Language Oddity #4: No Future in Finland's Dreaming

It might be unfair to say that that Finns are pessimists, but they definitely don't believe in the future.

Future tense that is.

Hail to the Juhannus Sausage!

Today is the eve of Juhannus, the celebration of the mid-summer solstice. Well, the solstice was technically a few days ago, but this is the nearest weekend to it.

Juhannus is also, it seems, a celebration of the Finnish sausage.

Say “Ääääää”!

In the previous post, I explained how I thought my colleague was going to become a snail. The confusion arose as a result of my inability to distinguish the sound “a” from the sound “ä” in Finnish.

Well, it seems I am not alone in suffering from irritable vowels syndrome, if the messages I received from other ulkomaalaiset (foreigners) are anything to go by.

Being a Snail

Yesterday, one of my co-workers told me in Finnish: “Tomorrow, I will be a snail”.

Even accounting for Finnish eccentricity, aspiring to be a snail is quite an odd thing.

From Guidebooks to Carnival

When I began spending a lot of time in Helsinki, I figured it would be nice to get to know the city. So I bought a travel guide.

I started reading the guidebook eagerly. However, doubts soon set in. It seemed that the guidebook I had bought had the right cover, but the inside was describing a completely different city.

Wot? No Government?

On 17 April 2011, Finland held parliamentary elections. Seven weeks later, the country is still without a new government!

Problem? What problem?

Mini-Post: Morning-After Contrition

Apparently, the morning-after pill is called “katumuspilleri” in Finnish, meaning “contrition pill” or “remorse pill”.

Does that mean Finnish women need to go to the pharmacy on their knees, confessing to having sinned and begging for forgiveness, before some pious pharmacist condescends to handing over the pill along with a penance?

Talk about piling on the guilt.

How's Your Butter?

When I first decided to make a little effort to learn Finnish, I began reading every label I could find. Before long, I learnt that the Finnish word for butter was “voi”. Armed with that knowledge, I tried to spot the word “butter” wherever I could – all part of reinforcing my newly acquired vocabulary obviously.

That's how I noticed that butter was very important to Finns. Or so I thought.

Before and After

In every language, there are words that have several meanings. But how about a word that means one thing and virtually the opposite also?