Just Kidding in spoken Finnish

Real spoken Finnish for Just Kidding, with the written form (kirjakieli) beside every line, word-by-word notes and audio on every sentence. Free to read.

Joking: läppä, tosissaan, sepä

'Läppä' is slang for a joke: se oli pelkkä läppä = it was just a joke, heittää läppää = to joke around. To check if someone means it: ooksä tosissas? And Finnish sarcasm loves -pä: 'No sepä kiva' means how nice - and rarely means it.

Se oli pelkkä läppä.

It was just a joke.

Written Finnish: Se oli pelkkä vitsi.

se
it
oli
was
pelkkä
mere / nothing but
läppä
joke - slang; the standard word is 'vitsi'

Mä vaan heitin läppää.

I was just joking around.

Written Finnish: Minä vain vitsailin.

mä
I
vaan
just - spoken 'vain'
heitin
threw - 'heittää läppää' = to joke around
läppää
joke - slang 'läppä'

Ooksä ihan tosissas?

Are you for real?

Written Finnish: Oletko sinä ihan tosissasi?

ooksä
are you - spoken 'oletko sinä'
ihan
quite / really
tosissas
serious - spoken 'tosissasi'

Emmä ollu tosissani.

I wasn't serious.

Written Finnish: En minä ollut tosissani.

emmä
I wasn't - 'en' + 'mä' fused
ollu
been - spoken 'ollut'
tosissani
serious - 'olla tosissaan' = to mean it

Älä viitti!

Oh come on, stop it!

Written Finnish: Älä viitsi!

älä
don't
viitti
bother - spoken 'viitsi'; the phrase means 'cut it out'

Mä vaan kiusaan sua.

I'm just teasing you.

Written Finnish: Minä vain kiusaan sinua.

mä
I
vaan
just - spoken 'vain'
kiusaan
tease - from 'kiusata'
sua
you - spoken 'sinua'

Vedätsä mua höplästä?

Are you pulling my leg?

Written Finnish: Vedätkö sinä minua höplästä?

vedätsä
are you pulling - spoken 'vedätkö sinä'
mua
me - spoken 'minua'
höplästä
by the nose - the idiom means 'fooling me'

No sepä kiva.

Well, how nice.

Written Finnish: No sepä kiva.

no
well
sepä
that sure is - 'se' + -pä; flat tone makes it sarcastic
kiva
nice

Spoken forms in this lesson

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