Hamstrata and other animal behaviour verbs in Finnish

Edit in 2024: This post was written during the pandemic. 

If you have been reading the news, you must have seen the verb hamstrata, which means to hoard like a hamster.

Here are some other fun animal verbs in Finnish:

1. apina > apinoida
2. jänis  > jänistää
3. karhu > karhuta
4. kettu > kettuilla
5. kukko > kukkoilla
6. lokki > lokkeilla
7. porsas > porsastella 
8. pupu > puputtaa
9. puuma > puumailla 
10. pöllö > pöllöillä
11. sika > sikailla
12. vasikka > vasikoida

1. apina > apinoida = to ape, to imitate, to copycat
2. jänis  > jänistää = to chicken out (although jänis is a rabbit.)
3. karhu > karhuta = to request a payment like a bear (For some reason, we call the taxman verokarhu.)
4. kettu > kettuilla = I don't know how to translate this! Foxes don't do anything, but we use this when we mean vittuilla. (A tv classic from the 1990's.)
5. kukko > kukkoilla = to behave in a showy manner like a rooster
6. lokki > lokkeilla = to eat or drink other people's stuff like a seagull
7. porsas > porsastella = to eat messily like a pig
8. pupu > puputtaa = to eat in a fast (and cute) manner like a bunny rabbit
9. puuma > puumailla = to flirt with conciderably younger men like a cougar
10. pöllö > pöllöillä = to do silly things like an owl
11. sika > sikailla = to make a disgusting mess like a pig, or nasty things in general. (Write sikaili in Google and see who you'll get!) 
12. vasikka > vasikoida = to give birth to a calf, but also to inform, to snitch.

Lue lisää: 

• Frequentative verbs

About the author of Random Finnish Lesson: 

My name is Hanna Männikkölahti. I am a professional Finnish teacher who gives private online lessons and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Please read more in www.linktr.ee/hannamannikkolahti and follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new.