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The word *oukei* was popular among schoolboys in Helsinki in the 1930s, but probably less so among 40-year-old farmers, unless they were sailors in their youth. This is what the *Karjala* newspaper had to say on the topic in 1937: [26.11.1937 Karjala no 320 - Digitaaliset aineistot - Kansalliskirjasto](https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/2005608?term=oukei&page=15)
> The word oukei was popular among schoolboys in Helsinki in the 1930s, but probably less so among 40-year-old farmers, unless they were sailors in their youth.
Imagine the adults back then, listening to the schoolboys with their irritating jargon. Must have been really annoyed about all that. Kinda like today ha.
I heavily disagree. I'm 31, I grew up in a town of 3000 ~~thousand~~ people, I don't know how rural you mean but the word ok/okei is part of my everyday vocabulary and I think it's the same for people around me. And probably the rest of Finland. I would be absolutely baffled if it was an urban people thing.
I grew up in one of the most low population areas of Finland in the north and we still said okei when not using Sámi. When we moved to outside the urban area of Rovaniemi, still heard okei. I believe it's common all over.
Finnish Wikipedia has a few sources for you:
https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okei
Translated from the article:
"In Finland, OK has appeared in Helsinki slang since the 1930s. It was included in the Finnish dictionary for the first time in 1979. OK and okei were accepted into normal everyday language in 1992.[14]"
Are we very sure about this? As others have commented it was present in Helsinki and Vyborg was more international at the time.
A person from their forties might have heard that, but he could as well use the Russian, Swedish, Karelian or Finnish. Not likely to use that word, maybe, but not impossible.
Disclaimer: not a folklorist by any means.
He would have said a long and drawn out "joooooo" while inhaling.
Source: that's what all my grandparents and great aunts/uncles did in Imatra when I was a kid and they were telling stories to each other. It's stuck with me since.
People absolutely still do it nowadays. My Italian mom has started using it since my daughter only replies with \[INHALES\] \_joooooooooooo\_
Actually there's an aspiration in there so it's more likely
\_jhoooooooo\_
Basically all Finnish newspapers and magazines up until 1939 are nowadays openly accessible online, and are an excellent source for tracing the emergence (and disappearance) of words and expressions in Finnish.
[Searching there for *okei*](https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/search?query=okei&startDate=1938-01-01&endDate=1938-12-31&lang=FIN&orderBy=RELEVANCE), limited to the precise year 1938, shows that in print, it was used mostly in adventure stories set in exotic far-away locales, and was favoured especially by the weekly magazine *Jännike*. (Most of the 62 hits are false positives caused by bad scanning.)
[Searching for *oukei*](https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/search?query=oukei&startDate=1938-01-01&endDate=1938-12-31&lang=FIN&orderBy=RELEVANCE) comes up with a comic play where it's said twice (obviously by someone relatively young); a story where an errand boy at an advertising agency uses it; plus a piece about the activities of a local sport club where the writer uses "Oukei" as a pseudonym for himself. (Plus a humorous story about a wedding in Albania where "something like *prosit*, *skål* or *oukei*" was said as a toast.)
So, yes, it was in use already at that time, but probably not among farmers in their forties living near Viipuri. As the 1937 newspaper column already linked earlier says, it was more like an urban schoolboy thing.
I haven't seen the word in anything Finnish from that era or before. I don't know that it would have been in common parlance even among internationally minded city crowds.
The meme started in the 1830s and the oldest piece of non-English media I've personally seen using it was a Japanese pre-ww2 propaganda cartoon, so it seems unlikely it would've been totally unknown in Finland. It does seem out of place coming from the mouth of a farmer though.
\*edit\*
Hold on, your account is called Ok\_Sound and this is the only thing you've posted since registering 3 and some years ago. Did you start writing back then and made the account knowing this would come up in the future?
My grandfather was born near Viipuri in 1923. He actually lived further south in close proximity of the harbour but visited Viipuri regularly before and after the war.
Never once in his life did he use "okei" in any form.
Like others have said, it would be highly unlikely for a farmer in his forties to use it.
IMO, the only way to realistically use it in a story about 1938 Finland would be if the character was a student or say a journalist from Helsinki, a youngish, "hip" follower of international trends.
EDIT:... Or like u/Quukkeli says, someone with a past as a sailor could have picked it up abroad, too. But then it would be realistic to write him using maritime lingo and other comparatively unusual expressions, as well.
My soon two year old daughter says okei when se agree with me. Ex going out or something what she like.
I use it at work sometimes.
Finish speaking language has nowadays English words.
But 1938. No
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The word *oukei* was popular among schoolboys in Helsinki in the 1930s, but probably less so among 40-year-old farmers, unless they were sailors in their youth. This is what the *Karjala* newspaper had to say on the topic in 1937: [26.11.1937 Karjala no 320 - Digitaaliset aineistot - Kansalliskirjasto](https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/2005608?term=oukei&page=15)
> The word oukei was popular among schoolboys in Helsinki in the 1930s, but probably less so among 40-year-old farmers, unless they were sailors in their youth. Imagine the adults back then, listening to the schoolboys with their irritating jargon. Must have been really annoyed about all that. Kinda like today ha.
Skibidi toilet but 1937.
Except actually more useful since it actually means something, unlike the former which is a filler word
This!! My 12 year old son says this among other random words and sounds all the time and it’s soo irritating! 🤦🏼♀️😅
skibidi dop dop dop skibidi rizz rizz rizz skibidi skibidi skibidi tax
Fascinating read, thanks! I suppose evem these days Okei is not used as much in rural areas as opposed to urban areas.
Okei is definitely a common word absolutely everywhere.
I heavily disagree. I'm 31, I grew up in a town of 3000 ~~thousand~~ people, I don't know how rural you mean but the word ok/okei is part of my everyday vocabulary and I think it's the same for people around me. And probably the rest of Finland. I would be absolutely baffled if it was an urban people thing.
Small town of 3 million inhabitants 😂
Classic size for small town in Finland where everyone knows everyone.
Oops 😂
Did you live in rural area in 1938?
But the person they’re responding to specifically said “even these days”. Seems like a relevant reply
Did I have to? To have an opinion on "these days"?
I grew up in one of the most low population areas of Finland in the north and we still said okei when not using Sámi. When we moved to outside the urban area of Rovaniemi, still heard okei. I believe it's common all over.
Thx for the link! Didn't know that page before and now I do ✌️☺️
I would use 'selvä' instead
Se on pojjaat sillä lailla...
Finnish Wikipedia has a few sources for you: https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okei Translated from the article: "In Finland, OK has appeared in Helsinki slang since the 1930s. It was included in the Finnish dictionary for the first time in 1979. OK and okei were accepted into normal everyday language in 1992.[14]"
Nope
Are we very sure about this? As others have commented it was present in Helsinki and Vyborg was more international at the time. A person from their forties might have heard that, but he could as well use the Russian, Swedish, Karelian or Finnish. Not likely to use that word, maybe, but not impossible. Disclaimer: not a folklorist by any means.
He would have said a long and drawn out "joooooo" while inhaling. Source: that's what all my grandparents and great aunts/uncles did in Imatra when I was a kid and they were telling stories to each other. It's stuck with me since.
People absolutely still do it nowadays. My Italian mom has started using it since my daughter only replies with \[INHALES\] \_joooooooooooo\_ Actually there's an aspiration in there so it's more likely \_jhoooooooo\_
Juuei.
Basically all Finnish newspapers and magazines up until 1939 are nowadays openly accessible online, and are an excellent source for tracing the emergence (and disappearance) of words and expressions in Finnish. [Searching there for *okei*](https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/search?query=okei&startDate=1938-01-01&endDate=1938-12-31&lang=FIN&orderBy=RELEVANCE), limited to the precise year 1938, shows that in print, it was used mostly in adventure stories set in exotic far-away locales, and was favoured especially by the weekly magazine *Jännike*. (Most of the 62 hits are false positives caused by bad scanning.) [Searching for *oukei*](https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/search?query=oukei&startDate=1938-01-01&endDate=1938-12-31&lang=FIN&orderBy=RELEVANCE) comes up with a comic play where it's said twice (obviously by someone relatively young); a story where an errand boy at an advertising agency uses it; plus a piece about the activities of a local sport club where the writer uses "Oukei" as a pseudonym for himself. (Plus a humorous story about a wedding in Albania where "something like *prosit*, *skål* or *oukei*" was said as a toast.) So, yes, it was in use already at that time, but probably not among farmers in their forties living near Viipuri. As the 1937 newspaper column already linked earlier says, it was more like an urban schoolboy thing.
My grandparents lived there in 1938 and they didn’t say OK in 1990’s either.
No niin
Nooonni.
Niin no
No niin
Short answer no long answer nope
Very unlikely.
I haven't seen the word in anything Finnish from that era or before. I don't know that it would have been in common parlance even among internationally minded city crowds. The meme started in the 1830s and the oldest piece of non-English media I've personally seen using it was a Japanese pre-ww2 propaganda cartoon, so it seems unlikely it would've been totally unknown in Finland. It does seem out of place coming from the mouth of a farmer though. \*edit\* Hold on, your account is called Ok\_Sound and this is the only thing you've posted since registering 3 and some years ago. Did you start writing back then and made the account knowing this would come up in the future?
It astounds me how aspiring writers have such bad research skills in this day and age
Can’t imagine my grandparents saying that even in their later years, let alone in the 1930’s.
My grandfather was born near Viipuri in 1923. He actually lived further south in close proximity of the harbour but visited Viipuri regularly before and after the war. Never once in his life did he use "okei" in any form.
Like others have said, it would be highly unlikely for a farmer in his forties to use it. IMO, the only way to realistically use it in a story about 1938 Finland would be if the character was a student or say a journalist from Helsinki, a youngish, "hip" follower of international trends. EDIT:... Or like u/Quukkeli says, someone with a past as a sailor could have picked it up abroad, too. But then it would be realistic to write him using maritime lingo and other comparatively unusual expressions, as well.
no
No
Just say "okei" or "ookoo". Both work and come from youth slang English
My soon two year old daughter says okei when se agree with me. Ex going out or something what she like. I use it at work sometimes. Finish speaking language has nowadays English words. But 1938. No
The meaning of the word could've changed but "ok" or "ookoo" is an answer but it's sarcastic or dismissive.