Fun Stuff

Finnish Vocabulary
Finnish Humor
Essentials of Finnish vocabulary: do you have sisu?
About Finnish language
Kalevala
Are Finns Happy?
Kieli-ikkuna Interesting essays(in Finnish) on the Finnish language.
Interesting News
Play Hangman

Do you have some Finnish "fun stuff" to add to this page?

Finnish Words

An American's Perspective
Is it a coincidence that Moose(Hirvi), Awful(Hirveä) and Monster(Hirviö) are so similar? Or could it be that centuries ago, Finns peered out their window only to see a huge moose staring back at them? Hmmmm... something to think about...

Longest Finnish Word The longest acceptable Finnish word is
lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas
(according to theFinnish edition of Guinness Bokk of Records) which has 61 characters and translates approximately to technical warrant officer trainee specialized in aircraft jet engines. This word has actually been in use in the Finnish Air Force.
here is another long one...
KOLMIVAIHEVAIHTOVIRTAKILOWATTITUNTIMITTARI
and another...
EPAJARJESTELMALLISTYTTAMATTOMYYDELLENSAKAANKO?

Some Finnish Tongue Twisters
Vesihiisikö se sihisi hississä.
Appilan pappilan apupapin papupata penkilla pankolla kiehuu ja kuohuu.
Appilan pappilan apupapin paksuposkipiski pisti poskeensa paksun papupurkin.
Kokoo kokoon koko kokko! Koko kokkoko? Koko kokko.
Alavilla mailla hallan vaaraa

The Finnish language holds the world record for the longest palindrome (a word that can be read the same bothways), The word
"saippuakivikauppias"
(translating "soap stone salesman") has a few variations. The most commonly know (shorter) version is "saippuakauppias" (translating simply "soap salesman") while the more ambitious (longer) version is "saippuakalasalakauppias" (translating "black market soap fish salesman"). It is, however, unknown whether soap fish actually exists or if there is a black market for it anywhere.

The finnish word "riiuuyoaie" (courting night intention) has the largest number of consecutive vowels (9) of any words in the world (the "o" in the middle should be accented with those two little dots).

The Finnish base dictionary (maintained by the University of Helsinki) has over one million entries, which is more than any other single language dictionary has. Therefore, one could say that the Finnish language has the largest vocabulary of all the languages.

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Humor

YOU KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN IN FINLAND TOO LONG, WHEN.....

1. You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the store and which can be sacrificed to garbage.

2. As you walk past the Parliament Building in Helsinki,and see the statues is titled "Svinhufvud" you no longer read it as "Swinehead" ... instead you think "What a good Swedish name!"

3. When a stranger on the street smiles at you:
a. you assume he is drunk
b. he is insane
c. he's an American

4. You don't think twice about putting the wet dishes away in the cupboard to dry.

5. A friend asks about your holiday plans and you answer "Oh, I'm going to Europe!" meaning any other Western European country outside Scandanavia.

6. You no longer scrunch up or fold your paper money. You always put your money in your wallet.

7. You see a student taking a front row seat and wonder "Who does he think he is!!??"

8. Silence is fun.

9. The reason you take the ferry to Stockholm is:
a. duty free vodka
b. duty free beer
c. to party hearty...no need to get off the boat in Stockholm, just turn around and do it again on the way back to Finland.

10. Your coffee consumption exceeds 6 cups a day and coffee is too weak if there is less than 10 scoops per pot.

11. You pass a grocery store and think "Wow, it is open, I had better go in an buy something!"

12. Your native language has serioously deteriorated, now you begin to "eat medicine", "open the television", "close the lights off", and tell someone "you needn't to!" Expressions like "Don't panic" creep into your everyday language.

13. You associate pea soup with Thursday.

14. Your idea of unforgivable behavior now includes walking across the street when the light is red and there is no WALK symbol, even though there re no cars in sight.

15. Your notion of streetlife is reduced to the few teenagers hanging out in front of Helsinki railway station on Friday nights.

16. Your bad mood becomes your good mood.

17. Sundays no longer seem dull with all the stores closed, and begin to feel restful instead.

18. "No comment" becomes a conversation strategy.

19. You finally stop asking your class "Are there any questions?"

20. The fact that all of the "v's" and the "w's" are together in the phone directory seems right.

21. Your old habit of being "Fashionably late" is no longer acceptable. You are always on time.

22. Hugging is reserved for sexual foreplay.

23. You begin to understand Jussi Jyylanpaarvi's broadcast of the hockey game.

23. You refuse to wear a hat, even in -30 degree weather.

24. You hear loud-talking passengers on the train. You immediately assume:
a. they are drunk
b. they are Swedish-speaking
c. they are American d. all of the above.

25. You give up on trying to find fat-free food and pile on the butter, cream and sugar.

26. You know how to fix herring in 105 different ways.

27. You eat herring in 105 ways.

28. You no longer look at sports pants as casual wear, but recognize them as semi-formal wear.

29. You can now reconstruct the missing letters on a building. For example MERI.........LIITTO OY.

30. You have undergone a transformation:
a. you accept mustamakkara (Black-blood sausage) as food
b. you accept alcohol as food
c. you accept.

31. You understand why the Finnish language has no future tense.

32. You no longer have to search for the flushing mechanism on the toilet.

33. You no longer see any problem wearing white socks with loafers.

34. You no longer correct people who say MAC Donald's.

35. You just love Jaffa.

36. You've come to expect Sunday morning sidewalk vomit dodging.

37. You know that "religious holiday" means "let's get pissed."

38. You enjoy salmiakki.

39. You know that "mens public bathroom" is another phrase for sidewalk.

40. You know that more than three channels means cable.

41. You get all the Swedish jokes.

42. When you're hungry you can peel a boiled potato like lightning.

43. You've become lactose intolerant.

44. You accept that 80 degrees C in a sauna is chilly, but 20 degrees C outside is freaking hot.

45. YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE LIVE ANYWHERE BUT IN FINLAND!!!!

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Interesting News

Wednesday November 12 3:12 PM EST

Finns Use Mobiles To Pay For Coke, Juke-box

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Technology-crazed Finns can now play their favorite
tune on a juke-box or buy a bottle of coke
from a vending machine using mobile phones instead of coins.

Telecom Finland, launching the service on Wednesday, said one of Helsinki's
restaurants had already fitted a juke-box with
a digital device which directly debited callers' telephone accounts when
they selected a tune.

Similar devices have been installed in two Coca-Cola vending machines, the
telephone company said.

Finland has the world's highest penetration of mobile phones at more than
40 per 100 inhabitants. It is home to Nokia, one
of leading producers of cellular phones worldwide.

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