Seen on the auditorium wall of Narva Eesti Gümnaasium:
Head põrumist!. But why?
I was initially baffled by this
soov, wish of sorts, posted on the wall of the
aula (auditorium) of Narva's only Estonian language school, the Narva Eesti Gümnaasium. A
gümnaasium used to be synonymous with the secondary school level of education, but many Estonian gymnasiums today are comprised of both a
põhi/kooli level (grades 1-9), as well as high school level (grades 10-12), in various wings of the same building.
Põrumine means a jolt, sudden push or shock, as well as the ensuing reverberation. If you bang your fist on a table, the dishes will shake (
taldrikud põruvad). If you accidentally hit your head, you may suffer a
pea/põrutus (concussion). If you say or do something stupid, you might be accused of being
peast põrunud (
põrunud in the head), i.e. everything is not as it should be. But the text on the wall refers to
läbi põrumine – an expression that means to fail; derived from the idea of falling. A student might say: "
Ma põrusin keemias täiega!" (I totally crashed and burned in chemistry.) "
Ta põrus valimistel." – S/he suffered a complete defeat in the election.
This is the same thing as saying "Break a leg" to someone about to step on stage. The expression reflects a theatrical superstition in which wishing a person "good luck" is considered bad luck. Estonians are of completely the same
eba/usklik (superstitious) mind. They have, in similar reverse fashion, the tradition of calling a crow
valge lind ("white bird"), so it won't bring along the darkness of bad luck. The
hunt (wolf), recently chosen to be Estonia's national animal, also has a multitude of aliases including
võsa/villem (William of the forest),
kriim/silm (stripy / streaky eye),
Püha Jüri kutsikas (St. George's puppy),
metsa/töll (someone who saunters (
töllerdab) in the forest), and the S-E Estonian
susi, so as to not invite bad luck by using its actual name.
Going fishing or on a hike? An Estonian will wish you
"Kivi kotti!" (a stone in your bag), or
"Nael kummi!" (a nail in your tire). At a recent performance, dancers were wished
pind jalga – a splinter in their foot. And so, the wish on the school wall reads: "May you fail your exams miserably!" But means: You will all do really well!
Photo and text: Riina Kindlam, Tallinn
