In the recent parliamentarian elections the more conservative, "right-wing" (if you want to call it that) biggest such party in Finland, Perussuomalaiset, became the second biggest party in parliament, almost tied with the first. They have only one seat less than the biggest party (39 versus 40, out of a total of 200 seats.) While the party has been relatively big in a couple of past parliamentarian elections (which are held each 4 years), this time they became really popular, no doubt due to the current mental insanity that the EU is going through.
One slightly annoying problem with the party is the name, "Perussuomalaiset". It's not annoying in Finnish. It's annoying in that it's surprisingly hard to translate accurately to English.
The prefix "perus" is difficult to translate while retaining its cultural meaning and tone. Perhaps the best word that I have come up with that, in a way, retains the most of its meaning, is "archetypal", although that's a bit of an awkward word to use in practice. (If we were to translate "perussuomalainen", which is the singular of "perussuomalaiset", using that word, it would be "(an) archetypal Finn".) Although, depending on the word and the context, if could perhaps also be translated as "fundamental", "basic", "everyday", "common" (as in eg. "common folk"), and perhaps even "down-to-earth".
The connotation of the prefix "perus" is mostly very positive. When used to describe a person, it gives an impression of someone who is reliable, wholesome, and down-to-earth. A very good representative of the group of people being described. An exemplar. Your basic, archetypal wholesome individual from that group.
For example, a colloquial word like "perusjätkä" (where "jätkä" is a slang or dialect for "man" or just "guy") would usually be like just your everyday archetypal guy. It gives a feeling of a good, honest, reliable, hard-working guy, who can be trusted. Or, at the very least, is not somebody you should be worried about.
Prior to this political party having been created, the word "perussuomalainen" had that positive connotation. It referred to your good old honest, reliable, trustworthy, down-to-earth, archetypal Finnish person, who is an exemplary representative of what the Finnish culture has to offer in terms of positive values and culture. The word might have had a slight patriotic tone, but not in a negative way.
But how to translate this succinctly, in a couple of words, while keeping that meaning, while conveying the original tone? It's actually really hard. Nothing I can think of really captures the original tone.
Neither does anybody else. Not even the members of the political party itself.
Originally, and for quite many years, they named themselves in English as "True Finns", which is just a horrible name. It has the completely wrong connotation to it. It has some nationalistic, perhaps even racist, undertones. They could just as well have named themselves "True Arians".
While the word "true" is not a completely wrong translation for "perus", in this kind of name, and in this context, it just has the completely wrong undertone, and gives the completely wrong impression. It doesn't convey the original meaning at all. I really have to wonder how in hell they thought it would be a good English translation for the name of the party. Yet they not only decided it would be their official name in English, but they kept it for a really, really long time.
Finally, recently, they came to their senses and changed it. Now it's just "The Finns Party". While this doesn't convey the meaning of "Perussuomalaiset" at all either, at least it's a bit better. At least it doesn't have such a huge negative connotation anymore. (Some people might still interpret the name negatively, but at least not as much anymore.)
There probably is no good translation for the name. It's just so full of nuance, and there seems to be no good equivalent in English. (My own "best" attempt, "archetypal", wouldn't really work very will in this case either. Not because of a negative connotation, but because it's a bit awkward. "Archetypal Finns" would just be a really awkward name.)
One slightly annoying problem with the party is the name, "Perussuomalaiset". It's not annoying in Finnish. It's annoying in that it's surprisingly hard to translate accurately to English.
The prefix "perus" is difficult to translate while retaining its cultural meaning and tone. Perhaps the best word that I have come up with that, in a way, retains the most of its meaning, is "archetypal", although that's a bit of an awkward word to use in practice. (If we were to translate "perussuomalainen", which is the singular of "perussuomalaiset", using that word, it would be "(an) archetypal Finn".) Although, depending on the word and the context, if could perhaps also be translated as "fundamental", "basic", "everyday", "common" (as in eg. "common folk"), and perhaps even "down-to-earth".
The connotation of the prefix "perus" is mostly very positive. When used to describe a person, it gives an impression of someone who is reliable, wholesome, and down-to-earth. A very good representative of the group of people being described. An exemplar. Your basic, archetypal wholesome individual from that group.
For example, a colloquial word like "perusjätkä" (where "jätkä" is a slang or dialect for "man" or just "guy") would usually be like just your everyday archetypal guy. It gives a feeling of a good, honest, reliable, hard-working guy, who can be trusted. Or, at the very least, is not somebody you should be worried about.
Prior to this political party having been created, the word "perussuomalainen" had that positive connotation. It referred to your good old honest, reliable, trustworthy, down-to-earth, archetypal Finnish person, who is an exemplary representative of what the Finnish culture has to offer in terms of positive values and culture. The word might have had a slight patriotic tone, but not in a negative way.
But how to translate this succinctly, in a couple of words, while keeping that meaning, while conveying the original tone? It's actually really hard. Nothing I can think of really captures the original tone.
Neither does anybody else. Not even the members of the political party itself.
Originally, and for quite many years, they named themselves in English as "True Finns", which is just a horrible name. It has the completely wrong connotation to it. It has some nationalistic, perhaps even racist, undertones. They could just as well have named themselves "True Arians".
While the word "true" is not a completely wrong translation for "perus", in this kind of name, and in this context, it just has the completely wrong undertone, and gives the completely wrong impression. It doesn't convey the original meaning at all. I really have to wonder how in hell they thought it would be a good English translation for the name of the party. Yet they not only decided it would be their official name in English, but they kept it for a really, really long time.
Finally, recently, they came to their senses and changed it. Now it's just "The Finns Party". While this doesn't convey the meaning of "Perussuomalaiset" at all either, at least it's a bit better. At least it doesn't have such a huge negative connotation anymore. (Some people might still interpret the name negatively, but at least not as much anymore.)
There probably is no good translation for the name. It's just so full of nuance, and there seems to be no good equivalent in English. (My own "best" attempt, "archetypal", wouldn't really work very will in this case either. Not because of a negative connotation, but because it's a bit awkward. "Archetypal Finns" would just be a really awkward name.)
Running their Swedish name through a translator also yields "True Finns". I wonder why they worried about their official name in English more than their official name on Swedish, considering the Swedish-speaking population of Finland.
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