# demareilla



## Gavril

How is _demareilla _being used in the following sentence? :
_
En tarkoita _..._ että hallituksessa ja oppositiossa yhtaikaisesti olemisesta syytettyjen vihreiden kritiikki olisi terävämpää kuin demareilla.

_"I don't mean ... that the critique of the Greens as being in the government and the opposition at the same time is sharper than [the corresponding critique of?] the democrats."

Kiitos


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## Grumpy Old Man

I don't mean that the criticism by the Greens, who get criticized for being in the cabinet and opposition at the same time, is more cutting than the Social Democrats' criticism.

In other words, the Finnish word _demareilla_ could be replaced by _demareiden_, which is an informal word for _sosialidemokraattien_. (Plural genitive of _sosialidemokraattien_) Note that _vihreiden_ is a plural genitive.


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## Gavril

Grumpy Old Man said:


> I don't mean that the criticism by the Greens, who get criticized for being in the cabinet and opposition at the same time, is more cutting than the Social Democrats' criticism.



Does _vihreiden kritiikki _always mean "criticism by the Greens", rather than "criticism toward the Greens", or does the context clarify which meaning is correct?

(In English, _criticism of the Greens _could theoretically have either meaning, but I would normally understand it to mean that the Greens are being criticized. On the other hand, _the Greens' criticism _would normally mean that the Greens are doing the criticizing.)


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## Grumpy Old Man

"Does _vihreiden kritiikki _always mean "criticism by the Greens", rather than "criticism toward the Greens", or does the context clarify which meaning is correct?"

The context clarifies the meaning  -  and I agree with you as far as the rest of your post is concerned.


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## sakvaka

Gavril said:


> Does _vihreiden kritiikki _always mean "criticism by the Greens", rather than "criticism toward the Greens", or does the context clarify which meaning is correct?



What Grumpy Old Man said above is correct. When used as an attributive, the genitive can signify both the _origin of an action_ or the _object of an action or a feeling _- just as _äidinrakkaus_ can mean both _mother's love_ or _love towards the mother_.


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