What is Kalsarikännit?

And how do I pronounce it?

Hello!

One of the joys of living in London is getting to meet people from around the world.

Recently, I met a woman named Erika, who told me she grew up in Finland.

Finland…

I am familiar of course with Finland, but I’ve never been there.

And to be honest, I don’t know a lot about the country.

When I think about Finland¹, I think about nature, Lapland and saunas.²

And that they — along with their Scandinavian neighbors — are always topping those “happiest country in the world” lists.

But I have been to Denmark and Sweden, so I asked Erika, “Does Finland have its own special tradition, like Denmark’s hygge or Sweden’s fika?”

“We have kalsarikännit,” she told me.

“Sorry, what?” I replied.

I asked her to repeat the word again.

And again.

I had never heard of kalsarikännit.

But of course, I was curious…

What makes Finland one of the happiest countries in the world?

Happy kids in Tampere, Finland

Is it the free education?

The generous parental leave?

The free (or low cost) healthcare?

Or is it kalsarikännit — the Finnish practice of “drinking at home, alone, in your underwear”?

Pronounced “karl-zar-ee-can-ee”, the word is a combination of kalsari (underwear) and kännit (drunkenness).

The concept is also known as “päntsdrunk,” and has been around for years, but received more global recognition after 2020 when Covid forced people around the world to stay inside (and possibly drinking alone, in their underwear, too).

But this Finnish custom is different from other cultures where the party starts at home.

With kalsarikännit, the party starts and ends at home.

There is no intention of going out.

But why do Finnish people want to stay home alone and drink in their underwear?

Perhaps it has to do with the Finnish climate.

The winters are cold — and dark.

The average winter temperatures can range from -15°C (5°F) to -6°C (21°F) — and the southern part of the country has only six hours of daylight.

And it’s even colder (and darker) in the northern part of the country.

Even the summer months are moderate, with an average temperature around 17°C (62°F).

Why put on all those layers to go out, when one can simply chill (literally and metaphorically) with fewer layers at home?

But is this really part of Finnish culture?

Yes, kalsarikännit is such a part of Finland’s culture that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs includes a definition of the custom on their website.

And in 2015, the Ministry created a set of official national emojis — and included two to represent kalsarikännit.

Some of Finland’s official emojis

One emoji shows a woman drinking red wine in her underwear, and another shows a man drinking beer in his underwear.

And the concept of drinking at home alone appeals to more than Finns.

The New York Times reported Americans were trying out the Finnish tradition in 2020, but also noted they weren’t doing it quite right.

“The proper way to do this is in your underwear,” Finn Mikael Taipale told the paper.

“The American version of this is wearing sweatpants and shorts.”

The reason for the difference — Taipale suggested — was that Americans didn’t grow up going to the sauna naked every day like the Finns do — and therefore weren’t as comfortable being exposed.³

Kalsarikännit even features in Season 35 of The Simpsons

So if the idea of drinking alone in your underwear doesn’t come naturally, simply channel another Finnish concept — SISU — “the feeling of perseverance.”

“In Finland, as the saying goes, we ‘go through even a grey rock.’

“Arctic nature has given us guts – or ‘sisu’ as we call it. It’s about not giving in – even when it might be wiser to do so…”

Naturally, Finland has created an emoji to represent sisu, too…

Am I saying that right?

Apologies if my Finnish isn’t up to scratch on the audio version of this story⁴ — I watched this video many times in preparation!

One more fun fact from Finland…

I’ve learned a lot about Finland just looking through the explanations of their emojis!

For example, I did not know that there are more heavy metal bands in Finland (per capita) than anywhere else.

This fun fact about Finland is represented with an official headbanger emoji…

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Until next time, Stay Curious!

-Beth

1. It’s easy to mock Americans for their lack of knowledge about other countries. However, it’s rare I meet people from other countries who know anything about my home state. That’s OK - these are opportunities for curiosity! And learning!

2. Fun fact, Finland has a population of 5.4 million people. And the country has 3.2 million saunas.

3. He may be right!

4. I’m still not over someone criticizing my German pronunciation in my story about 99 Luftballons years ago. Sorry - I really do try!