Bodily functions are normal. However, people usually don’t like to think too much about them, with the exception of children. Poop jokes (pissa- ja kakkahuumori) are incredibly funny to kids at a certain age, and this includes kakka, pissa, pieru ja hiki.

In this article, we’ll go over some vocabulary related to bodily functions. No jokes here though! Not surprisingly, there are many spoken language synonyms and euphemisms for these.

Uloste Kakka Paska – Excrement Poop Shit

The body gets rid of unneccessary waste (jäte) through poop (kakka). A healthy person will defecate (ulostaa) every day. Your stool (ulosteet) can tell you a lot about your health (terveys), like for example if you drink enough water.

Pieru – Fart

Flatulence (ilmavaiva) means that intestinal gases (suolistokaasut) exit your body through you anus (peräaukko). Farts (pierut) can be really smelly! They’re caused by what you’re eating. Some foods like beans (papu, pavut) are hard to digest (sulattaa) for the body.

Virtsa Pissa Kusi – Urine Pee Piss

Your body (keho) gets rid of toxic substances (myrkyllinen aine) through urinating (virtsaaminen). Pee (pissa) is made up of about 95% water and 5% of e.g. hormones, white blood cells, and chemicals.

Hiki – Sweat

When you exercise, your body will be producing sweat (hiki). Sweat itself doesn’t smell like anything (ei haise miltään), but the bacteria (bakteerit) in it do. Sweating (hikoilu) helps to keep your body cool (viilentää ihoa). Just make sure you drink enough to make up for the dehydration (nestehukka)!

Röyhtäisy – Burp

Burping (röyhtäily) is a way for the body to expell gas (päästää kaasu) from the stomach (maha) through the mouth (suu). Especially soda (limsa) will cause you to burp (röyhtäillä) because it contains carbon dioxide.

Oksennus Yrjö – Vomit Puke

When you’ve eating something bad, you’re likely to vomit (oksentaa). This is the body’s way of evicting bacteria or spoiled food (pilaantunut ruoka) from your stomach (maha). People can also suffer from sea sickness (matkapahoinvointi). That’s what the vomit bag (oksennuspussi) in airplanes is for!

Kuola Sylki – Spittle Saliva

Your mouth produces (tuottaa) a lot of saliva (sylki) all day long, especially when you’re thinking or eating something delicious (herkullinen). The enzymes (entsyymit) in saliva help break down food and protect your teeth (hampaat).

Räkä – Snot

Snot catches bacteria (bakteeri, pöpö) when you breathe in (hengittää sisään). The color of your snot (räkä) can tell you something about both your health and the quality of the air around you. Sneezing (aivastaa) and blowing your nose (niistää) clean out your nose. Picking your nose (kaivaa nenää) is something that’s definitely frowned upon.

Veri – Blood

Picking scabs (rupi, ruvet) is something that can be hard to resist (vastustaa), but it negates the work your body does to repear your skin (iho). Blood transports oxygen (happi) into your system and waste (jäte) out of your system. Women will have to deal with their period (kuukautiset) once a month, while the body cleans up the mucous membrane (limakalvo) from the womb (kohtu).

Now you know what kakka, pissa, pieru ja hiki mean! Very useful vocabulary, right? 😉