

kapea

MEANING:

Adjective: narrow

EXTRA CREDIT:

This is a photo of Brydges Place, a narrow alley in London. At its tightest point, Brydges Place is just 15 inches wide, making it London’s narrowest alley-