Ujo-Anselmi lääkärissä: liian aikaisin tulemisesta

What does the Finnish verb “tulla” mean (and the joke about it)?

This Putous sketch is one long innuendo, and the joke only lands if you hear both meanings of tulla. Literally tulla is “to come, to arrive,” so poor Ujo-Anselmi’s complaint about “tuun aina liian aikaisin” (“I always come too early”) reads as chronic punctuality. But Finnish tulla, like English “to come,” doubles as the bedroom verb, and the doctor’s siniset pillerit (little blue pills) make the subtext unmistakable.

Tulla is also one of Finnish’s most fundamental verbs, used for becoming, too: tulla iloiseksi (to become happy), tulla sairaaksi (to fall ill). Catching the wordplay is a real C1 moment: you’re now decoding humour, not just sentences.