What watch is it?
My boyfriend is doing a good job learning Finnish. The other day, however, he sent an email to my brother in Finnish, saying that Minulla oli hyvä kello Suomessa.He was trying to say that he had a 'good time' in Finland, however not realising that the word kello both means 'time' and 'watch', so he ended up saying that he had a 'good watch' in Finland! My brother was very amused but understood what he meant.
Sent by: Anne
Comments
Kaari
2005-06-10
The actual word for 'time' in Finnish is aika. Kello is used when asking for the time as in Mitä kello on?, lit. 'What time does your watch show?' To say 'I had a good time' in Finnish, one would say: Minulla oli oikein hauskaa.
I'm from Finland and when I first moved to the UK, in the beginning I kept asking people 'How much is the clock?' (from Paljonko kello on?)... I'm so embarrassed now I could ever have made such an elementary mistake, and it's strange as I didn't translate any other expression literally!
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