One of the exciting parts of learning a new language is gaining the ability to look at the world through a different lens. This is especially true when it comes to untranslatable words: they are intricately linked to the culture that gave rise to them. Therefore, learning untranslatable Finnish words and expressions will deepen your understanding of Finland and Finnish people. You will also sound more fluent when you begin to use these unique Finnish words!
Of course, ‘untranslatable’ is a slight misnomer: any Finnish word can be translated into English if you use enough words. What we’re talking about here are Finnish words with no English equivalent that gets the exact same idea across in one word.
We’ve picked 12 contemporary Finnish untranslatable words. Let’s get started!
Learn untranslatable words for an insight into Finnish culture.
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Table of Contents
- Löyly
- Avanto
- Sisu
- Lintukoto
- Iltatähti
- Happihyppy
- Kalsarikännit
- Kyykkyviini
- Kukkahattutäti
- Peräkamaripoika
- Tarjeta
- Nakittaa
- How FinnishPod101 Can Help You Learn More Finnish
1. Löyly
| Literally | – |
| Meaning | The word löyly refers to the steam generated by throwing water on hot rocks in a sauna or the heat of the sauna. The word also appears in its plural form, löylyt. The latter form refers to the experience of bathing in a sauna or the quality of the sauna bath. |
| Example Situation | This word will undoubtedly come up if you go to a Finnish sauna with friends! |
| Usage In A Sentence Additional notes | The verb heittää (“to throw”) often appears with löyly and heittää löylyä means “to throw water on the stove to generate steam”. Heitä lisää löylyä, Jukka! (“Throw more water on the stove, Jukka!”) Oliko hyvät löylyt? (“Did you enjoy the sauna bath?” or literally “Was the löyly good?”) |
| Additional notes | Löylyttää is a verb derived from löyly and means “to beat up” or “to defeat decisively”, while the gruesome term verilöyly – coined from veri (“blood”) + löyly – means “bloodbath” or “massacre”. |
Heitä lisää löylyä! (”Throw more water on the stove!”)
2. Avanto
| Literally | – |
| Meaning | A hole in the ice, either naturally formed or deliberately created. |
| Example Situation | Winter pastimes in Finland include both swimming and fishing in holes in the ice. If you’re invited to come along, always check which type of avanto your Finnish friend is talking about, so that you know what you’re in for! |
| Usage In A Sentence | Oletko koskaan uinut avannossa? (“Have you ever swum in a hole in the ice?”) Santeri ja Anne kairasivat kolme avantoa pilkkireissullaan. (”Santeri and Anne drilled three holes in the ice on their ice-fishing trip.”) |
Avantouimari nousee avannosta. (“A winter bather rises out of a hole in the ice.”)
- Learn more Finnish vocabulary for hobbies with audio recordings on FinnishPod101.
3. Sisu
| Literally | – |
| Meaning | Sisu is a type of inner strength akin to tenacity, determination and grit that helps you keep going no matter what you’re facing. Sisu is a cultural concept and considered by Finns to be their national characteristic. |
| Example Situation | Are you facing a tough situation where you really need to push yourself emotionally or physically? Joanna Nylund, the author of “Sisu: The Finnish Art of Courage”, believes that sisu is something anyone can access, Finnish or not! |
| Usage In A Sentence | Älä luovuta! Sisulla tästä selvitään. (“Don’t give up! We’ll get through this with sisu.”) |
| Additional notes | You can refer to someone who has a lot of sisu as sisukas (“gutsy”, “feisty”). |
4. Lintukoto
| Literally | “Bird home” |
| Meaning | In modern usage, lintukoto refers to any safe and carefree place – and is probably one of the most beautiful Finnish untranslatable words. The term originally comes from Finnish mythology, in which it was a warm, paradise-like place where birds wintered. The Milky Way is called Linnunrata (“bird’s path”) in Finnish, because it was said to be the route that birds followed to fly to lintukoto and back. |
| Example Situation | Because Finland is a relatively safe and wealthy country, Finns sometimes fondly refer to their home country as lintukoto. |
| Usage In A Sentence | Monen mielestä Suomi on yhä lintukoto, mutta kaikki eivät ole samaa mieltä. (”Many think that Finland is still lintukoto, but not everyone agrees.”) |
5. Iltatähti
| Literally | “Evening star” |
| Meaning | Iltatähti is the youngest child in a family when there’s a significant age gap between the youngest and the other child(ren). Alternatively, the term can also refer to a child that a couple had relatively late in their life. |
| Example Situation | Talking about families? Iltatähti is a useful term to know alongside esikoinen (“firstborn”) and kuopus (“lastborn”). |
| Usage In A Sentence | Katariina on perheen iltatähti. Hän on kymmenen vuotta nuorempi kuin isoveljensä Onni. (“Katariina is the family’s iltatähti. She is ten years younger than her big brother Onni.”) |
| Additional notes | Iltatähti may also refer to the planet Venus when it’s seen in the sky in the evening. |
- Family is incredibly important to many people. Do you agree with these Finnish quotes about family?
Iltatähti on perheen nuorin lapsi. (”Iltatähti is the youngest child in a family.”)
6. Happihyppy
| Literally | “Oxygen jump” |
| Meaning | Happihyppy is the act of going outdoors for a bit of exercise and fresh air, typically in the form of a short walk. |
| Example Situation | If you’ve spent too much time indoors and are desperate for fresh air, ask your family or friends if they’d like to join you for happihyppy. |
| Usage In A Sentence | En jaksa enää keskittyä. Käydäänkö happihypyllä? (“I’m too tired to concentrate. Shall we go for a happihyppy?”) |
| Additional notes | An alternative form of happihyppy is happihyppely (“oxygen jumping”). |
Raitis ilma tekee hyvää. (“Fresh air is good for you.”)
- What is your favorite way to get exercise? Learn the Finnish words for horse riding and cycling in our Common Leisure Activities vocabulary list!
7. Kalsarikännit
| Literally | “underpant drunkenness” |
| Meaning | A humorous term, kalsarikännit refers to getting drunk in your underwear with no intention of going out. |
| Example Situation | Kalsarikännit is usually associated with being alone in your own home, but it can also be done socially. |
| Usage In A Sentence | Kalsarikännit is often used with the verb vetää (”to pull”). Vedin viime viikonloppuna kalsarikännit. (“I got drunk in my underpants last weekend.” Literally: “I pulled underpant drunkenness last weekend.”) |
8. Kyykkyviini
| Literally | “squat wine” |
| Meaning | Kyykkyviini means cheap wine. It’s called “squat wine”, because the cheapest wine in Alko (the national alcoholic retailing beverage monopoly in Finland) is usually placed on the low shelves and you need to squat to reach the bottles. |
| Example Situation | Pick up a bottle of kyykkyviini when you fancy a tipple but are on a budget. |
| Usage In A Sentence | Erityisesti opiskelijat suosivat kyykkyviiniä. (“Students especially favor kyykkyviini.”) |
- What is your favourite beverage? Learn how to say it in Finnish on our Twenty Drinks to Quench Your Thirst vocabulary list.
9. Kukkahattutäti
| Literally | “Flower hat aunt” |
| Meaning | Kukkahattutäti is someone (often an older woman) who has strict morals and likes to monitor and criticize other people’s behaviour. |
| Example Situation | If you’ve ever been told off in public by a complete stranger, you may have met kukkahattutäti! |
| Usage In A Sentence | Nykyään ei voi huomauttaa roskaamisesta ilman että haukutaan kukkahattutädiksi. (“You can’t tell someone off for littering these days without being called a kukkahattutäti.”) |
10. Peräkamaripoika
| Literally | “back bedroom boy” |
| Meaning | An adult male who lives with his parents and is typically single, unemployed and not in education. A female equivalent is peräkamarityttö (“back bedroom girl”). |
| Example Situation | Adults may live with their parents for many different reasons, but there’s undeniably a stigma attached to this type of living arrangement, perhaps because it’s relatively rare for different generations to live together in Finland. |
| Usage In A Sentence | Asun äitini luona, mutta en pidä siitä että minua kutsutaan peräkamaripojaksi. (”I live with my mother, but I don’t like being called peräkamaripoika.”) |
| Additional notes | Yle (Finland’s national broadcaster) produced a comedy series about peräkamaripojat. An alternative spelling of the word is peräkammarin poika. |
11. Tarjeta
| Literally | – |
| Meaning | The verb tarjeta means “to stand the cold” or “to be warm enough”. |
| Example Situation | This is a relevant verb if you ever visit Finland in winter! |
| Usage In A Sentence | Kun on tarpeeksi vaatteita päällä, niin pakkasellakin tarkenee ulkoilla. (“When you’re wearing enough clothes, you’ll be warm enough to exercise outdoors even in sub-zero temperatures.”) Tarkenenkohan minä ilman takkia? (“I wonder if I’ll be warm enough without a coat?”) |
- Are you dressed for the weather? Learn useful vocabulary for Winter Clothes and Summer Clothes in Finnish!
En tarkene olla ulkona. (”I can’t stand the cold outside.”)
12. Nakittaa
| Literally | – |
| Meaning | Nakittaa means to delegate an unpleasant task you don’t want to do yourself to somebody else, typically a person lower in the pecking order in your workplace or organization. |
| Example Situation | Nakitus (“the act of delegating unpleasant tasks”) is commonplace in the Finnish army. |
| Usage In A Sentence | Äiti nakitti minut siivoamaan kylpyhuoneen. (“Mum delegated cleaning the bathroom to me.”) |
| Additional notes | Nakki can mean either a small trap or a small sausage. The verb nakittaa refers to ‘trapping’ someone and has nothing to do with sausages! |
- Do you want to learn more Finnish verbs? Get started with the 50 most common verbs.
13. How FinnishPod101 Can Help You Learn More Finnish
In this guide, we introduced 12 untranslatable words in Finnish that we hope have inspired you. Do you have a favorite? Are there any others that you know of? Leave a comment below and let us know!
If you’re looking for more fun ways to get closer to fluency in Finnish, visit us at FinnishPod101 to explore everything we have to offer. Get started with the free resources or head over to the lesson library and choose your level to browse our audio and video lessons. Our MyTeacher program is for anyone who wants to accelerate their learning through personalized one-on-one coaching with an experienced Finnish teacher!
Start with a bonus, and download the Must-Know Beginner Vocabulary PDF for FREE! (Logged-In Member Only)
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