tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post3243244348938505748..comments2024-03-12T12:35:37.484+00:00Comments on Finnish from Afar Blog: Finnish as a Secret CodeTelefinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416099919182532105noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-56883436188795726862014-02-02T04:33:58.880+00:002014-02-02T04:33:58.880+00:00Finnish "Marttisen miehet" (Marttinen...Finnish "Marttisen miehet" (Marttinen's men) who left Finland after WWII because of the Weapons Cache Case and joined the US Army used Finnish as an encryption language in the Korean War.Tytyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337186070833213172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-26787057242703411512013-12-24T15:27:23.662+00:002013-12-24T15:27:23.662+00:00I remember using i-language with my best friend as...I remember using i-language with my best friend as a child when other of my friends were around if we wanted to say something they wouldn't understand. We spoke in i-, o-, a-, y-, e- and the other vowel languages a lot, even when there wasn't anyone around. <br /><br />Also, in a Finnish comedy show called Putous, the actors had to create comedy characters for themselves, and one of them used a lot of word transformations, such as: Pehmeä jänis (jähmeä penis), hillitön kurvi (kulliton hirvi), virtakäyttöinen kettu (kertakäyttöinen vittu), and others that I don't remember right now.<br /><br />Since I live in America, I use Finnish a lot to say things I don't want other people to hear. When we fly to Amsterdam to fly to Helsinki, we don't do that, because there usually are other Finds at the airport.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-66132848902559921962013-06-15T20:05:24.587+01:002013-06-15T20:05:24.587+01:00There exists some other good sentences which make ...There exists some other good sentences which make particularly useful as shibboleths, e.g. "Älä rääkkää kärpästä" - ("Don't torment a fly") - has been used in WWII to reveal otherwise linguistically fluent infiltrators.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-56812813364204854722012-10-03T08:43:13.277+01:002012-10-03T08:43:13.277+01:00Apparently, Quenya was inspired by Finnish (http:/...Apparently, Quenya was inspired by Finnish (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quenya" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quenya</a>.<br /><br />Many people seem to use their own language in public hoping it remains secret. I one overhead a couple of Dutch men making some derogatory remarks about someone. I stared at them indicating that I had undersood what they had said, and they looked somewhat embarrassed. Dutch is hardly a good secret language though. It's spoken by close to 25 million people and it's closely related to other European languages...Telefinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02416099919182532105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-59833341672107223082012-10-03T05:33:27.340+01:002012-10-03T05:33:27.340+01:00I heard rumor that Finnish (or an altered version ...I heard rumor that Finnish (or an altered version of Finnish) was used as some creatures' language in Lord of the Rings, though that is unconfirmed. <br />Using a language as a code language isn't necessarily only for more uncommon languages like Finnish. I was raised bilingual and my mother and I find it very useful to switch to Japanese in public when making certain comments, and we can still be fairly certain no one will understand.Aminoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-26955806132275999102012-09-18T07:21:54.161+01:002012-09-18T07:21:54.161+01:00Great post!
I remember reading somewhere that Fi...Great post! <br /><br />I remember reading somewhere that Finnish words which are particularly difficult for non-Finns to pronounce - like höyryjyrä (steamroller) - were even used as passwords for soldiers during WWII. Katriinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08403719183047819222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-87973112052942324052012-09-17T15:26:26.865+01:002012-09-17T15:26:26.865+01:00Fixed link: http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontinkie...Fixed link: http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/KontinkieliAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-35325743552081081322012-09-17T15:25:54.752+01:002012-09-17T15:25:54.752+01:00Kontinkieli adds even more complexity to the sanan...Kontinkieli adds even more complexity to the sananmuunnos game: http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontinkieli. It's similar to pig latin in English. It is quite hard for native Finns too.<br /><br />Also about dirty word transformations, if you can understand Finnish well enough, you should check Pastori Luttinen out from YouTube.. "Nautinpa pikaiset limpsat" (Imma enjoy a quick soft drink) turns into "nautinpa likaiset pimpsat" (Imma enjoy some dirty p*ssies)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896195978622826735.post-56092196121301655562012-09-15T08:59:15.764+01:002012-09-15T08:59:15.764+01:00Finnish has been our family's secret language ...Finnish has been our family's secret language when travelling. We change from English to Finnish even mid-sentence if we need to make a private comment about something. It is very useful to switch mid-negotiation about a room rate for example in the Greek islands. As we live in Finland, my kids naturally speak Finnish together but always use English with me. When the kids were small we spent long summers in the UK. We were once in Victoria Park Bath and I sat on a park bench while my kids were busy playing. A group of Finnish au pairs came to sit on the bench next to me. They were chatting pretty loudly all about their employer families and going into all kinds of details. Of course they heard us talking to each other like any English family and had no idea I understood their conversation. I sat for a long time eavesdropping on their lively gossip, rather bemused. It was much more interesting than reading the newspaper. I heard all about how terrible English families were etc, etc. I called my kids over to leave in English and then started to speak to answer them in Finnish. The group of au pairs suddenly became very red faced and as I walked away I just wished them hyvää jatkoa and smiled. You cannot take it for granted that the person next to you doesn't understand you! What I overhear in the bathrooms in airports before catching return flight to Finland is also very funny. And maybe again today when I fly back to Helsinki from Dublin via London :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com