It’s almost the same word in Finnish, “väkevä” which does mean “mighty”, “strong”, but literally it’s basically “full of (little) folk”, although idk if Estonian also uses “väki” in the same way but it’s the etymology of vägev anyhow. As in “the little folk” or “fairy folk” sort of, as anything magical or powerful would’ve been said to be so. Not that anyone’s really believed in any sort of fairyfolk for a long time, but just thought it might be interesting, perhaps especially so for a fellow finnic person (and/or I’m just somewhat interested if this all works in Estonian as well or if you’ve read about it idk)
In Finnish folklore, Väki is the life force that flows in every single living creature and being. It is similar to the concept of mana in Hinduism, life force chi in Chinese culture or the Force in Star Wars. Väki literally means a group. It describes the power / group or spirits that reside in a certain idea/concept/element or being.
Oh yeah I don’t buy the cheapest stuff anymore either. Actually bought fairly expensive rums last winter, tried some out to see whether it was worth it. It definitely is worth it to go at least mid-shelf in most things, and sometimes the top shelf doesn’t feel like a waste either.
Vodka neat is kinda horrible, tbh. A good vodka martini with a really smooth vodka, yea. Just vodka, neat? No thanks, can’t do it since that one time I drank a little hand sanitizer (non-denatured) in the army. 'Twas like >73% abv. I was fuuuuuccckeeed, uuupp. Luckily I was an NCO and had independence a bit so I went to the neighbouring barracks (just a firedoor in between them, same building) to use their showers for an hour or so (as the barracks was empty 1/3 of the year).
So I don’t know about the little folk, but vägi does indeed mean some kind of unquantifiable strength, force, power. As an adjective (vägev), it’s closest to “awesome”, “mighty”, “great”. Yes, magical power is also vägi, but then outside of folklore and mythology, I’d dare say its meaning could be considered tangentially related to the Finnish “sisu”? As it sorta describes a person’s, a group’s, or even a nation’s ability to make things happen in the face of hardship.
I’ve gone shot for shot of neat vodka with alcoholics when I was younger… And I was the one still awake after 20 or so shots. But now I can’t stand the taste (I don’t think I could then either - luckily the guy whose birthday it was, decided to throw all his vodka in the freezer). I don’t think I’ve actually tried a vodka martini. I’ve had vermouth neat for some reason, but not a vodka martini. Given that I have half a bottle of some Ukrainian vodka I have no idea what to do with, I might go out and buy a bottle of vermouth to give that a try. Or I might combine it with orange juice later tonight because I already have some of that and I’m likely working till 5 or 6 AM (home office, software engineer, contracting, not an employee)
Orange juice and vodka is something I can’t even sniff anymore, or Fanta and vodka. It’s just… disgusting. This is mostly why I drink rum nowadays, I don’t have any traumas associated with it lol
But a vodka martini properly made is nice. The strength should be like 20-30% depending how wet/dry you make it. Some even make them “dirty” (this when instead of just adding an olive/orange peel, you actually add a little bit of the brine from the olive jar).
Vermouth neat isn’t that bad, but it’s kinda “thick” so to speak. Rich flavour. The vodka cuts through so well. Idk, it’s just a drink I like when it’s properly made. Fairly expensive to get from bars though. Perhaps not for you idk, although you guys aren’t that far away anymore in terms of price difference. It used to be a lot more when you guys weren’t in the Euro.
I’m jealous or a home office though. Or rather a position to use one. Oh well.
I was talking about modern usage of the word in Estonian, where it has less to do with the original magical forces and more about determination, fortitude and drive.
Interestingly, Estonian resources don’t mention the little folk. There is of course mentions of the word going back to Uralic roots and the concept of vägi potentially going back to the Neanderthals, but nothing on little people.
I do love how the English Wikipedia article on the Finnish Väki mentions vitun väki. That one has caused me a lot of grief in life lol
Juu väkeväähän se oli.
It’s almost the same word in Finnish, “väkevä” which does mean “mighty”, “strong”, but literally it’s basically “full of (little) folk”, although idk if Estonian also uses “väki” in the same way but it’s the etymology of vägev anyhow. As in “the little folk” or “fairy folk” sort of, as anything magical or powerful would’ve been said to be so. Not that anyone’s really believed in any sort of fairyfolk for a long time, but just thought it might be interesting, perhaps especially so for a fellow finnic person (and/or I’m just somewhat interested if this all works in Estonian as well or if you’ve read about it idk)
https://littlewomen.medium.com/väki-the-power-in-finnish-folklore-abeb0a9d3c04
Oh yeah I don’t buy the cheapest stuff anymore either. Actually bought fairly expensive rums last winter, tried some out to see whether it was worth it. It definitely is worth it to go at least mid-shelf in most things, and sometimes the top shelf doesn’t feel like a waste either.
Vodka neat is kinda horrible, tbh. A good vodka martini with a really smooth vodka, yea. Just vodka, neat? No thanks, can’t do it since that one time I drank a little hand sanitizer (non-denatured) in the army. 'Twas like >73% abv. I was fuuuuuccckeeed, uuupp. Luckily I was an NCO and had independence a bit so I went to the neighbouring barracks (just a firedoor in between them, same building) to use their showers for an hour or so (as the barracks was empty 1/3 of the year).
So I don’t know about the little folk, but vägi does indeed mean some kind of unquantifiable strength, force, power. As an adjective (vägev), it’s closest to “awesome”, “mighty”, “great”. Yes, magical power is also vägi, but then outside of folklore and mythology, I’d dare say its meaning could be considered tangentially related to the Finnish “sisu”? As it sorta describes a person’s, a group’s, or even a nation’s ability to make things happen in the face of hardship.
I’ve gone shot for shot of neat vodka with alcoholics when I was younger… And I was the one still awake after 20 or so shots. But now I can’t stand the taste (I don’t think I could then either - luckily the guy whose birthday it was, decided to throw all his vodka in the freezer). I don’t think I’ve actually tried a vodka martini. I’ve had vermouth neat for some reason, but not a vodka martini. Given that I have half a bottle of some Ukrainian vodka I have no idea what to do with, I might go out and buy a bottle of vermouth to give that a try. Or I might combine it with orange juice later tonight because I already have some of that and I’m likely working till 5 or 6 AM (home office, software engineer, contracting, not an employee)
Bro I wasn’t really asking.
I was telling you about the history of our language-tree.
Viro is a Finnic language and that is the etymology of Finnic “väk-/väg”
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/väki
Descendants edit
Sisu is a completely different concept.
Orange juice and vodka is something I can’t even sniff anymore, or Fanta and vodka. It’s just… disgusting. This is mostly why I drink rum nowadays, I don’t have any traumas associated with it lol
But a vodka martini properly made is nice. The strength should be like 20-30% depending how wet/dry you make it. Some even make them “dirty” (this when instead of just adding an olive/orange peel, you actually add a little bit of the brine from the olive jar).
Vermouth neat isn’t that bad, but it’s kinda “thick” so to speak. Rich flavour. The vodka cuts through so well. Idk, it’s just a drink I like when it’s properly made. Fairly expensive to get from bars though. Perhaps not for you idk, although you guys aren’t that far away anymore in terms of price difference. It used to be a lot more when you guys weren’t in the Euro.
I’m jealous or a home office though. Or rather a position to use one. Oh well.
I was talking about modern usage of the word in Estonian, where it has less to do with the original magical forces and more about determination, fortitude and drive.
Interestingly, Estonian resources don’t mention the little folk. There is of course mentions of the word going back to Uralic roots and the concept of vägi potentially going back to the Neanderthals, but nothing on little people.
I do love how the English Wikipedia article on the Finnish Väki mentions vitun väki. That one has caused me a lot of grief in life lol