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When hanging around in AIM with my foreign acquaintances, I like talking about language differences. Maybe more than my talking buddies xD So, to get my feelings out, I decided to dump here some neat Finnish phrases I know.

Do you know if there is similar idioms and proverbs in English, too? For now, I haven't found English idioms meaning exactly same thing.

***


IDIOMS and EXPRESSIONS

Helppo nakki.
A piece of cake, lit. An easy wiener.
According to my knowledge and a language genius acquaintance I have, there is plenty of food idioms describing an easy task; Swedes talk about easy pan cakes, Chinese talk about dumplings, Dutches talk about simple soups if I remember it correctly...
"Nakki" (a wiener) has also another meaning in slang Finnish, which can make this expression more logical: A "nakki" can mean also a relatively quick/easy and usually a clear task, usually given by a person having authority over you. Typically, a "nakki" is a task that is meant to help in a big, common project.
An example of a "nakki": Your club members are cleaning up the club room. There is several small tasks to do, and one or some of the club members clearly take authority over the project (usually when helping in that by themselves, too). The small tasks they share to other people (like "Clean the cupboard", "You three can arrange the storage room", etc.) can be called "nakkis".
The verb derived from the word, "nakittaa", means sharing tasks to other people, or delegating.


Vie vain tuhkatkin pesästä!
Go ahead, take the ashes from the hearth, too!
A common expression you can say when you have to pay a lot money for another person and you are frustrated.

Syödä sanansa
To eat one's words
Eating your words means that you don't keep your promise.

Osaatteko laskea yksi plus yksi?
Can you count one plus one?
Another variation: "...kaksi plus kaksi?" ("...two plus two?") This expression is often used in this kind of situation: "Hey! There is an issue X, and on the other hand, there is an issue Y. [Issues X and Y are clearly related to each others, usually by forming the solution for a present problem or then solving each others.] Can you count one plus one?" After that, the speaker and to whom he is speaking can form the plan!
Example: "Hey! Aunt Clara lives alone and often feels so lonely. On the other hand, my class mate Jenny would like to help people but she doesn't know how. Can you count one plus one?"


Sopii kuin nenä päähän.
Fits like a nose to the head.
Another variation: Sopii kuin nyrkki silmään. ("Fits like a fist onto an eye.")

Potkaista tyhjää
To kick the bucket, lit. To kick the empty
Aka to die.

Heittää veivi
To throw away the crank/key
Another euphenism for dying.

Puhua pehmeitä
To talk soft stuff
Aka to speak clearly witless nonsense (and to believe in them or to try to make other people to believe it), usually reflecting that the person in question is more or less nuts.
"He claims he saw an UFO!"
"I think he is talking soft stuff."


Jänishousu
Rabbit/Hare pants
Equivalent to "a chicken" or "scaredy cat" or, in more general language, a coward. Finnish has also other cowardice idioms related to rabbits or hares: "jänistää" ("to rabbit") means "to chicken" (aka leave in cowardly way from a situation), "menikö pupu pöksyyn" ("Did you get a bunny into your pants?").

Olla jonkun housuissa
To be in someone's pants
It may sound a bit pervert in someone's opinion, but actually, this idiom is equivalent to English idiom "to be in someone's shoes", meaning "to be someone (or to be in that someone's situation)".


***


PROVERBS

Kuu kiurusta kesään; puoli kuuta peipposesta; västäräkistä vähäsen; pääskysestä ei päivääkään.
A month from a skylark to the summer; half of a month from a finch; a little from a wagtail; no day from a swallow.
This folkway describes how summer will arrive to Finland according to our migratory birds; as you see a skylark first time, you know it will take a month to the start of next summer, and so on.

Ei ole hoppu hyväksi eikä kiire kunniaksi.
Rushing won't make good; being busy won't give you honor.

Kukas se kissan hännän nostaa ellei kissa itse.
Who raises the cat's tail, if not the cat himself.
In other words, if you want to change something related to someone, the change must start from the person himself.

Ei kukko käskien laula.
The rooster won't sing upon command.
Often used by people who don't want to / can't use their talents by command (usually, they don't want to).

Se koira älähtää johon kalikka kalahtaa.
The dog that gets hit by a club will yelp.
In other words, when talking about unwanted behavior or accident or mistake in public and someone starts to keep big noise about it (like, "No, no, it never means me!"), it means that the person in question tends to do that behavior or is the culprit.

Ei ole niin pahaa ettei ole hyvääkin.
Nothing is that bad that there isn't anything good in that.

Silmät auki, kiinni suu, siitä viisastuu.
Open eyes, closed mouth, that will make you wiser.
Or, with more rhymes: Close your mouth, open your eyes, and you'll become wise.

Ei oppi ojaan kaada.
Education will never push you into a ditch.

Vahinko ei tule kello kaulassa.
An accident won't came with a clock on its neck.
Or, you can never predict what time an accident comes.

Ei suuret sanat suuta halkaise.
Big words won't split your mouth.
In other words, your actions mean more than your words. This is often said when someone is talking big, and the speaker wants that the person proves his words.

Aina roiskuu kun rapataan.
It will always splash as you plaster [the wall].
In other words, you shouldn't mind about getting dirty when working/playing, or that getting a job/fun done is more important than clean clothes/surroundings.

Lopussa kiitos seisoo.
The thanks will stand at the end.

Ei kysyvä tieltä eksy.
The one who asks will never be lost.

Auta miestä mäessä, älä mäen alla.
Help the man in the hill, not under the hill.

Ei nimi miestä pahenna, ellei mies nimeä.
The name can't make a man worse, but the man can make his name worse.

Konstit on monet, sanoi akka kun kissalla pöytiä pyyhki.
There are several solutions, said the hag while wiping the table with a cat.

Ei auta itku markkinoilla.
Crying won't help in the market.
In other words, moaning and regretting the past won't help in the true situations.

Joka vitsaa säästää, se lastaan vihaa.
The one who saves the cane hates his child.
In other words, you should give enough discipline and even punishments to raise your children.

Ei kahta ilman kolmatta.
No two ones without a third one.

Ei kukaan ole seppä syntyessään.
No one is a smith in birth.
In other words, you won't be professional without practice.

Hätä keinot keksii.
Distress will (help you to) come up with the solutions.

Joukossa tyhmyys tiivistyy.
Stupidness condenses in the crowd.

Omakehu haisee.
Praising yourself (aloud) stinks.
Describes Finns' mentality so well.

Joka kuuseen kurkottaa, se katajaan kapsahtaa.
The one who tries to reach the pine will fall onto a juniper.
In other words, if you try to reach too far, you'll fall.

Joka leikkiin ryhtyy, se leikin kestäköön.
The one who comes to the game should also stand the game.

Hädässä ystävä tunnetaan.
The friend is known in the distress.
There is at least two possible meanings: when you have distress, you easily remember who are your friends and go to ask their help, or, when you are in distress, you can ask your friends' help, and then you see if they are really your friends.

Kukin taaplaa tyylillään.
Everyone can go by their own styles.

Parempi virsta väärään kuin vaaksa vaaraan.
Better to go a verst (~2/3 mile) to wrong way than a span to dangerous way.

Mikä laulaen tulee se viheltäen menee.
What comes by singing leaves by whistling.
In other words, what comes easily also leaves easily.

Kasvaa se mies räkänokastakin, vaan ei tyhjän naurajasta.
Even snot-nosed youngster will become a man, but the one who laughs for nothing won't become a man.

Sopu sijaa antaa.
Concord/Harmony gives you room.
Typical expression in crowded places =P

Nälkä on paras kokki.
Hunger is the best cook.

Parempi pyy pivossa kuin kymmenen oksalla.
Better to have one hazel grouse caught than ten of them sitting on the branch.

Tosimies ei sanojaan syö.
The real man won't eat his words.
In other words, the real man will keep his promises. Also "to eat his words" separately is a common idiom. A popular alteration of this phrase: "Tosimies ei sanojaan tai salaattia syö." (The real man won't eat his words or salad.)

Älä nuolaise ennen kuin tipahtaa.
Don't lick before it drops.
I have never understood that idiom totally, but anyway it means that you should never say what is the result before you actually see it (especially when you think that you have won something).

Siitä puhe mistä puute.
People talk (a lot) about what they are missing.

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:iconantiquah:
~Antiquah 5 days ago  Hobbyist General Artist
Thank you so much for the fave! <33
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~NuttyNuti 4 days ago  Hobbyist General Artist
You're welcome! :)

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"Life is pretty simple. You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works."
- Leonardo da Vinci
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Tuossa viimeinkin tuo kiriban palkinto. D: Sori ehkä hitusen olen myöhässä näitten kanssa.

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~NuttyNuti Jan 13, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
Hoo! Kiitokset, eikä viive haittaa! Oikeastaan yllätys oli vain hauskempi kun oli osittain unohtanut sen :3

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"Life is pretty simple. You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works."
- Leonardo da Vinci
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taggasin teikän [link] (:

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be my private dancer
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