Thursday, January 21, 2010

Officer Krupke, Language Cop

There are some in Estonia who would surgically remove their citizens' senses of humor in order to rigidly enforce language laws. For example, according to one source, a language inspectorate official once demanded the word "steakhouse" be removed from a restaurant sign and replaced with "lihamaja" (meat house--with connotations of "slaughterhouse").
The Livonian Chronicle is pleased to celebrate the Finns, who guard their language at least as closely as the Estonians, though do make exceptions for businesses serving primarily foreigners, as well as for those who demonstrate a well-developed sense of humor. The Helsinki hair salon, Bad Hair Day?, at left, is one such example. And in recognition of their daring in the face of any Finnish Officers Krupke, we award them this free advertisement.

2 comments:

  1. The Finns guard their language. And what would explain all the Swedish translations below just about everything, though I've never really heard any Swedish spoken on the street in Finland? Talk about liha (pork, in this case - waste of tax euros).

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