Profanity in Finnish is used in the form of intensifiers, adjectives, adverbs and particles. There is also an aggressive mood that involves omission of the negative verb while implying its meaning with a swear word.
Contemporary Finnish profanity often has old origins; several such words have Pagan roots that after Christian influence were turned from names of deities and spirits to profanity and used as such. In general, the etymology of Finnish swears can be traced either from these formerly religious words or from ancient Finnish words involving excretion or sexual organs or functions. Nowadays, few Finns know of the origins and intended original use of the words, though such definitions have since been compiled in ("the great dictionary of profanities"). People of countries neighboring Finland often consider Finnish swear words harsher than their own, and even use heavily mispronounced versions of them, most notably perkele. Native Finns tend to consider the harshness exaggerated, while others use it to their advantage. Finns swear more than their Nordic neighbors or Central Europeans, reaching the same level as Scots or Russians.
Euphemistically, virtually any word can be used in place of profanity by, for example, preceding it with (an interjection meaning "oh!"), for example (oh shit!) or adding vieköön (third person singular imperative of the verb "to take"), for example (may the goblin take it). These were more prominent in older Finnish, e.g. is closest to (corpse) or like (the beast). There are also other similar non-offensive constructs like (tallow candles of heaven). There is also an inventory of non-offensive curse words.
List of Finnish profanities
helvetti
Helvetti translates to hell and has roughly the same meaning in the English language. It has its roots in the Swedish word helvete, with the same meaning (underworld punishment). An often used phrase is "What the hell?", in Finnish "Mitä helvettiä?". For an augmentative expression, both in a positive or negative sense, helvetin can be prefixed into an adjective, e.g. helvetin hyvä "hellishly good". A pejorative meaning can be achieved by using the same helvetin ("of hell") in front of a noun, e.g. helvetin bussi oli myöhässä "the damned bus was late". Some words used to replace it, depending on dialect, include helkutti, helvata, hemmetti, hemskutti, himputti, helkkari and himskatti. Derivative terms: helvetillinen ("infernal").
hitto, hiisi
Hitto is a relatively mild swear word, but still considered an expletive. A hiisi is a scary mythical creature such as a giant, troll or devil, or its dwelling such as a sacred grove, burial site and on the other hand, hell. The word has a Germanic etymology, either from *sidon "side or direction" (in English, "side"), or *xitha "cave, hollow, crag" (Swedish: ide, "bear's nest"). Its diminutive form is "hittolainen", and the ancient pagan deity Hittavainen is related. The word is in the same category as other "mild" swear words like "helkkari" or "himskatti". Painu hiiteen means "go to hell", while hiisi vieköön is "may the devil take it!". Hitto is usually translated Damn (it). One of the funniest forms of using hitto could be hitto soikoon, "may the hitto chime", and may be similar to the English phrase "Hell's bells".
huora
The word means whore, and like the English word which has the same etymology may be considered too profane for civil conversation, to be replaced by prostituoitu ("prostitute") seksityöläinen ("sex worker") in the literal meaning. Although it can be used as a derogatory term of a person, it is not normally used as a swear word on its own.
jumalauta
This is a combination of two words: jumala, meaning god, and auta, meaning help (verb, imperative 2nd person). It is used in a similar fashion to Oh my God/God help (me)! In Finnish it has the same slightly frustrated emphasis. Another translation for Oh, God is Voi luoja (luoja = the creator, a synonym for God). An ad campaign for church aid for third world countries used JumalAuta as an eyecatcher. This raised discussion for being too profane. Though the English expression God help me is an accurate (and literal) translation of jumalauta, a translation to goddamn it may be considered more correct, as the literal translation lacks the undertones of profanity. Often used replacement words are jumankauta, jumaliste or jumalavita.
kikkeli
A word for "penis" often used by children, usually literally, considered somewhat profane. Comparable to "willy" or "dingaling". Pronounced .