Fun with Finnish (and other languages)

[p19]

'matka' in finnish means journey, but in czech it means 'mother'

[Hank W.]

'kurva' in Finnish means 'curve' but in Polish a 'prostitute'

[Helmi]

Not sure if this belongs here, but anyway. I thought about those situations when you hear some expression in Finnish and it means something really funny (or dirty) in your language. Just 2 examples:

take the verb muistaa = to remember

muista = remember! in Finnish (vocative), c**ksucker (feminine gender ) in Romanian
muisto = memory (of something) in Finnish, vocative of c**ksucker (e.g. you, c&#$sucker!) in Romanian (also feminine )
muisti = memory (ex. computer memory) in Finnish, almost like muişti in Romanian = c**ksuckers

pulla = I can't come up with a decent English translation for this; in Romanian pula = d**k (not duck )

Any other misunderstandings (in other languages maybe)?

I've heard of Corksniffers but not Corksuckers...is this a Finnish thing that happens in the downtown bars?

[phormion]

Helmi, either you're thinking at the wrong four letter word, or I'm not getting your joke (if any ).

[yaxxi]

"Susu" a finnish choc bar is pee in German baby tongue
"kotipizza", especially their advertisement "kotzone" reminds me of "kotzen" - to puke and "kot" - !"#¤%... ))

[Toni88]

I've been learning Japanese for a couple of months and I've noticed that there are many false friends between it and Finnish. For example...

koe -in Finnish it means exam but in Japanese it means voice

kasa -in Finnish it means pile but in Japanese it means umbrella

ase -in Finnish it means gun but in Japanese it means sweat

teki -in Finnish it is a past tense form of the verb tehdä (to do) but in Japanese it means enemy

hai -in Finnish it means shark but in Japanese it means yes (interestingly enough the Japanese word for no is iie -which kinda resembles its Finnish counterpart, ei)

kamu -it's a Finnish word for a friend or pal but in Japanese it's the verb "to bite"

Some other false friends that I've discovered so far are me, sora, tori, mono, kori, risu and Minna.

[jmbullet]

jm is from Canada and the way french canadians talk you never know. For example i was once visiting a friend in montreal he asked me what i wanted to eat I felt like some poutine, he took me to the red light district and told me I could choose which one.

but we are not all like that

[riksu]

I've been learning Japanese for a couple of months and I've noticed that there are many false friends between it and Finnish.

...

yeah, that's what I noticed too..

kissa - finn: cat, jap: bar, cafe =)

quite nice as I think

[mpz]

kasa -in Finnish it means pile but in Japanese it means umbrella

Even better: kasanaru "to become piled". Tulla kasaksi.

Some other false friends that I've discovered so far are me, sora, tori, mono, kori, risu and Minna.

If we're speaking of risu, don't forget kuri.

Kuso, haka, koi, aho...

[snowflake]

This is a bit off-topic, but if you understand enough finnish , so here's one joke:

"Why aren't there flowers any more in Hollywood?"

" Because john wayne and sylvester tallone." = because john took them and sylvester tramped on them

[kalmisto]

This is a bit off-topic, but if you understand enough finnish , so here's one joke:

"Why aren't there flowers any more in Hollywood?"

" Because john wayne and sylvester tallone." = because john took them and sylvester tramped on them

A clarifiction for those who do not understand the joke :

"Miksi Hollywoodissa ei ole enää kukkia?"

"Koska John vei ne ja Sylvester tallo ne."

vei ne = Wayne

tallo ne = Stallone

[kalmisto]

This is a bit off-topic, but if you understand enough finnish , so here's one joke:

"Why aren't there flowers any more in Hollywood?"

" Because john wayne and sylvester tallone." = because john took them and sylvester tramped on them

Mitä tapahtui kun Tauno Palo ja Jerry Lewis menivät saunaan?

Vihje : Saunassa oli aivan liian kuumaa.

Vastaus : Tauno palo ja Jerry levis.

[sinikala]

This is a bit off-topic, but if you understand enough finnish , so here's one joke:

"Why aren't there flowers any more in Hollywood?"

" Because john wayne and sylvester tallone." = because john took them and sylvester tramped on them

Mitä tapahtui kun Tauno Palo ja Jerry Lewis menivät saunaan?

Vihje : Saunassa oli aivan liian kuumaa.

Vastaus : Tauno palo ja Jerry levis.

[sinikala]

That last joke was almost as bad as the one about the two grandmothers who went blueberry picking... the other didn't fit.

[laa]

...

Some other false friends that I've discovered so far are me, sora, tori, mono, kori, risu and Minna.

If we're speaking of risu, don't forget kuri.

Kuritorisu?