To explain why this sign caught my fancy, I have to go through a bit of context.
It is common to see in Finland a sign that says "Asiaton oleskelu kielletty", which I would translate to "No loitering". But more literally I would translate it as:
- Asiaton = Without a a proper reason, uncalled for
- Oleskelu = Hanging around
- Kielletty = Forbidden
Here the verb "Oleskelu" follows a Finnish construction where you turn a verb to a sort of less directed version.
- Juosta (to run), Juoksennella (to run around [aimlessly])
- Heittää (to throw), Heitellä (to casually throw [between people], to play catch)
- Jutella (to discuss), Jutustella (to chit chat, smalltalk)
And similarly the word "Oleskella" is the less directed version of the verb "Olla", i.e. "to be". Thus I would translate "oleskella" as "hanging around", as that can consist of you just being somewhere without no particular reason.
On the other hand, the word "asiaton" ("asia-ton", i.e. not possessing "asia") could literally be translated to "without a cause/reason". Though in some contexts it is used to describe as something being rude or uncalled for.
So the standard "No loitering" verbiage "Asiaton oleskelu kielletty" is essentially saying either that "You should not hang around here if you are causing trouble.", or then it is repeating the non-directed facet of this as "You should not just hang around if you don't have a reason of doing so."
And now we get to the version in this particular sign I saw in Espoo, Finland. Here the first row simply states that this is private area1, but the second line states only the "Oleskelu kielletty". So the restriction is much more strict! You're not allowed to hang around, even if you do have a cause! We're a single restriction alteration away from forbidding existence all together.
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Though here we also have something non-standard, as the common term for private property in signs is the compound word "Yksityisalue" instead of this "Yksityinen alue". I think I will have to draft another post later on to ponder on the difference - they are pretty much synonyms, and in this context there is no danger of confusion, but there is a different flavor to the two versions. In my mind it's a bit similar to the difference between the "beware of the guard dog" and "beware of the guarding dog" difference mentioned in this previous post. ↩