# hypätä / loikata



## Gavril

How do these words differ? For ex.,

_loikata _/_ hypätä jonkin yli

loikata _/_ hypätä junaan

loikata _/_ hypätä jyrkänteeltä

loikata _/_ hypätä yhdellä jalalla
_
_mäkihyppääjä _/_ mäkiloikkaaja

_Kiitoksia paljon


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## Grumpy Old Man

Of the two verbs, _loikata_ has connotations of covering some distance in the process: _Hän loikkasi ojan yli. Hypätä _need not indicate that, that's why we talk about _korkeus*hyppy, *_not _korkeus*loikka.

*Mäkiloikkaaja_ is a word I have never heard and I find it amusing even though a ski jumper does indeed fly quite a long way in the air!

Just my personal two [euro] cents! Others may have different opinions.

GOM


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## Hakro

Note that we also have _pituus*hyppy*, not pituus*loikka*_.

Anyway, I agree 100 per cent (euro, too) with GOM.


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## Gavril

Grumpy Old Man said:


> _Mäkiloikkaaja_ is a word I have never heard and I find it amusing even though a ski jumper does indeed fly quite a long way in the air!



_mäkiloikkaaja _does have two unique Google results (not including this Wordreference thread) that refer to ski jumpers, but both might be playful/mocking contexts.

Question: does _mäkihyppy _fit perfectly with the meaning of the verb _hypätä_? The English phrase _ski jumping _has always seemed a little strange to me, because _jump _implies (to me) pushing yourself into the air with your legs, whereas ski jumpers are propelled entirely by gravity; this makes me think that _ski jumping _is probably an inexact translation of a phrase from another language (ehkä norjasta). Is there a similar mismatch between _mäkihyppy _and _hypätä_?


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> The English phrase _ski jumping _has always seemed a little strange to me, because _jump _implies (to me) pushing yourself into the air with your legs, whereas ski jumpers are propelled entirely by gravity;


If you tell Janne Ahonen that he is "propelled entirely by gravity" and doesn't jump at all, he'll give you a punch in the nose! The term _mäkihyppy_ describes the sport perfectly!

GOM


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## Gavril

I just noticed that the word for "triple jump" seems to be _kolmiloikka_, though all the other jumping sports have -_hyppy_. This question might sound strange, but does anyone know why _kolmiloikka _has _-loikka _rather than _-hyppy_?


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> I just noticed that the word for "triple jump" seems to be _kolmiloikka_, though all the other jumping sports have -_hyppy_. This question might sound strange, but does anyone know why _kolmiloikka _has _-loikka _rather than _-hyppy_?


No idea. Does anyone know why some speakers of English jump three times (triple *jump*) while some others first *hop*, then *step* and only after doing that *jump* (hop, step and jump)?


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