Breakdown of Onpa paha huhu potkuista!
olla
to be
paha
bad (evil, severe)
huhu
the rumor
potkut
the dismissal
Questions & Answers about Onpa paha huhu potkuista!
How does the clitic -pa change the meaning of the word on in this sentence?
The clitic -pa (or -pä depending on vowel harmony) adds emphasis, surprise, or a tone of exclamation. By attaching it to on (is), it changes a simple statement into something like "It sure is!" or "Wow, that is!".
Why does the sentence start with the verb Onpa instead of a subject word for "it"?
Finnish doesn't use dummy subjects like the English "it" in sentences like "It is a bad rumor." When you want to make an exclamation, you can just put the verb first, attach the -pa clitic, and you instantly get "It sure is...!"
Why is the word for dismissals, potkuista, in the elative case?
The elative case ending (-sta/-stä) is often used to mean "out of", but it is also the standard case used to mean "about" when discussing the topic of a story, thought, or rumor. So, huhu potkuista translates to "a rumor about the dismissals".
Wait, doesn't potku just mean "a kick"? Why does it translate to dismissals?
Yes, potku means a physical kick. However, the plural form potkut is a very common idiom meaning "getting fired" or "a dismissal" (literally "the kicks", similar to "getting the boot" in English). Because it acts as a plural noun here, it takes the plural elative ending -ista.
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