Helsinki Slang - Usage and Examples

Usage and Examples

Many literary works in Helsinki slang contain long sentences with a large density of slang words, making them especially hard to decipher for the general Finnish-speaking population. Examples where the slang words are in italics and in the same order in both the original and translation follow:

(from the Viivi & Wagner comics)

Hei sporakuski, stikkaa dörtsi posee, tääl on galsa blosis, bonjaatsä?

meaning

Hey, tramdriver, push the door closed, it's a cold wind in here, do you understand?

and

(from Sami Garam's slang version of Donald Duck)

Kelaa, snadi jeesaaja, kui iisii täl ois stedaa!

meaning

Think, Little Helper, how easy it would be to clean with this!

Tuomari Nurmio has written some of the most well-known songs that make an extensive use of slang words.

Refrain from "Tonnin stiflat" ("Grand's boots")

Klabbeissa on mulla tonnin stiflat. Ei ne tonnii paina, ne bungaa sen. Joskus mä stygen niille tsungaan, sillon kun mä muille tsungaa en.

meaning

In my feet I got a ton's boots. They don't weight a ton, they cost that. Sometimes a song I sing to them, that's when I don't sing to others.

In 2009 and 2010 a campaign advertised season tickets for Helsinki ice-hockey club HIFK with phrases like

Kandee hiffaa skaffaa, et ei tartte bluffaa et ois kliffaa.
Elämä nysä, kausi buli.

meaning

You should realize to acquire, so you don't need to pretend as to be having fun.
Life short, season great.

Slang words obey normal Finnish grammar, regardless of their etymology. However, Helsinki slang is always both spoken and written as colloquial Finnish, never as properly grammatical "kirjakieli" (see spoken Finnish). For example, "can you fix that in a working condition?" is "voitsä duunaa ton kondiksee?" in slang, where "duunaa", "to do, to work" and "kondis", "condition, working order" are slang words. Trying to write the above sentence in properly grammatical form like in kirjakieli, to "voitko (sinä) duunata tuon kondikseen?" would be erroneous both in kirjakieli and slang.

Helsinki slang is also used by the Swedish-speaking Finnish minority in Helsinki. Modern Helsinkian Swedish-based slangi is still spoken in the same manner as in Finnish, mixing it into the Swedish language. The earlier example "can you put that in order?" would be "kan du duuna dendä' kondiksee?" when spoken by a Swedish-speaking Finn in Helsinki slang. The same sentence would be similarly erroneous in proper Finland Swedish language as well.