# Terms of Endearment



## Dale_Gribble

Hello, just so you know I am new here. What are some Finnish terms of endearments for the following?:
Girlfriends/close female friends
Sisters
Thank you for the help!


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## Gavril

Dale_Gribble said:


> Hello, just so you know I am new here. What are some Finnish terms of endearments for the following?:
> Girlfriends/close female friends
> Sisters
> Thank you for the help!



*kulta *("gold") is a common term of endearment, similar to "honey" or "darling" in English. I think it can be used for one's husband/wife, young children, or other loved ones.

*sisko* is a friendly word for "sister" (the more formal word being _sisar_).

I don't know of any specific term for a close female friend in Finnish -- hopefully the native speakers can help us out.


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## kirahvi

_Sisar_ is very rarely used in normal speech, so _sisko_ doesn't hold any special "endearment value".  

_Kulta_ is a good word that can be used to refer to both genders, but I'd reserve that to husband/wife, girlfriend/boyfriend  and parent/young child type of situations. Another similar word is _muru_(crumb). 

For the close female friend, I don't think there is any specific word that is used in that context. I'm even having a hard time imagining a situation where I would use any kind of term of endearment when talking to a friend of either sex. My friends go by their names or nicknames, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone use any general term of endearment when talking to their friends -- except jokingly. But that might be just me and my friends.

All in all, I think terms of endearment aren't used as often as in many other countries. We use even the first name of the person we're talking to a lot less than in English, for example.


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## Gavril

kirahvi said:


> _Sisar_ is very rarely used in normal speech, so _sisko_ doesn't hold any special "endearment value".



Thanks, Kirahvi. Suomisanakirja.fi lists _sisko_ as "us. tuttavallinen", so I called _sisko _a "friendly" term on that basis.



> For the close female friend, I don't think there is any specific word that is used in that context. I'm even having a hard time imagining a situation where I would use any kind of term of endearment when talking to a friend of either sex. My friends go by their names or nicknames, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone use any general term of endearment when talking to their friends -- except jokingly. But that might be just me and my friends.



At least in American English, women sometimes call their friends "girlfriend" (e.g., "Congratulations on the new job, girlfriend!"). Have you ever heard a similar term used for a female friend in Finnish?


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## Dale_Gribble

Thank you all for the help.


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## kirahvi

Gavril said:


> Thanks, Kirahvi. Suomisanakirja.fi lists _sisko_ as "us. tuttavallinen", so I called _sisko _a "friendly" term on that basis.
> 
> At least in American English, women sometimes call their friends "girlfriend" (e.g., "Congratulations on the new job, girlfriend!"). Have you ever heard a similar term used for a female friend in Finnish?



Re: sisko -- people use words differently and I can imagine older people using the word _sisar_ as well. To me it's only something I use in writing, if I don't want to repeat _sisko_ too many times. It's not common to hear people talking about their _sisar_, in writing it can be seen more often.

I'm familiar with the "girlfriend" usage, and I even use something similar myself when I speak English with my friends (although it doesn't feel very natural to me, even in English). In Finnish I would find saying something similar completely weird and would probably assume the speaker's being sarcastic. I can't think of a word that would (or even could?) be used in a similar context. But once again, it's best to hear what other people have to say on this topic, too.


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## macforever

It's a very interesting topic, I'm dead serious. I'd like to know something more about it. Unfortunately it seems that very few people are interested in it here
I hope I'm wrong.


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## Hakro

macforever said:


> It's a very interesting topic, I'm dead serious. I'd like to know something more about it. Unfortunately it seems that very few people are interested in it here
> I hope I'm wrong.


I think you are wrong. In three weeks nearly four hundred views! Only a few posts because there's not much to add here.


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## macforever

That's right Hakro. In fact I was referring to the few posts, which are less than I was looking for since the topic sounds interesting.
But I also agree with you when you say that there's not much to add here.
So, that's OK. I didn't want to be rude. Just trying to learn something more.
Peace & love.
Kiitos


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