# hirsien tapitus



## Gavril

I saw this caption underneath a photograph of a _kaira _(which I believe would be equivalent to _gimlet_ in English):

"Hirsien tapitukseen käytetty kaira"

As far as I know, _tapittaa _means more or less the same thing as _tuijottaa_, and _hirsi _is a wooden beam, so this phrase doesn't make sense to me. Voisiko joku auttaa?

K


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## sakvaka

I understand the sentence in Finnish, but don't know how it should be translated in English. Therefore, let me try to explain what it means.

Hirsi is a wooden beam. 
Kaira is a tool to drill holes with, just like "pora".
Tappi means "peg" (A cylindrical wooden, metal etc. object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects.)
Tapittaa is a verb that means the action of fastening objects using pegs, in English "to peg" (very logical, isn't it? )

So "Hirsien tapitukseen käytetty kaira" is something like "a gimlet used to peg wooden beams".


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## Gavril

sakvaka said:


> I understand the sentence in Finnish, but don't know how it should be translated in English. Therefore, let me try to explain what it means.
> 
> Hirsi is a wooden beam.
> Kaira is a tool to drill holes with, just like "pora".
> Tappi means "peg" (A cylindrical wooden, metal etc. object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects.)
> Tapittaa is a verb that means the action of fastening objects using pegs, in English "to peg" (very logical, isn't it? )
> 
> So "Hirsien tapitukseen käytetty kaira" is something like "a gimlet used to peg wooden beams".



The current English wiktionary defines _tapittaa _as "stare, ogle". Is this a mistake, or are there two homonymic _tapitta_a verbs?


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## sakvaka

Gavril said:


> The current English wiktionary defines _tapittaa _as "stare, ogle". Is this a mistake, or are there two homonymic _tapitta_a verbs?



That's right, "tapittaa" has also another, rather colloquial meaning of staring. It is considered more like a slang word; something that shouldn't be used in formal contexts. "Tuijottaa" means the same, and it is more formal.

But in this context "tapittaa" is a verb derived from the word "tappi". As far as I know, it is somewhat difficult to stare wooden beams with a gimlet.


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> The current English wiktionary defines _tapittaa _as "stare, ogle". Is this a mistake, or are there two homonymic _tapitta_a verbs?


This is, once again, a proof of the unreliability of those wikipedias and wiktionaries. They seem to be written by people who don't know much about the issues they are writing about.


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## sakvaka

Hakro said:


> This is, once again, a proof of the unreliability of those wikipedias and wiktionaries. They seem to be written by people who don't know much about the issues they are writing about.



That is right, indeed, but I find Wiktionaries very useful and important - but only in case they are used critically and carefully. 

But we should keep in mind that in (almost) every language the word "to stare" is much more common than the word "to peg".


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