Finns don’t talk much.

Finns are sparse and sparing in conversation. If they have to
speak they use the minimum amount of words. Long sentences in
English language movies are reduced to two or three words in the
Finnish subtitles.

This gets more extreme the further north you go. A friend in Oulu
describes morning coffee at his office. Ten men sitting silently
drinking coffee. Perhaps someone will flick through a newspaper. Every now and
then, someone might say “sokkeri” (sugar). Not “can you please
pass the sugar.” Too many words. He says sokkeri.
Someone passes him the sugar. And then it’s back to silence.

There is no word for please. Think about that.

If Finns don’t have to speak, they don’t. Finns are comfortable with silence. They don’t need to fill up the space.

You can find Therese’s full column on the site here.