MEANING:
Adverb: inside out, upside down (wrong way around).
DERIVED FROM:
Nurin päin comes from nurin (over, inside out, upside down) + päin (”towards,” ” in the direction of”).
Aihearkisto: Phrases
reilu kauppa
MEANING:
Phrase: fair trade.
DERIVED FROM:
Reilu Kauppa comes from reilu (”fair” or ”just”) plus kauppa (”store” or ”shop” or ”commerce,” ”business” or ”trade”).
EXTRA CREDIT:
Fair trade is a social movement whose stated goal is to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions and to promote sustainability.
asiaton oleskelu
MEANING:
Phrase: loitering (literally, ”inappropriate staying” or ”lingering without business”)
DERIVED FROM:
Oleskelu comes from oleskella (”to stay,” ”to linger”) + -u (a suffix used to make a noun out of a verb.)
Asiaton comes from asia (”thing,” ”matter” or ”business”) + –ton (a suffix used to show a lack of a certain thing or quality).
EXTRA CREDIT:
Let’s translate the whole Finnish phrase from the sign at Rautatientori (”Railway square”), Asiaton oleskelu kielletty or ”Loitering not permitted.”
tuttu juttu
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.”
yllätä itsesi
ja niin edelleen (jne.)
ja niin edelleen (jne.)
MEANING:
Noun: et cetera, and so forth, etc.
DERIVED FROM:
Ja niin edelleen (abbreviated in Finnish as jne. is a phrase made from ja (“and”) + niin (“so”) + edelleen (“further”).
yhdessä vai erikseen
yhdessä vai erikseen?
MEANING:
Phrase: Together or separate?
DERIVED FROM:
Yhdessä is an adverb that means ”together.”
And erikseen is an adverbial form of the adjective eri (”different” or ”separate”) and means ”separately” or ”singly.”
(You may sometimes see ”Yhteen vai erikseen” or other variations.)
karkki vai kepponen
MEANING:
Phrase: Trick or treat.
Sometimes seen as ”Karkkii tai kepponen.”
DERIVED FROM:
Karkki is a colloquial term for ”sweet” or ”candy.”
Vai means ”or.” (For reference, tai is an inclusive or, while vai is an exclusive or.)
Kepponen is a ”practical joke.”
EXTRA CREDIT:
If you’re unfamiliar with the custom of trick-or-treating, children go door to door in many countries around this time of year (Halloween) and ask for treats. Read more here.
enemmän vähemmällä
enemmän vähemmällä
MEANING:
Phrase: More for less, more with less.
DERIVED FROM:
Let’s break down the phrase on the Alepa billboard.
Enemmän means ”more.”
Vähemmän is an adjective which means ”less.” It is the comparative form of the adjective vähän (”little” or ”few”). In our example sign, vähemmän appears in the adessive singular, vähemmällä. One use of adessive case is when you want to say ”by” or ”with” something, in the sense of ”by means of.” It best translates here as ”with less” or even ”for less.”
EXTRA CREDIT:
You may also see the common phrase enemmän tai vähemmän, which means ”more or less” or ”approximately.”
olen vilustunut
’
MEANING:
Phrase: I have a cold.
DERIVED FROM:
”Olen vilustunut” is how you say ”I have a cold.”
Vilustunut is the active past participle of the verb vilustua which means ”to catch a cold.” As active past participle it acts as an adjective that means ”having caught a cold.”
[This is a similar construction to when you say ”I am tired” by saying ”Olen väsynyt.” Väsynyt is the active past participle of the verb väsyä (”to become tired” or ”to fatigue”). Väsynyt acts as an adjective meaning ”having become tired” or simply ”tired.”]
EXTRA CREDIT:
Minulla on flunssa used to mean ”I have a the flu.”
Finnish Word of the Day 