Several German websites about Finish culture and even the German Wikipedia article about saunas mention the saying "because who cares what you talk about"which is apparently an unwritten rule that whoever has the sauna ladle gets to decide.
However, no source for this exact phrase is mentioned anywhere, and I could not find any actual Finnish sources using this phrase myself. So, I am curious: Is this phrase something that Finnish people actually know and say, or is it maybe just some kind of internet myth?
Is that actually a well-known saying?
byu/Zunicero inFinland
Posted by Zunicero
28 Comments
Never heard but it’s totally plausible.
Never heard of. Possibly some local saying.
Could be a real saying, but I’ve personally never heard it before. The German hierarchical system of saunameisters and such is quite antithetical to Finnish sauna culture. There’s no leader in a sauna and everyone is naked and equal.
Neve heard either (45 years of life in southwestern Finland, just mentioning in case this is about dialects/local sayings)
Never heard that one.
Well known? Not really, but considering saunas were historically a communal space, it’s likely a truthful one.
Never heard that one, but I think it’s unwritten rule that whoever has the laddle must ride out the löyly they throw themselves
No its not very common proverb. Also it’s possible that it doesn’t have anything to with sauna since kuuppa can also mean a head instead of ladle.
Feels like this has been said by someone with connections to Germany and it has then spread further as a “fact”. It does sound like a house rule at best, not common at all.
Similarly to others, I have not heard that exact phrase. Still, the idea behind the saying is familiar to me at least. The one with the laddle decides when water is thrown. Though, at the same time, if you throw water, you need to stay the duration of the heat wave.
Never heard that one, but it totally sounds like a Finnish thing to say.
Never heard that saying, but at the same time that is the general rule in public saunas.. If you enter a public sauna with other people, there’s usually one person who is doing the löyly, and when they leave either someone else takes over, or you may direct a general question to the assembly if you can take over..
It’s not something anyone is clamoring for, it’s just (imo) generally accepted that the one who sits by the bucket is the one responsible for the löyly at this moment.
I’ve heard my Karelian grandparents use it (or something along those lines) once or twice I think. “Kuuppa” in itself is a north eastern/eastern dialect word, which might explain why it isn’t that familiar saying.
Grandpa used to say that if anyone complained it got too hot, and tell them to go cool. Instead of kuuppa it was kauha but same thing. Also the rule was that the one who had the ladle and made it hot wasn’t allowed to leave first to cool since they were the ones who threw so much. Many old men in public saunas as well used to share a similar sentiment. I think it’s more of an old thing, more democratic these days I’d say, trying to be more considerate to everyone.
Personally i haven’t heard of this one, and as you mentioned, i couldn’t find any finnish sources mentioning this phrase, only german ones. The form of the phrase is valid finnish and very typical of real old finnish sayings though, so i wouldn’t completely dismiss it either.
So yeah i have no idea, might just be some old saying that was imported from finland to germany long enough ago that it has since been mostly forgotten in finland. Or maybe the saying never was widespread in finland to begin with; the specific traditions, rituals, and sayings are different in each family and in each sauna.
Never heard it but it is so specific it’s hard to believe it would not exist.
”Kuuppa” is a slang word and not used in Häme area at least. Couldnt find with a quick search where the word originates but maybe eastern/northern parts of the country?
It is somewhat of an unwritten rule that the one with the ladle decides when to throw water but it isnt hierarchical in a sense that others couldnt ask for it.
Never heard.
I think they have wrong proverb. I read the German text and I think they speak about who decides how much water is thrown to stove.
“Kellä kauha, sillä valta. ” = the one with scoop has power (to throw water).
There are no rules who can/can’t talk in sauna. All are equal in Finnish sauna. There is never any German style “sauna boss” who tells others what to do.
They also speak of rule that person entering sauna (opening and closing door) should throw one scoop of water to stove. Never heard or seen that happen. Total nonsense.
I am a Finn and I never heard that saying. I suspect that it’s not used in its literal meaning as it would be in conflict with the relaxed togetherness of a Finnish sauna (sans any sauna masters or such foreign leavening). Also, you don’t normally throw löyly with a kuuppa (short handled ladle, holds about one litre) but a long handled löylykauha, holds couple of desilitres at best).
I can see, though, the saying’s figurative meaning.
Never heard
Only similar I have heard is “Siitä puhe mistä puute” meaning “Talking about what is lacking”. Its usually good manners to ask if its ok to go for more löyly.
im a finn, heard it multiple times. older people mostly, refers to ”you can ask for more or less but whoever has the ladle gets to decide”, then as mentioned other etiquette rules are that if you throw, you sit it out.
Havent heard the saying but I have heard of the rule.
Central Finland, never heard the word “kuuppa” being used for the sauna ladle (only as a word for the human head / cranium) and at first I thought it was a typo for kuppa. Which would make the saying have a completely different meaning.
There is a bit of power with having the ladle, but if you actually respect the rules, you go by the person who wants it to be the coldest. Least löyly. You also try to be present with people with a similar level of löyly you like, people who like it hot with people who like it hot, people who like it less hot with people who like it less hot, you try to respect everyone’s wish for more or less löyly within the realms of safety. That way everyone is equal since it’s nicer to be in a sauna that is slightly colder than a sauna that is too hot, you can simply wait a bit longer, people who like it cooler will leave and then you can throw more löyly. There is also the rule that the one with the ladle must ride out the löyly, so that they can’t just dump a bunch of water on and immediately leave, since 1. That would be wasteful of the water, 2. They’re knowingly making it unbearably hot for everyone else which is just plain rude.
Never heard of that one. Sounds a bit odd and very German think about leaders and followers in a sauna that’s supposed to be equal for all.
Perhaps it was some quib some finn said to the origin point of this story. Like to the blogger of the 2010 sighting of this sentance.
Kinda funny mental image tbh, some finn getting annoyed at german guy in a sauna…
So, heavily dialectic, probably eastern.
I’ve heard ”puheet” as a gambling term – ”your turn to bid”, ”call or fold” style
But yeah, the person who’s casting the water will decide how much löyly is suitable. Does not give an open license to be a dick, and they need to tolerate what they cast.
Never heard the idiom. However, there is a custom that whoever holds the ladle decides the tempo of löyly and thus temperature.
It is also unspoken rule that the ladle should belong to the one who has been longest in the sauna (“oldest”) and when they go out, they should pass the ladle to second oldest and so on. This prevents newcomers to throw too harsh löyly and then just leave.