Translation of "thing"

jrdioko · Post by **jrdioko** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:10 am

Hello,

Most other languages I've studied have a nice, multipurpose word for "thing." In Finnish, it seems like there are several that are used in specific circumstances. What are the various Finnish words for "thing," and in what contexts are they used?

e.g.
"What do you want?" "That thing over there."
"Well, the thing is..."
"There are so many things I have to worry about these days."
"I like reading, writing, editing, and other things like that."

It seems important to have a good grasp of these to be able to use "crutch phrases" well.

Thanks.

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pemmes · Post by **pemmes** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 10:29 am

jrdioko wrote: What are the various Finnish words for "thing," and in what contexts are they used?

"What do you want?" "That thing over there."

In this context I assume you are referring to physical objects. That is, something you can point at. You can use pronouns, for example "tuo" or "se", in place of "thing."

jrdioko wrote: "Well, the thing is..."
"There are so many things I have to worry about these days."
"I like reading, writing, editing, and other things like that."

Here it seems that the "thing" is an abstract concept so it mostly translates to "asia" (or "juttu" in slang). The examples you gave could be translated as follows:
"Asia on niin, että..."
"Nykyään joudun huolehtimaan niin monista asioista (jutuista)."
"Pidän lukemista, kirjoittamisesta, tekstin muokkaamisesta ja muista sellaisista asioista".

Also you could simply say "ja niin edelleen" in place of "other things like that."

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 12:57 pm

pemmes

How would you say this in Finnish ? : "Winning is not everything. It is the only thing!"

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 1:00 pm

Voittaminen ei ole kaikkea - se on kaikki!

pemmes · Post by **pemmes** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:27 pm

kalmisto wrote:How would you say this in Finnish ? : "Winning is not everything. It is the only thing!"

Hank beat me to it, but it didn't feel like fluent Finnish. Maybe I would put it "Voittaminen ei merkitse kaikkea. Millään muulla ei ole mitään väliä!"

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 4:10 pm

pemmes wrote:
kalmisto wrote:How would you say this in Finnish ? : "Winning is not everything. It is the only thing!"
Hank beat me to it, but it didn't feel like fluent Finnish. Maybe I would put it "Voittaminen ei merkitse kaikkea. Millään muulla ei ole mitään väliä!"

What about "Voitto ei ole tärkein asia. Se on AINUT asia!" ?

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 4:13 pm

Thats pretty fluent, both semantically and verbally.

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 4:22 pm

Hank W

What is your best translation of the movie title "That thing you do !" ?

http://www.mtv3.fi/viihde/arvostelut/el ... ml/33933?t

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 4:27 pm

Of course, as the tradition of translating movie names requires the end result to be nothing even close to the original, I'd insist on "Hippibändi Hörhöilee".

I think there is a Finnish song that says "sinun juttu se on" or smthn...

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:04 pm

>> I think there is a Finnish song that says "sinun juttu se on" or smthn... <<

And thus the Finnish translation of "That thing you do!" would of course be "Se sun juttus!".

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:45 pm

jrdioko

The Finnish title of "The Thing from another world" ( from 1951 ) was : "Se" toisesta maailmasta.

http://www.yle.fi/cgi-mod/tallennemyynt ... ne&id=1075

se = it

toisesta maailmasta = from another world
( toinen maailma = another world )

The John Carpenter remake ( called "The Thing" ) got the Finnish title "Se jostakin".

jostakin = from somewhere
( jossakin = somewhere )

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:50 pm

Hank W

Another possible translation for "That thing you do !" could be "Sun tyylis puree!".

eivoiollatotta · Post by **eivoiollatotta** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:15 pm

This is what I would suggest for word thing: juttu.
That's the word I use quite a lot, when I do not have a specific word in mind..

"What do you want?" "That thing over there."
Mitä haluat? Tuon jutun tuolta.

"Well, the thing is..."
No, juttuhan on näin, että...

"There are so many things I have to worry about these days."
On niin monta juttua joita joudun murehtimaan..

"I like reading, writing, editing, and other things like that."
Pidän lukemisesta, kirjoittamisesta, editoinnista ja muista samanlaisista jutuista..

masao · Post by **masao** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:28 pm

Hi.
This subject reminds me of one incident that happened at Technical school in Tampere I was attending many years ago.
You may have to be a Finn to understand this.

In a chemistry test, we had to list up all the characteristics of water.
Among other things, I wrote, "Pesee tavaraa (=thing) puhtaaksi".
The teacher read out loud the answer I wrote down and burst out laughing in front of the class.
Later on, whenever we came across in corridor, the teacher blushed and started giggling like a helpless child.

t, masao

jrdioko · Post by **jrdioko** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:57 pm

So for abstract ideas it can always be asia (more formal) or juttu (more colloquial)?

What about for concrete objects where tuo/se won't work (or will they?)

"What would you like to buy?" "I'm looking for one of those things with the handle on one end and spout on the other."

What about the other words for "thing" (tavara is one I've heard but can't seem to remember others)?

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