Ujo-Anselmi lääkärissä: liian aikaisin tulemisesta
C1 Finnish listening practice · Finnish · Curated for advanced learners
What does the Finnish verb “tulla” mean (and the joke about it)?
This Putous sketch is one long innuendo, and the joke only lands if you hear both meanings of tulla. Literally tulla is “to come, to arrive,” so poor Ujo-Anselmi’s complaint about “tuun aina liian aikaisin” (“I always come too early”) reads as chronic punctuality. But Finnish tulla, like English “to come,” doubles as the bedroom verb, and the doctor’s siniset pillerit (little blue pills) make the subtext unmistakable.
Tulla is also one of Finnish’s most fundamental verbs, used for becoming, too: tulla iloiseksi (to become happy), tulla sairaaksi (to fall ill). Catching the wordplay is a real C1 moment: you’re now decoding humour, not just sentences.
Vocabulary frequency
How common is the vocabulary in this C1 Finnish listening practice listening practice?
General Finnish frequency
Spoken Finnish frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s C1 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Finnish sketch comedy like Putous on MTV Katsomo
- ▸In Finnish stand-up and adult humour that mines double meanings
- ▸In completely innocent everyday use: “Tuun kohta” (“I’m coming soon”)
- ▸In the “become” sense: tulla iloiseksi, tulla valmiiksi
- ▸Any time Finns share a knowing laugh over a kaksimielisyys (double entendre)