# Reilu



## Hakro

From another Finnish thread I picked up:


> Originally Posted by *akana*
> 
> 
> _Vasta reilun tunnin Mikon hakkaamisen jälkeen, vihdoinkin kaatui se paksu puu._


 I'd like to ask you, both Finns and foreigners, to restrain from using the word _reilu_ in the meaning "over" or "more than" etc. 

I know that for a few years it has become a common habit to say _reilu _in these cases, but originally _reilu_ means "fair" like in "fair play", _reilu peli_, or "honest", _rehellinen_. We have several expressions to say "over" or "more than" etc.: _yli, enemmän kuin, runsas _etc. but we have only one word, _reilu_, for "fair".

Usually the abusing of the word _reilu_ makes me angry but sometimes it makes me laugh. For example in HS: _Poliisi pidätti reilut 5000 rikollista._ "Police arrested 5000 honest criminals".


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## Gavril

Hakro said:


> From another Finnish thread I picked up:
> I'd like to ask you, both Finns and foreigners, to restrain from using the word _reilu_ in the meaning "over" or "more than" etc.
> 
> I know that for a few years it has become a common habit to say _reilu _in these cases, but originally _reilu_ means "fair" like in "fair play", _reilu peli_, or "honest", _rehellinen_. We have several expressions to say "over" or "more than" etc.: _yli, enemmän kuin, runsas _etc. but we have only one word, _reilu_, for "fair".
> 
> Usually the abusing of the word _reilu_ makes me angry but sometimes it makes me laugh. For example in HS: _Poliisi pidätti reilut 5000 rikollista._ "Police arrested 5000 honest criminals".



Älä huolestu, Hakro -- asiaa kommentoitiin jo paljon kuukausi sitten, "perua"-sanaa käsittelevässä ketjussa: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1854057

Siitä lähtien en ole muistaakseni käyttänyt _reilua _paheksumallasi tavalla.


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## JukkaT

I use (occasionally) the word _reilu_ in the meaning "over", "more than" etc. Usually in expressions of time: reilu tunti/kuukausi/vuosi.

According to Kielitoimiston sanakirja the possible uses of _reilu_ are:


> *1. suora, rehti, vilpitön. Reilu kaveri. Reilu peli. Tuo ei ollut reilua poikaa kohtaan. *
> *2. aito, oikea, kunno(lline)n, rehellinen. Reilua suomalaista kotiruokaa. Reilut kumisaappaat. *
> *3. kitsastelematon, runsas, reipas, roima. Reilu korvaus vaivannäöstä. Reilu alennus. Reilun metrin jäljessä voittajasta. Leikkasi leivästä reiluja[= paksuja, isoja] viipaleita.*


 
So I don't think I'm speaking bad Finnish when I use _reilu_ in the meaning "over".


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## Mårran

Is it a standard guideline that _reilu_ shouldn't be used in that sense? It has never occurred to me that there could be something wrong with that usage. As I understand the word, _reilu_ doesn't mean simply "over" but rather "a bit over". If the police had arrested _yli 5000 rikollista_, the real number could be anything above 5000, but with _reilut 5000 rikollista_ the number is greater than 5000 but still relatively close to it.


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## akana

Well, it's good for me to know that at least it's a point of contention. These discussions are good for foreigners like me, because they encourage learning more vocabulary...I actually think _runsas_ is closer to the meaning I had wanted.

Concerning reilu, I wonder if it is becoming more common because there is such a close corollary in English:

"Only after a _good_ hour of Mikko's chopping did the..."
And slightly less close in meaning:
"There was a _fair_ amount of debate going on."

_Reilu_ is also very easy to conjugate and fit into the sentence structure in question without worrying about elements like _enemmän kuin_ and _yli_, which decline differently or not at all, which is just laziness on my part, I guess. 

Olen tosi kiitollinen avustanne!


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## Hakro

akana said:


> Concerning reilu, I wonder if it is becoming more common because there is such a close corollary in English:
> 
> "Only after a _good_ hour of Mikko's chopping did the..."
> And slightly less close in meaning:
> "There was a _fair_ amount of debate going on."
> 
> _Reilu_ is also very easy to conjugate and fit into the sentence structure in question without worrying about elements like _enemmän kuin_ and _yli_, which decline differently or not at all, which is just laziness on my part, I guess


Akana, you seem to understand the Finnish language better than many Finns!


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## sakvaka

Another common way to replace _hieman yli_ in spoken language is _vähän päälle_ but I don't think Hakro will approve of it. (It certainly doesn't belong to standard Finnish.)

_Poliisi pidätti vähän päälle viisituhatta rikollista._

Hmm... liittyiköhän tämä edes aiheeseen?


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## Hakro

sakvaka said:


> Hmm... liittyiköhän tämä edes aiheeseen?


Liittyy toki!

As you said, _päälle_ is a colloquial expression for _yli_. 

(By the way, _päälle_ is another word I despise, when it's used in "put on" and similar expressions.)


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## Hakro

JukkaT said:


> So I don't think I'm speaking bad Finnish when I use _reilu_ in the meaning "over".


No, it's not bad Finnish, but it's not a good choice either because the main meanings of _reilu_ are something totally different from "over". Nevertheless, nowadays when you see the word _reilu_ it's used for "over" 99 times out of 100.

A very typical expression in the newspapers is _reilu parikymppinen (mies / nainen)_. You can guess that this person's age is maybe 21 to 25 years, but according to the main meanings of _reilu_ he or she should be upright, honest, etc. It's very confusing to read that _rikoksen tekijä oli reilu parikymppinen mies._


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