Lühike jalg (Adj.)

Lit. Short leg. One of the older streets of Tallinn: brevis mons (1353), parvus mons (1371), descensus montis ad mare (?) making you wonder what the sea level was at that time (see Paljassaare), korter berg (1428), lühhike jalg (1732), before settling into its present name in 1908. See Pikk Jalg. The translation of jalg is worrisome: usually ‘leg’, which is one of its various acceptions, along with ‘foot’, and others I’m sure. But a ‘leg’ is usually a stage in something, a journey or a race, while ‘foot’ commonly applies to hills and mountains, as it does here. Since jalg is so obviously related to jalutama (to walk), perhaps, given the slope, it was used to emphasize the difficulty in going up by carriage or cart, and while ‘Long Foot’ may be correct-ish in its literal translation, I feel that ‘Long Rise’ better expresses its functional quality. But not its charming ‘olde-worlde’-ness. Anyhoo, given its two odd ‘legs’, Tallinn is sometimes jokingly referred to as lonkav linn (totter town or lit. limping town). See also Lühike tänav in Hiiu. Interestingly, lühike is the diminutive of lühi:lühida the nominative of which is only found in compound words, and can also be a double diminutive as lühikene.