"Murphy's Laws" and Polish puns

[Pafra & Scott Catledge]

You wouldn't have any name resources in Karelian--not Finnish lying around,
now would you?  Not that I would turn up my nose at a good Finnish resource,
I only have a few.
----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis R. Preston <preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: "Murphy's Laws" and Polish puns


> A wise choice.
>
> >Hm. I'm so far culturally removed that I actually can't match a
stereotype
> >with any region. Since my father is Karelian, I'd better just say they're
> >grievously wronged, long-suffering people.
> >
> >-Mai
> >
> >On Wed, 23 Jun 1999, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
> >
> >> Mai,
> >>
> >> Aha! A good clue. What is the usual stereotype of Karelians in Finland?
> >>
> >> dInIs
> >>
> >> >The ones I could bother have been neglecting their e-mail lately
> >> >(incomprehensible, I know) so I'll check, but you might get an answer
> >> >faster.
> >> >
> >> >Interesting that the song "Jokohama Humahuta" that George Cole just
> >> >brought to our attention was recorded by Markku Karjalainen
("Karelian").
> >> >Maybe that gives us a clue?
> >> >
> >> >-Mai
> >> >
> >> >On Wed, 23 Jun 1999, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Mai,
> >> >>
> >> >> Let's find out. Shall I bother a Finn or will you?
> >> >>
> >> >> Dennis
> >> >>
> >> >> >Well, this is going to be more impressionistic than accurate,
because I
> >> >> >know next to nothing about variation (or anything else) in this
attriting
> >> >> >first language of mine, but my sense is that "humahuttaa" for
"punch" is
> >>a
> >> >> >word you'd only use in joking; I actually can't say whether it's
archaic,
> >> >> >or from a rural dialect, or both. It did make the joke funnier,
though
> >> >> >(maybe the meaning is better rendered as "I reckon I'll whomp him
now").
> >> >> >
> >> >> >-Mai
> >> >> >
> >> >> >On Tue, 22 Jun 1999, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
> >> >> >
> >> >> >> OK Mai. What's the quaint regional twist? After all, this is a
dialect
> >> >> >> society list. My Finno-Ugric capacities are limited to my mother
> >>tongue.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> dInIs
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> >In my family of origin, we used to joke about the famous
Japanese
> >>boxer
> >> >> >> >Yokohama Humahuta, which is Finnish (with a quaint regional
twist) for
> >> >> >> >"shall I punch [the opponent] now?"
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> >-Mai
> >> >> >
> >> >> >.....................................................
> >> >> >Mai Kuha
> >> >> >mkuha at indiana.edu
> >> >>
> >> >> Dennis R. Preston
> >> >> Department of Linguistics and Languages
> >> >> Michigan State University
> >> >> East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
> >> >> preston at pilot.msu.edu
> >> >> Office: (517)353-0740
> >> >> Fax: (517)432-2736
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >.....................................................
> >> >Mai Kuha
> >> >mkuha at indiana.edu
> >>
> >> Dennis R. Preston
> >> Department of Linguistics and Languages
> >> Michigan State University
> >> East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
> >> preston at pilot.msu.edu
> >> Office: (517)353-0740
> >> Fax: (517)432-2736
> >>
> >
> >.....................................................
> >Mai Kuha
> >mkuha at indiana.edu
>
> Dennis R. Preston
> Department of Linguistics and Languages
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
> preston at pilot.msu.edu
> Office: (517)353-0740
> Fax: (517)432-2736