…or Finnish words for being less than bright.
Puupää or woodenhead. (Also ye olde saying Autuaita ovat puupäät, sillä he eivät huku, or “Blessed are the wooden-headed, for they shall not drown.” Because, you know, wood floats.) Another wood-related term is latvalaho or “one with some rot in the treetops”.
Taulapää — this one comes from taula, a stuff made from the Fomes fomentarius mushroom (taulakääpä in Finnish), and used to light fires as it burned steady and low. Taulapää translates as taula-head, and I guess the implication in equating a head with fungoid combustible material is clear enough. (Curiously enough, as the fomentarius thingie lives on trees, it could cause a tree to become rotten in the tops…)
Urpo, Uuno — well, these two are rather common Finnish male first names, both also often used as descriptive words for mild dumbosity. Woe is those who are given such Dick-like names.
Oh, and then there are some generic words with no clear origins; I’ve tried to think up a “tone” of sorts for each —
- tyhmä (generic: dumb)
- ääliö (slightly more insulting: retard)
- houkka (slightly archaic: dullard)
- idiootti (a bit technical: er, idiot will do)
- dorka (somewhat hip and youthful: like, totally an airhead!)
- hupsu (not so serious: silly)
For those who have trouble with vowels: care with tyhmä (dumb), as it is quite close to tuhma, which translates as “naughty”, and includes all the kinky sexual associations of that word. Especially have care in saying things like Minulla olisi tällainen vähän tyhmä ehdotus — “I have this kind of a dumb little idea —” You could be hushed quite quickly should you make a mistake saying that in mixed company.
Various genital-related terms are here excluded as they are widely known already. Just take any name for a genital, either a part or the whole assembly, plop a -pää (head) to the end of it, and you’re rolling.
