Kalakala suomi

[Alan H. Hartley]

> manned by a woman ;-) who saw my "Kalakala" coffee cup and said
> "that's Finnish". I said, "No, it's Chinook Jargon, it's a local word
> from around here." She got quite excited and kept telling me that
> both the word "Kalakala" and the ferryboat were of Finnish origin.
> Apparently it's Finnish for "fish". Anybody know whether the boat is
> in fact named "Kalakala" in CJ or in Finnish, and whether it was
> built by Finns? We both agreed that, whatever the etymology, it's
> misaccented in English, should have initial accent in Finnish, and I
> think either initial or penultimate in the Wawa.


Finnish for 'fish' is kala (not kalakala), as in the famous (at least in 
northeastern Minnesota) kalamojakka 'fish stew'.

Alan

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