Finnish expressions

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jazzori
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Finnish expressions

Post by jazzori » Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:44 am

I'm interested in Finnish expressions cause they're not to be found in the dictionary, but from people, and the only way it can be taken is as a whole. ( English eg. "cold feet" )
Watch it..! :-p i'm gonna print them and learn them, so please.. be decent and accurate ;)


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Finnish expressions

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Karhunkoski
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Post by Karhunkoski » Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:33 am

Not sure if this is what you're after, but there was a fantastic list of sayings/expressions on this superb site, including that ever useful phrase, "as stupid as a boot" :lol:


http://www.uusikielemme.fi/index.html
Political correctness is the belief that it's possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Tue Nov 06, 2007 1:59 pm

"So stupid if he pissed in his boot he couldn't get it empty even he got a faucet in the heel."
:lol:
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

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Karhunkoski
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Post by Karhunkoski » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:10 pm

You mean tap of course?
Political correctness is the belief that it's possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

sammy
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Post by sammy » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:16 pm

Since there are a lot of trees in Finland, many sayings involve them too. A couple of examples...

Suksia kuuseen

- "to ski up a fir tree" (go away)

mennä/kiivetä perse edellä puuhun

-"to climb 'ar$e first' into a tree" (to approach a problem or a task completely wrong)

Ei näe metsää puilta

-"can't see the forest since the trees block one's view" (as you might expect, it's used e.g. when someone can only see parts and not the whole)

Vapista kuin haavanlehti

-"shiver like an aspen leaf" (if you e.g. feel cold / afraid... a fitting simile since that's what aspen leaves do, at the slightest breeze)

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Karhunkoski
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Post by Karhunkoski » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:19 pm

Suksia kuseen/kuselle?
Political correctness is the belief that it's possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

sammy
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Post by sammy » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:28 pm

Karhunkoski wrote:Suksia kuseen/kuselle?
Clever :D That goes a bit further, since if you'd say "suksia kuselle" you'd be playing with the idiom (suksia kuuseen) and "lähteä/mennä kuselle".

Combining different sayings in a funny way, or misquoting them... often unintentionally (-> Matti Nykänen style) is another source of verbal humour. But it can be difficult to fathom, if you do not know the original.

One classic 'misquote' of a saying from MN:

Asiat ovat sekaisin kuin Haminan kaupunki.

(to see why this is wrong you need to know the original saying as well... pää on pyörällä kuin Haminan kaupunki... erm... difficult to explain in English actually :wink: )

jazzori
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Post by jazzori » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:33 pm

Karhunkoski wrote:Not sure if this is what you're after, but there was a fantastic list of sayings/expressions on this superb site, including that ever useful phrase, "as stupid as a boot" :lol:


http://www.uusikielemme.fi/index.html
Thanks a lot! It helps!
Free your mind and the rest will follow!

jazzori
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Post by jazzori » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:34 pm

sammy wrote:Since there are a lot of trees in Finland, many sayings involve them too. A couple of examples...

Suksia kuuseen

- "to ski up a fir tree" (go away)

mennä/kiivetä perse edellä puuhun

-"to climb 'ar$e first' into a tree" (to approach a problem or a task completely wrong)

Ei näe metsää puilta


-"can't see the forest since the trees block one's view" (as you might expect, it's used e.g. when someone can only see parts and not the whole)

Vapista kuin haavanlehti

-"shiver like an aspen leaf" (if you e.g. feel cold / afraid... a fitting simile since that's what aspen leaves do, at the slightest breeze)
sammy, thank you! That's exactly what i am talking about! :)

I need more, moooore, MOOOOORE!!! *falls on her knees with a demented look on her face* :D
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Kezmale
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Post by Kezmale » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:07 am

There is a huge list of sayings here

And these are the ones I would use or ever think of using....
-Vetää herne/herneet nenään ("to pull peas into one's nose" = to get annoyed/pis*ed about something)
-Niin Kiero mies että pitää ruuvata hautaan ("so crooked a man that he needs to be screwed into the grave = probably a _huge_ connotation to savo (eastern) people who are crookes (my own prejudiced fact))
-Pyörii kuin puolukka pillu*sa = "Rolls Like a lingonberry in a p**sy" = to be really anxious, not having to strenght to stay put.
-Hävitä kuin pieru saharaan = "to vanish like a fart in Sahara" = to disappear somewhere, where one can't be found
-Niin tyhmä että pitäis nussia uudestaan = "so dumb that s/he should be f*ed again" --> really stupid...
-Krapulan parantaminen viinalla on yhtä tarkkaa homma kuin ripulin parantaminen viinalla = "curing hangover with booze is as accurate a job as curing diarrhea by farting" ..well,self explanatory.

In any case,these are only the one's I would use from that list, probably sammy, hank or Jukka has enough energy to translate the whole list :twisted:

But in addition you can see that there are many sayings that are just 'multiplied' with different word usages
E.g. - Pyörii kuin hullu mul*ku mielettömän perseessä, Pyörii kuin ryssä Anttilassa. cf. Pyörii kuin puolukka pi**ussa
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COBHC
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Post by COBHC » Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:37 am

Not exactly a saying but i always find it amusing when i hear people say "paskamarjat"

Oh s h i tberries! (i can't believe it actually bans !"#¤% as a whole) :D

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Post by Meresjeva » Thu Nov 08, 2007 3:40 pm

Ällylinen itsetyydytys - intellectual masturbation.

Tutsit ja mutsit - eh, hard to explane, but if two people are like those two tribes in Africa which live together but fight all the time - they are tutsit ja mutsit. Also I heard it is children's language...

Paskasta ei tule könvehtiä - a piece of !"#¤% won't become a piece of chocolate.

My favourite one is mökki höpperö - mad mökki-sitter:)

jazzori
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Post by jazzori » Thu Nov 08, 2007 3:54 pm

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Kiitoksia kaikille! Kiva ^^
Free your mind and the rest will follow!


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