Finland for Thought
             Politics, current events, culture - In Finland & United States

Moi! Thanks for visiting!
I have a new blog: BETTER! FUNNER! - come say hi!
Be sure to check out my new book: "How to Marry a Finnish Girl"
And find out more about me: www.philschwarzmann.com

...Enjoy!


13.11.2009

Proof that Finnish is way harder than English

Tags: Culture,Language — Author: @ 4:57 pm

Here’s a sign at an entrance to the Finnish restaurant, “Rosso” (think TGIF Fridays). The *exact* same thing is written in both Finnish and English. Which language would you rather speak??

proof_finnish_is_hard

  • hmies

    Finnish.

  • Bobby

    Well, the English doesn’t even make much sense.

  • EU Civil Servant

    The content isn’t even the same.

    Btw, who goes to Rosso? It’s a place for white trash.

  • Hank W.

    “Be so kind as to step in further, you may freely choose your table”

    - I think the Finnish *exact* same thing is’t that much longer. However there really isn’t a really short shorter version.

  • S.Y

    I wouldn’t say that’s “the exact same thing” in both languages. For example “ja käykää peremmälle” doesn’t exist in the english version at all nor is it necessary addition in the finnish version.

    In finnish “the exact same thing” would be: “Olkaa hyvä, vapaa istumajärjestys”. “please/olkaa hyvä” is totally unnecessary though.

    In the original finnish version the part of “please” makes more sense. In Finnish it says exactly this: “Please step in, you are free to choose table”

  • http://www.finlandforthought.net Phil

    Btw, who goes to Rosso? It’s a place for white trash.

    I’m white trash.

  • Anonymous

    We knew that :-)

  • fistfightingliberace

    Only a lazy twat who hasn’t bothered to actually study Finnish would conclude these mean the *exact* same thing.

  • http://knizzlefoshizzle.blogspot.com Larjmarj

    I’ve tried to learn a few words a phrases..my pronunciation is fairly good. (I think).

    Yay White Trash!!!! You know I wear my pajama bottoms to the grocery store ;-)

  • http://www.finlandforthought.net Phil

    Only a lazy twat who hasn’t bothered to actually study Finnish would conclude these mean the *exact* same thing.

    Only a complete retard would not know I’m joking around. :-P

  • Andreas

    I am retarded. Shortbus IT Consultant lmao :D

  • Andreas

    Perkele!!!

  • Olli

    The content in the two sentences OBVIOUSLY isnt the same; the finnish one is a welcome, while the english sentence simply offers chairs free of charge for those in need.

  • sepisp

    The Finnish is more polite. Who would’ve guessed.

  • hfb

    Well…and nobody pointed out that the English is rather unbearably comic. :) Generally, in a restaurant (in the US) you will find one of two variations on this theme – 1) Please wait (for (a) hostesss) to be seated or 2) Please seat yourself. The former being /far/ and away the more common sign as seating yourself is generally assumed unless otherwise told or the context gives you doubt, e.g. nice restaurant with maître d’.

    “Free seating” in English implies that the chairs are there for the taking ;) It’s one of those situations where English shows the non-native speakers the depth of their skill and/or lack thereof since ‘free’ can be used in the same context, ala ‘take any free seat’, and while natives will know what you mean without stealing the chairs for the comic value of it, it wouldn’t be used as ‘Please, free seating.’

    The Finnish in the same sign is rather formal mouthful of dots and double letters though. :)

  • v.i.lenin

    “Please, free seating” asks me to grab loiterers and malingerers and yank them out of their chairs so my group can sit down and generate revenue

  • hfb

    v.i.lenin…not entirely as the comma makes all the difference, e.g.

    “Please free seating” (imperative voice indicating a hun will be along shortly to separate you from your chair)

    vs.

    “Please, free seating” (not sure the exact terminology but changes the ‘free’ from a verb to an adjective.)

    :)

  • Kekkuli

    Olkaa hyvä, valitkaa pöytänne. <- exactly the same and only one more word.

  • fistfightingliberace

    Only a failed comedian would leave a smiley at the end of a heckle.

  • Nick

    Just becuase finnish does not have the word please its harder?

  • Sirkuspelle

    The lack of the word “please” does make it harder. However, nowadays you can say “pliis”.

  • http://obcessedwithanimals.blogspot.com May

    Either way seems that Finland is the best country to live, I still am willing to go there.

  • Hans
  • Anonymous

    “Please head inside, you can choose a table yourself.” That’s what it says

blog comments powered by Disqus

Invalid XHTML | CSS | Powered by WordPress

1