# well-proportioned



## Gavril

What is the normal Finnish translation for Eng. _well-proportioned_ (ihmisen ruumiista puhuttaen)?

K


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> What is the normal Finnish translation for Eng. _well-proportioned_ (ihmisen ruumiista puhuttaen)?
> 
> K


"ihmisen *vartalosta* / ihmis*vartalosta* puhuttae*ssa*)
_Ruumis_ is usually a dead body.

_She is well-proportioned. = Hän on vartaloltaan sopusuhtainen._
I sometimes say: _Hän on oikeista paikoista pyöristynyt. = She is round in the right places,_ but this isn't a standard phrase.


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## Gavril

Grumpy Old Man said:


> "ihmisen *vartalosta* / ihmis*vartalosta* puhuttae*ssa*)
> _Ruumis_ is usually a dead body.



Whoops -- would _kehosta _also have been correct?


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> Whoops -- would _kehosta _also have been correct?


Certainly. And mind you, I said _ruumis_ is usually a dead body. Not always, though. It is used in this adage, for example: _Terve sielu terveessä *ruumiissa*. _In Latin: _Mens sana in corpore sano._ I'm not sure what you say in English. _A healthy/sound mind in a healthy/sound body._


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## Gavril

Grumpy Old Man said:


> Certainly. And mind you, I said _ruumis_ is usually a dead body. Not always, though. It is used in this adage, for example: _Terve sielu terveessä *ruumiissa*. _In Latin: _Mens sana in corpore sano._ I'm not sure what you say in English. _A healthy/sound mind in a healthy/sound body._



I think I've heard _A sound mind in a sound body_, but I mostly just hear the untranslated Latin phrase.

Further digressing, do you know if _ruumis = kuollut ihmisruumis _is a fairly recent development (ei kahdentakymmenentä vuosisataa vanhempi)?


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## Grumpy Old Man

I know absolutely nothing about the etymology of the phrase. Mikael Agricola is considered the father of written Finnish and he died in 1557. By the way: _ei kah*ta*kymmentä vuosisataa vanhempi._ However, we normally say: _ei kahta tuhatta vuotta vanhempi._


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## Gavril

Grumpy Old Man said:


> I know absolutely nothing about the etymology of the phrase. Mikael Agricola is considered the father of written Finnish and he died in 1557. By the way: _ei kah*ta*kymmentä vuosisataa vanhempi._ However, we normally say: _ei kahta tuhatta vuotta vanhempi._



I meant "ei 1900-luvun alkua vanhempi".


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> I meant "ei 1900-luvun alkua vanhempi".


After I posted my reply I had my doubts and thought you may have meant that.  For what you mean, we usually say: _Se ei ole sataa vuotta vanhempi._ Of course you can be more exact and say, for instance: _Se ei ole sataakymmentä vuotta vanhempi. =_ Literally: It isn't older than 110 years.


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## sakvaka

Please see http://www.kotus.fi/index.phtml?s=1112 if you want more information of the words "ruumis" and "keho".

Shortened translation:

Ever since Agricola the word "ruumis" has been carrying the meaning of both the living and the dead body. 

In 1945 Lääketieteen sanastolautakunta (The medical vocabulary board) and Kielitoimisto (the language office) working together developed a word for the living body = keho. 

The word "ruumis" was still let to be the hypernym; i.e. mean both the living and the death body. 
But the word "keho", originally designed for medical use only, became common in general language (?), too. 
The death body wasn't given an own word, and the word "ruumis" was soon assigned with it (in general language). 

To keep the hierarchy organized, Kielilautakunta (language board), generated a special word for the dead body in 1948 - kalmo (based on "kalma" - death).

The word "ruumis" still applies for the living body and the corpse. There are a great many idioms that include the word, concerning the living body, such as ”terve sielu terveessä ruumiissa” (a sound mind in a sound body), ”olla hyvissä sielun ja ruumiin voimissa” (have a good condition of soul and body), ”rääkätä ruumistaan” (to figuratively "torture" one's body), ”ruumiinrakenne” (body type/shape) or ”joutua ruumiintarkastukseen” (I don't know this in English, but in airports, for example, you may get your body "inspected" for weapons or other forbidden things)."

Original writer: 
_Taru Kolehmainen_


Published in _Helsingin Sanomat_ the 3rd of July 2001


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