"His name is Link. He's from Estonia and I think he's jive."

[logicrevolution]

In a mall in my hometown, there's a large wall of chalkboards in the food court that serves to isolate graffiti to a harmless, erasable area. I was there last week getting something to eat when I saw a blond man (a suspicious sight in southern New Mexico) walk up to the board, write the words "kappi ära", smile, and walk away. My first thought was

Comments

[kali_kali]

Asked my Estonian friend, and he says it's a sentence fragment, but could be something to the extent of "don't into the closet".

[xandiwillflailx]

so some sort of pro-coming out message? :-P

[kali_kali]

Could be. Though looking up "kappi" in a Finnish-English dictionary, "kappi" means "companion", while "kapp" means "cupboard/closet" in Estonian (and the "i" presumably would modify it).

[progenies]

Hm. If kappi ära is "don't into the closet" then what I can figure out is that kapp is the closet, and would need the illative case to show movement towards it, but the Estonian illative case is -sse. I can't seem to find a case in Estonian that is just -i. Secondly, 'ära' sounds alot like the Finnish 'älä', meaning 'don't', but I think that Estonian has the same rules of vowel harmony, so 'ära' seems not to really fit....

But I know nothing about Estonian, really.

Paging hkitsune...

[logicrevolution]

I don't think so. He didn't look to be in a hurry.

[elena]

Nice title. ;)

Too bad "Gonzongas" isn't Estonian.

[typesbad]

that's a really interesting story. sorry I can't help. I'm interested too...

[anonymous]

Random passerby, four years late with a reply, the paths of the internet are mysterious :)

While "ära" does also mean don't, in this context "ära" sounds more likely to indicate the meaning "away, off", since at least that way the two words form a sentence. Hence, "kappi ära" would mean "away into the closet/off to the closet".

It's not a phrase I've heard anyone to use independently, but as a native speaker and after using a little imagination, I would read the message as a figurative expression for: a) putting something (such as an idea, an issue) away to the "closet" for later consideration, b) the writer himself withdrawing to a figurative "closet", in the sense of withdrawing for privacy or introspection. Option b also kind of sounds like an status (away) message one could use in an instant messaging program.