Have you ever practiced your Finnish skills by talking to Finns online? Social media and online communities offer endless opportunities to connect and chat with native speakers wherever you are in the world. However, the Finnish you come across online can be a world apart from the standard Finnish you’ve been learning. It’s often peppered with slang words, abbreviations, and acronyms that will have you scratching your head repeatedly. Dictionaries aren’t of much help with internet slang either!
Our guide will demystify Finnish internet slang terms so that whether you’re chatting with a Finnish friend on Messenger or taking part in a conversation on a Finnish subreddit, you can do so with more confidence. We’ll start with a general overview of Finnish internet slang before exploring some of the most common words and abbreviations.
Are you ready to learn about Finnish internet slang? Let’s dive right in.
Do you chat with Finnish speakers online?
Table of Contents
- About Finnish Texting and Internet Slang
- Finnish Internet Slang Words
- Finnish Texting and Internet Abbreviations
- Lopuksi
1. About Finnish Texting and Internet Slang
Nettislangi (“internet slang“) is a type of slang popularized—and sometimes coined—by internet users. It’s often wildly creative and can evolve quickly. New terms are born constantly as people interact in the fast-paced online environments of social media, discussion forums, and chat rooms. Many slang terms are used to get our messages across faster and more succinctly, while some words are coined to describe new phenomena.
A large portion of Finnish internet and texting slang terminology is borrowed from English. Some terms, such as the acronyms LOL and OMG, are used as they are, while other words are adapted for a better fit. That said, there are also many completely home-grown Finnish internet slang terms!
- Brush up on your general internet terminology by visiting our Top 20 Words You’ll Need for the Internet vocabulary list on FinnishPod101.com.
2. Finnish Internet Slang Words
In this section, we’ll look at general internet slang as well as terms commonly used on social media and in chat rooms.
General Internet Slang
- googlata, googlettaa (“to Google”)
To search for information on Google. For example: Googlasin tietoa Suomesta. (“I Googled information about Finland.”)
Standard Finnish: Hakea Googlesta.
- loggautua sisään/ulos (“to log in/out”)
Standard Finnish: Kirjautua sisään/ulos.
- postata (“to post”)
To post something online.
- postaus (“post”)
An online post.
- lagata, lagittaa (“to lag”)
A computer responding slowly due to a network delay, especially during an online game. For example: Voi ei, kone lagaa taas. (“Oh no, the computer is lagging again.”)
- spämmi (“spam”)
Unsolicited digital communication sent out to a large number of people.
Standard Finnish: roskaposti, mainosposti
- typottaa (“to make typos”)
For example: Anteeksi, en tiedä miksi typotan koko ajan! (“Sorry, I don’t know why I’m making typos all the time!”)
Note that this slang term breaks the Finnish vowel harmony rule.
Standard Finnish: tehdä kirjoitusvirheitä
- äksdee (“XD”)
Refers to the laughing emoticon with closed eyes: äks (“X”) + dee (“D”). Often used ironically.
- asd
The first three letters of the middle row on a keyboard, typed when you don’t know what to say.
- ihku (“lovely,” “wonderful”)
Standard Finnish: ihana
- lollero (“LOL”)
Finnish variation of “LOL” or “laughing out loud”
- ämppäri, ämpäri (“mp3 file”)
Standard Finnish: mp3-tiedosto
Note that ämpäri means “bucket” in standard Finnish.
- torska (“torrent file“)
A computer file containing metadata about other files.
Standard Finnish: torrent-tiedosto
- winukka (“Microsoft Windows operating system”)
Standard Finnish: Microsoft Windows -käyttöjärjestelmä.
- modata (“to mod”)
To make changes to hardware or software in order to alter appearance or add new functions.
- warettaa (“to copy software illegally”)
Standard Finnish: kopioida tietokoneohjelmia luvattomasti
- appi, äppi, apsi, appsi, appis, applari (“app,” “application”)
For example: Mitä appia suosittelisit kuvien muokkaamiseen? (“Which app would you recommend for editing photos?”)
Standard Finnish: sovellus
- rickrollata (“to rickroll“)
To post a disguised hyperlink that leads to a music video of Rick Astley performing Never Gonna Give You Up.
For example: Sinut on rickrollattu! (“You’ve been rickrolled!”)
Social Media Slang Terms
Whether you favor Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or some other networking site, the following Finnish slang terms will come in handy when you chat with Finns or explore Finnish content on social media.
Note that Finnish people often don’t bother capitalizing the names of social media sites online.
- some (“social media”)
Shortened form of sosiaalinen media.
- face, fese, febu, naamakirja, lärväri, fb (“Facebook”)
Note that naamakirja is a calque: naama (“face”) + kirja (“book”), and lärväri is derived from the slang word lärvi (“face”).
- mese (“Messenger”)
Refers to Facebook Messenger.
- insta, iigee, IG (“Instagram”)
- tube, juutuubi (“YouTube”)
- tubettaja, tubaaja (“YouTuber”)
A person who creates YouTube content.
- tubemiitti (“TubeMeet”)
A network for YouTube creators to collaborate with other creators.
- tubefeimi (“YouTube fame”)
- galtsu, galzu (“IRC-Galleria”)
A Finnish social networking service.
- maispeissi (“Myspace”)
An American social networking service.
- lästäfämmä (“last.fm”)
An online music service.
- skaip, skaippi (“Skype”)
A telecommunications application specialized in voice calls and video chat.
- snäppi (“Snapchat”)
A mobile app for sharing photos and videos.
- snäpätä, snäppäillä (“to snapchat,” “to snap”)
To use Snapchat.
- tägätä (“to tag”)
To create a link to another user’s account on social media.
For example: Tägää kaverisi, joka tykkäisi tästä! (“Tag your friend who would like this!”)
- häsä (“hashtag”)
Standard Finnish: risuaita or #-merkki.
- follata (“to follow”)
To follow another user on social media.
For example: Jos follaat, follaan takas. (“If you follow, I’ll follow back.”)
- unfollata (“to unfollow”)
- shoutti (“shoutout”)
Promoting another user on your own account.
- meitsie (“selfie”)
A Finnish alternative to “selfie,” often used as a hashtag (#meitsie) on Instagram.
- swaipata (“to swipe”)
Can refer to swiping left or right on Tinder to indicate whether you like another user or not, or swiping up on an Instagram Story to open a link.
Standard Finnish: pyyhkäistä vasemmalle/oikealle/ylös (“to swipe left/right/up”)
- mätsi (“match”)
Can refer to a Tinder match: a situation in which two users like each other on the dating app.
For example: Kenen pitäisi aloittaa keskustelu mätsin jälkeen? (“Who should start the conversation after a match?”)
- nettistalkkaus (“online stalking”)
Viewing someone’s social media content anonymously and searching for information about them online.
Online Chat Slang Terms
Here are a few different Finnish slang words you should know for the chat rooms:
- nuubi, nuupi, nobo, nyyppä, nöösi (“newbie”)
Derogatory terms for a new, inexperienced user on an online site.
- nikki (“nickname”)
Nickname seen by other users on a website.
- idlata (“to be idle”)
To be online but inactive.
- bannata, bännätä (“to ban”)
To ban someone from a chat room, a server, etc.
- banni, bänni, banaani (“ban”)
A ban from a site.
- seriffi, sefu (“moderator”)
A user who has the right to edit and delete messages in a chat room or channel.
- wanha (“old”)
A single-word comment used to point out that content is old / a repost. The spelling is from archaic Finnish.
Standard Finnish: vanha
- tää (“this”)
A single-word comment that indicates agreement with a post.
- floodata (“to flood”)
To post repetitive, unwanted comments.
- lurkata (“to lurk”)
To view content without contributing.
- plonkata (“to plonk”)
To ignore a particular user.
- servata (“to serve”)
To silence another user with a particularly effective putdown.
- fleimi (“flame”)
An offensive message or comment, often posted in order to provoke.
- trolli (“troll”)
A person who deliberately annoys others by posting provocative and offensive comments.
For example: Älä ruoki trollia. (“Don’t feed the troll.”)
What about Finnish internet slang phrases? One slang phrase you may come across online is Torilla tavataan (“Let’s meet at the market square”), and its variations:
- Torille! (“To the market square!”)
- Suomi mainittu, torilla tavataan (“Finland mentioned, let’s meet at the market square”)
- Tortillat avataan (“Tortillas are opened”), which is a deliberate misspelling of Torilla tavataan
Tori (“market square”) is traditionally where Finns gather to celebrate any momentous occasion, and this phrase is often posted as a humorous (over)reaction to any post that mentions Finland in some vague way.
Teenagers are the masters of slang. Find your inner teen by learning Slang Expressions for Different Kinds of Teenagers and Slang Expressions Used by Teenagers.
3. Finnish Texting and Internet Abbreviations
Abbreviations and acronyms can take Finnish internet slang to a whole new level of confusing. Fear not, you’re about to learn exactly what EVVK and MP mean!
General Abbreviations
In Finnish internet slang, certain letter combinations often get replaced by the non-native letters of the alphabet.
- ks may be replaced with x or X
- see may be replaced with c or C
- ku, kuu, kku, kkuu may be replaced with q or Q
For example:
- raxu = raksu (“beloved,” “boyfriend,” “girlfriend”)
Standard Finnish: rakas
- kuC = kusee (“doesn’t work,” literally: “pisses”)
For example: Kone kuC! (“The computer isn’t working!”)
Standard Finnish: ei toimi
- josqs = joskus (“sometimes”)
- ihq = ihku (“lovely,” “wonderful”)
Standard Finnish: ihana
- nuQ (“to sleep”) nuQ-> means mennä nukkumaan (“to go to sleep”)
Other internet and text abbreviations include:
- j = joo (“yes”)
- m, mo = moi (“hi”)
- k, kk, ök, 0k, 0I< (“OK”)
- ei tod = ei todellakaan (“definitely not”)
- slv = selvä (“clear,” “okay”)
- reps = repeen = repeän (“I’m bursting into laughter,” literally: “I’m tearing”)
That last one also appears in the form of reps kops, where kops imitates the sound of someone hitting the floor because they’re laughing so hard.
Finnish Reaction Acronyms
Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial letters of other words. They’re understandably common in Finnish internet slang!
- EOS = ei osaa sanoa or en osaa sanoa (“one can’t say” / “I can’t say”)
- EMT = en minä tiedä (“I don’t know”)
For example: Hei, kuka voitti eilisen matsin? EMT. (“Hey, who won the match yesterday? I don’t know.”)
- EVT = ei voi tietää (“one can’t know”)
- EVM = ei voi muistaa (“one can’t remember”)
- IHSM = ihan sama (“whatever”)
- ISMO = ihan sama mulle, oikeesti (“it’s all the same to me, really”)
- EVVK = ei voisi vähempää kiinnostaa (“couldn’t care less”)
For example: Jee, yöllä satoi lunta! EVVK. (“Yay, it snowed during the night! Couldn’t care less.”)
Note: If you see EVVVK, the extra V stands for a common Finnish expletive.
- TJSP = tai jotain sinne päin (“or something along those lines”)
- JYMT = jos ymmärrät mitä tarkoitan (“if you get what I mean”)
- NKÄ = nauraa kuin ääliö (“to laugh like an idiot”)
Finland’s answer to LOL.
Wait! There’s more to learn about Finnish text slang. Check out our Common Texting Slang vocabulary list and follow up with a lesson on Abbreviations for When You Can’t Be Bothered!
Acronyms like LOL and OMG are used by Finns too.
Shorthand for Nouns
- MP = mielipide (“opinion”)
Example: Pasi ja Tanja tapailevat, MP? (“Pasi and Tanja are dating, opinion?”)
- YV = yksityisviesti (“private message,” “PM”)
Example: Lähetä YV jos kiinnostaa. (“Send a PM if you’re interested.”)
- YP = yksityispuhelu (“private call”)
- SPJ = sisäpiirijuttu (“insider thing”)
- AP = alkuperäinen postaaja (“original poster”)
Example: Kommenttini oli tarkoitettu AP:lle. (“My comment was meant for the original poster.”)
4. Lopuksi
In this guide, we’ve explored Finnish internet and texting slang, including social media terminology and common reaction acronyms. Of course, internet slang evolves rapidly—new words are coined all the time, and terms go in and out of fashion—so if you know of any Finnish internet slang words that are not mentioned in this article, leave a comment below and tell us about them. Your fellow learners will appreciate it!
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