Smush words
I learned a new word today: agglutinative. Little did I know that there exists an impressive word for what I have always called smush words. It describes a characteristic of the Finnish language where you can create more detailed meaning by building directly onto the root word. This may explain the fewer but longer words in a Finnish sentence. Let’s take the photo above. Two smaller words have been smushed into one: keittiö (kitchen) and tölkki (jar).
What would take a whole sentence in English to express – I wonder if I should sit down for a while? – can be handled quickly with one word in Finnish.
Now that is Finnish efficiency.