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[–] 62 points 2 weeks ago (11 children)

If you can learn how to pronounce all the Finnish, Polish, Czech, and Slovak last names in Michigan, names like this should be easy. There's not even a bunch of silent consonants in there!

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  • [–] 8 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

    Finnish is super easy to pronounce for Anglos. Just take your time and pronounce every letter.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    The problem is when they have mishmashed English and Finnish to make brand new words. Kowsit Lats = Cow Shit Flats, where people put their cows out to pasture.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago* (1 child)

    You’re going to have to give some hints - my browser can’t translate that and Google thinks I’m looking for exercises, doesn’t even recognize it as Finnish……. Otherwise I’ll have to remember it as “cow shit flats” because I know what that is

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  • The current pronunciation is closer to Cow Sit Lats. "Finlanders gave the name to a broad meadow at the top of a hill where local farmers grazed their cattle. They had trouble pronouncing the English combinations "sh" and "fl," so in their "Finnglish" argot they called the place Kowsit Lats."

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  • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    You’re gonna need an hour or so to teach ‘em the Ä, Ö, and Y letters; and pray they don’t take the hydrofoil over to Tallinn, because then they’re really gonna get confused. “🇫🇮👈🤬👉🇪🇪 What the hell is going on, you two!”

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago* (3 children)

    Lol the mainland Estonian õ is pretty fatal too.

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