REACTING TO WEIRD FINNISH SAYINGS AND IDIOMS | Part 4 

What's your favourite saying out of these? Do you use any of these in real life? Let me know!

I think "nyt alkoi lyyti kirjoittamaan" could also translate as "now we're talking" or something like that 🤔

"That was heittämällä the best concert I've ever been to!" Heittämällä paras, heittämällä vaikein, heittämällä whatever, means the thing is easily/clearly/definitely the best/hardest/whatever

There's different variations for "Vuonna miekka ja kivi" I for example say "Vuonna nakki ja muussi" (In the year of sausage and mashed potato)

Ei laita tikkua ristiin, maybe helps to think that crossing two sticks is a super simple, easy thing to do, and then that person doesn't do even that much... That kinda sums it up.

I have heard that "Johan alkoi Lyyti kirjoittamaan" comes from time when Finns moved to America to look for better life. Their relatives couldn't write letters to them before they had settled in and gotten an address. So that's why when Lyyti can write to you, you know you have figured things out.

Heittämällä can be used like this for example: Hän sai kokeen heittämällä läpi. (They passed the test by throwing.) Hän leipoi täydellisen kakun heittämällä. (They baked the perfect cake by throwing.) Hän söi kaiken heittämällä. (They ate it all by throwing.) In these sentences "by throwing" basically means "very easily". It's most commonly used in situations where one must perform, such as tests and auditions, but it can also be used in other situations.

"...if not the cat itself" the saying is very close to your guess. I interpret it something like: Don't expect others to do what you have to do. It's definitely about doing things by yourself and not just waiting someone to come and do it for you. As a finn, I'm not even 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure.

'Heittämällä' is like 'with flying colours'.

I don't think these idioms were translated by a professional.

''Nyt alkoi lyyti kirjoittamaan'' can be used when you don't know how to do something and suddenly you figure it out. For example if you're trying to fix something and you are not sure what you need to do, but then you get an idea of using some specific tool etc. to get the task done, you can say ''No nyt alkoi lyyti kirjoittamaan''.

There's a couple sayings here that I would've said a bit differently to have a bit more accurate and clearer translation. Like for example "They won't cross a stick" instead of "their sticks" and "To have rye IN the wrists" instead of "ON the wrists". Also "Onni" is a difficult word to translate because it encompasses things like "fortune", "happiness", and "luck". So you kind of just have to choose one.

Okay but Leo stole my heart again ;-; he's a cutie

Just heard English version of ”pieru Saharaan” the other day on the Blacklist: ”disappeared like a fart in a fan factory” xD

My favorite idiom is "ennen sianpieremää" "before pig farts" meaning very,very early in the morning.

I believe the "Kel onni on, se onnen kätkeköön" is from a poem by Eino Leino, a well-known and much cited poet. The book really should explain origins of the sayings, when known.

I love these content. They open also my native Finnish vocabulary and memory on these saying😂

”Sopii kuin nyrkki silmään” is dark humor about hitting someone, and then the fist fits perfectly!

You should think of the "mennä metsään", "mennä päin mäntyä", "mennä päin honkia" as something you'd fear to do when you are driving a car. So, it's making a mistake, fail.

Mennä metsään has propably come from driving, like falling off the road or perhaps just generally navigating into a wrong place..

Cows in ditches is something you can think through someone asking "Should we fill that ditch that people and things don't fall in it?" and then my almost namesake yells: "Yes, definitely should fill that in! And help anything already trapped there out." "Wait... Isn't that your cow in there already?" Matti: "... Maybe..." And the rooster is on a compost heap. It's to say that though you're high and mighty, you're actually just a colourful farmanimal standing on old groceries, not some fancy emperor on a throne.

These finnish comments have better english than 90% of the finnish people😂 I’m a shocked Finnish-Australian🙈

When you started describing your guess for "Mennä metsään", I just thought to myself "Nyt meni metsään"

I think the English translations made it harder for you to guess the meaning. "Ei laita tikkua ristiin" could be better translated as "Won't even lay a stick across another." Not, "They don't cross their sticks." I love this book and your trip through it. I'm learning expressions that entered the landscape after I emigrated, so this is fun. You're coming along really well with your FInnish. As to life in quarantine: Tsemppia. What's this little bump in the road, for a Finn as you are now?

I like this editing so much! So smooth and easy to watch!

I feel like the translation of the "ei laita tikkua ristiin" isn't really good. If you'd translate "They don't cross their sticks" into Finnish, it would come out out as: "He eivät laita tikkujaan ristiin", which is not correct at all. I'd translate the saying: "To not cross a single stick", which would also make it more close to the actual meaning of the saying.

For someone also learning Finnish these videos combined with all the comments are absolute gold :D

Tämä oli todella viihdyttävää, kiitos Dave!

I find your videos so entertaining. I’ve never thought about the literal translation of most of these 😂

I don’t always really agree on the direct English translations on the book. They’re not always exactly word to word but they’re also not proper translations with the nuance and ”vibe” taken into account all of the time. So ”ei laita tikkua ristiin” phase e.g. You can’t deduce it’s ”their sticks” from the Finnish saying, it just says ”doesn’t cross a stick” or ”they don’t cross a stick” If I was to translate it i’d maybe say ”they don’t even cross a stick” or ”they don’t cross a single stick” to get the ”vibe” closer as in like emphasising the fact that crossing a stick would not take much effort and perhaps that they were expected to do that (”can you believe they didn’t cross a single stick to help us?”)

I use "heittämällä" at my work. I load and unload trucks, when I load something into tight place and it (finally) fits, I say "meni heittämällä sisään"/"Went in by throwing".

"Sopii kuin nyrkki silmään" is perfect example of how dark old Finnish sayings are.

I got your video randomly on my feed and I don't normally watch this type of videos, but you have so calm way to talk and you aren't over the top in the videos, unlike most youtubers. So I clicked subcribe.

What you thought was the "jo alkoi Lyyti kirjoittamaan" (something not being very interesting) does have a sarcastic idiom. Actually several variations. The most used ones I think are "kiviäkin kiinnostaa" (even rocks are interested) and "kissaakin kiinnostaa" (even a cat is interested). Rocks are known for not showing interest in many things, and cats also are quite unreliable when it comes to acquiring their attention.

My favorites are firstly: "like a fist in the eye" because it's a great example of the darkly humorous tone that Finnish sayings sometimes take in comparison to sayings in English (Check out the Finnish version of "Like stealing candy from a baby" for another example) And secondly "Now Lyyti begins writing" because it's one of the sayings that make you go "What who now?" after hearing them for the first time. There's a whole bunch of them, all with different characters (Like Ellu and her chickens). I love them.

When you pondered would Finnish parents use so harsh idioms, they actually do 😅 At least still at late 90's / early 2000 did. One of my mom's favorites when I had hangover when in high school was "Kärsi kärsi kalleimman kruunun saat" Suffer suffer you will get the worthiest crown.

5:02 - "vuonna miekka ja kivi" There are actually many variations for this, always using some item(s) for time period one wants to point to. (I once heard someone referring their childhood time as "vuonna pipo" (year of beanie))

We also say "vuonna nakki ja muusi" which translates to "in the year of sausages and mashed potatoes" and has the same meaning :D I feel that it is even more commonly used instead of "miekka ja kivi"

Helsingin kaupunginkirjaston Kysy.fi sivustolta löytyi selitys: Sanonnan 'Jo rupesi Lyyti kirjoittamaan' taustalla on suomalaisten siirtolaisuus Amerikkaan. Siirtolaiset odottivat kotimaasta postia, mutta sitä ei luonnollisesti kuulunut ennen kuin kotimaahan oli lähetetty tarkka osoite. Eli kun osoite saatiin ”Jo rupesi Lyyti kirjoittamaan, nyrkin kuva joka sanan jälessä” (R. Hyvönen Laukaalta; Kansanrunousarkisto.) Sanonta levisi myös muihin yhteyksiin kuvaaman jonkin toiminnan sujuvuutta esteiden poistuttua. Esimerkiksi 'Haupitsipatteri oli saanut tulenjohdolta väärät lukemat ja niin ensimmäinen tuli-isku ammuttiin liiaksi eteen. Tulenjohdon korjattua lukemat toinen isku osui keskelle hyökkäysryhmittymää. Kuultuaan täysosumista eräs tykistönjohtaja sanoi nuivasti: 'Jo rupes lyyti kirjoittamaan, kun sai oikean osoitteen .' - Pentti Pekonen SK 11.11.67." Lähde: Suomalainen fraasisanakirja, Otava, 1981. This is too hard for me to translate into english :D But shortly; the background of the phrase is when the finns migrated to america. Finnish migrants waited mail from their home country, but first they obviously had to send their new address: and then Lyyti begins writing!

It's funny how I've used many of these sayings all my life and never realised the literal meanings. And also you are doing great with your studying! I have no idea how anyone manages to learn finnish as a second language.

"Heittämällä" is like a saying you'd use when you could do something very easily or very much agree to something I guess, hard to explain but some examples: "Would you be able to do this and this?" (Heittämällä) "Easily" "This guy is the best, don't you agree?!" (Heittämällä) "Easily"

Oh, I needed that laugh today! And here I am, teaching English idioms to my very Swedish ESL-students. Greetings from Sweden, and your baby is the cutest! :-) Good luck with both parenting and your language studies! Siitä se lähtee!

Why am I just discovering your channel??? So interesting..am studying practical nurse studies in Finnish language and the struggle can be REAL at times.

It's awesome to follow how your pronounciation just keeps getting better and better. It does sound foreign but you can quite easily understand basically everything you're saying in Finnish now EDIT. Mennä metsään is also said mennä puihin (go into the trees)

Leo's face when you kept waving the book in front of him in the end. So cute.

"Heittämällä" is like you slam-dunked it with ease. Kinda like when guys proudly yells "sukkana sisään" "entered as a sock / into like a sock" after throwing a good hoop in basketball (slides through smoothly like pulling on your sock).

I understand "kuka kissan hännän nostaa jos ei kissa itse" just like you. Cat's must lift it's own tail because no one ealse is going to do it. Never thought that you should be proud of my self. (yes I'm finn)

Mate these are hilarious 🤣🤣🙏🏻🙏🏻 trying a few myself 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

Haha I love it how well you understand the insights of Finnish grandmas and parents!!❤️😂😂😂 Kel onni on, se onnen kätkeköön. One of the most finnish things to say...

When you said ”kukkona” it was so perfectly pronounced

Well done!!! Tai siis hyvin tehty!

"Oma lehmä ojassa", "heittämällä", "mennä metsään" and "vuonna kivi ja keppi" (another version of "vuonna kivi ja miekka", 'keppi' meaning a 'stick') are very common idioms. I use them a lot and hear them used a lot. Your pronunciation is so good! You are doing a great job!

Kel onni on se onnen kätkeköön is from the poetry of Eino Leino and the poem is about if you have happiness other people will not look kindly to it and get jealous so you should hide it and enjoy it only by yourself.

Nice and fun video! Greetings from Argentina!

I use alot a word that most likely ain't in that book. Actually I've learned it from one old Karelian fella and never heard anyone else to use it, but I do use it almost daily for many different things. And the word is "ömöttää". It means: "something or someone is somewhere and does nothing else except just watches forward or at something". "Siellä hää tuas ömöttää" = "there he/she once again (add here the meaning above)". "Ömöttävä paska" = "Someone/something I don't like just sits there and does nothing". And so on.

Mennä metsään if I remember correctly comes from farmers herding their cows or sheep. When one slips away and runs into the forest that's where its like ah shit, now it went to the forest!

Remember that when you use the "mennä metsään" -idiom, remember to use the right inflected form. The most usual way to use it is to say "meni metsään" = wen't to the forest. (Imperfect)

Around here, "heittämällä/by throwing" also means "by guessing". For example, if someone gets full points on some point in a test by guessing, they could say "Sain heittämällä täydet"/"I got full points by throwing"

My favourite saying is "kyllä homo homon tunnistaa" which is literally translated "gay always recognises (the) other gay". It is not very politically correct nowadays, but it is possible to use it widely.

I once read in a magazine article that Lyyti was a well-known columnist at the beginning of the 20th century and when Lyyti wrote for the magazine, people began to think that things started going well because of her writings.

Never heard the saying "vuonna miekka ja kivi" i've always heard used the saying "vuonna kivi ja keppi" meaning "in the year of the stone and stick". Another one is "heittämällä" for example you could use it after a test if it was really easy you could say "heittämällä läpi". Good video Dave!

In the Netherlands, things fall into the water or go into the soup instead of into the forest

Example: u have math class and you don’t understand the task, but soon you’ll figure out that it is quite easy and then you say nyt alkoi lyyti kirjoittamaan. Or u have an essay and you don’t have a clue what or how to write and suddenly u have a huge idea and start writing, nyt alkoi lyyti kirjoittamaan

GOD THAT WAS A LONG COMMERCIAL. Otherwise love you as always :)

You could use the ”heittämällä” in situations where you do something and it happens very easily. You could say something like ”no sehän meni heittämällä”.

Good video again 👍

When you tried to guess "mennä metsään" and failed it you could have said "p*rkele se meni metsään" so p*rkele it went to s*its

Heittämällä has the thinking of "hip shot" (shooting the cowboy pistol at hip height as opposed to carefully aimed shot.) Actually, one translation of "hip shot" to Finnish is "heittolaukaus". Lyyti is just the hero person - like Fonzie, who just always knows exactly what to write. At least personally, I identify the "mennä metsään" phrase like a image of driving a car (or horse cart) on a road, but then it suddenly goes to forest (and gets stuck between two trees, or such). To not cross their sticks, is when there is a big barn rising, and everyone is putting planks on their places and nailing things, but then there is this one person, who doesn't move any planks. They don't as much as put two sticks across each other in the construction work. Rye on the wrist is similar thinking to "you are what you eat". People who eat lot of rye bread (and their porridge in the breakfast) grow up strong.

"Heittämällä" is "very easily" but also "by a lot" "hän voitti heittämällä" can mean "he won easily" but also "she won by a lot" (as in winning a 100m sprint 5 ahead the second person for example)

no dave! we need to see the whole book

"Vuonna miekka ja kivi" get me thinking of King Arthur drawing the sword Excalibur from the stone. Not a very Finnish legend, though.

To have rye on the wrists means that if you eat lot’s of healty rye bread the rye ”will go” to your biceps (turn into muscle) and you get stronger.. 😄

Tikkua ristiin can refer to making camp and everyone doing their tasks but someone isn't even crossing the sticks for a bonfire.

That phrase ”heittämällä=by throwing” you can use for example if some exam is super easy and you pass it very easily🤗

Ei se nyt ihan metsään mennyt :D You do have such a happines in baby Cad. Don't hide that happines. Never learn that part of finnish character. It is as stupid as it gets.

You can also say "mennä metsään" in Swedish. If something "går åt skogen" it's going wrong.

Crossing the sticks comes from old times where women would meet up to knit together and there was always that one woman who gossiped a lot but didn't actually do anything😅 so she was definitely not crossing her sticks!

Oh..My..God I love the baby! Those faces he makes ❤ 😄

"Kel onni on, se onnen kätkeköön" comes from poem "Laulu onnesta" by Eino Leino.

I am gonna get that book from dad thinks Leo. Enjoyed watching this vid

when you do the next part of tasting finnish alcohol, you have to try Taskumatti Suomalainen Mustikkalonkero!

"Koe meni heittämällä läpi" = "I passed the test very easily"

5:53 like "Timmy is going to win this" "Heittämällä"

Some of these are, like you said, something your parents or grandma would say to you but "heittämällä" is used a lot by young people.

Heittämällä (idiom), to do something very easily. Example: "Heittämällä låpi! " would be something you'd say, perhaps gloating, or just being happy, if you pass an exam easily, with a good grade. Or, you might say the exact same words, if you finish a level in a video game you've previously thought was hard, or if you get through (läpi) a driving test to get your driver's license. You usually need the word "läpi" to accompany it and you have to be referring to a specific task, usually some kind of test or exam.

This was fun to watch (as a finnish language and literature student) + Leo is cute☺️ And yeah ”Mennä metsään”, ”Ruista ranteessa” and ”Heittämällä” are ones I use maybe the most, but others were also more or less familiar except the cat one, which was quite weird for me🤔 Btw just the other day I wondered about where does the part ”lyyti” come from to ”Jo alkoi lyyti kirjoittamaan” and still not so sure about that😅🤦🏼‍♀️

6:52 you could say se meni metsään... startting to think finnish sayings dont make any sense even if I´ve used most of these...

Wish he'd quoted the famous English translation of the ancient saying: 'Who dares, wins' near the end!

"Ei laita tikkua ristiin" would be better Interpreted as deliberately not putting in any effort to accomplish something/getting something done/finished.

For example heittämällä läpi is "pass (exam or so) without even trying". So you just wing it and it's perfect.

it was soo cool, thx.

8:25 Wasn't expecting that "r" in there, and it came with a bang.

You could use the heittämällä as an example if you know you'll pass an exam with an ease (sehän meni läpi heittämällä) or if you have solved a problem with ease (ongelma ratkesi heittämällä)

I enjoy these videos. And even as a Finn I am not familiar with all of these idioms.

"Heittämällä" / by throwing is something finns use ALL THE TIME! you could say "doing a flip was very easy" as "voltti meni ihan heittämällä". It basically means you didn't even really have to try. Try asking cat- i feel like it's one of the most important idioms to learn

There is this one saying ”kuin käärmeen kusi erämaassa” (like a snake’s piss in the desert) which means something or someone is not going a straight line. For example a drunk person might walk like ”a snake’s piss in the desert”.

Nyt Dave parturiin!!!

5:06 never heard that before but i have heard stone and axe, stick and axe, sausage and smashed potato, stone and stick (my fave, makes the most sense)

You can use heittämällä for example if you had an exam in school and it was so easy that it went heittämällä läpi (you passed for sure). Few ways to explain laittaa tikkua ristiin is someone being lazy or they just leave everything for other people to do.

In old believes, there was only a certain amount of happiness. So if your neighbor had some of that happiness, it mean't that you didn't and vice versa. That's why you would wan't to hide that happiness to prevent other people from casting a bad spell on you or luring wild animals to eat your cattle.