viedä saunan taakse
Finnish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]There are competing theories:
- Based on the tradition of animals being slaughtered behind a sauna, so as to be further away from the rest of the family to avoid shock or commotion. Saunas would usually be located further away from the main house building to prevent a possible fire from spreading.
- A potential threat to children that unless they mend their ways, they would be taken behind the sauna to be spanked or whipped as a form of punishment, also done behind the sauna to prevent cries from being audible back home.
- Another theory suggests an origin dating back to the Finnish Civil War, referring to extrajudicial executions possibly taking place behind a sauna.
The exact meaning depends on the speaker, and it's more than likely that there being multiple theories about the origin has contributed to there being different meanings.
Verb
[edit]viedä saunan taakse (literally, “to take behind a sauna”) (colloquial)
- (idiomatic, transitive) to kill, put down, execute (usually implied by shooting)
- (idiomatic, transitive) to beat up, usually as a form of punishment, but not necessarily to death
Usage notes
[edit]Occasionally used as a part of a phrase where the action is also explicitly stated, such as viedä saunan taakse ja tappaa (“to take behind a sauna and kill”).
Conjugation
[edit]See viedä.