Names
Puhangu (Puhang)
Gust, puff, blast; also outbreak. Renamed (1953-1995) as Herzeni A. during the Soviet occupation.
Pühavaimu (Pühavaim)
Holy Spirit, after its nearby church. With a long history of name change: retro ecclesiam sancti spiriti e. capellam (1363) or strate achter dem hilghem gheeste (1389) (both meaning behind the Holy Ghost [church and chapel]) and later variants such as Hiiligöösti ulits (1732), Helliste (1885), etc. Renamed as Iskra for a couple of weeks in 1941, then as Säde during the later Soviet occupation (1948-1987).
Puhke (Puhe)
1) Rest, repose; 2) Outbreak, budding, blooming. Given the fertile soil around the Siselinna Kalmistu, inner-city cemetery, could be either (see Mõigu).
Puhkekodu (Puhkekodu)
Rest-home, convalescence home.
Puhma (Puhm[as])
Clump, tussock.
Puju (Puju)
Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, plant with a long and... legendary past. Alternative names tell interesting stories: English: sailor’s tobacco (fairly obvious), naughty man (used in the Middle-Ages to flavor beer, and perhaps for its hallucinogenic properties), old uncle Henry (pass); Estonian: ema-rohi, mother medicine, because reputed to rotate breach fetuses or, perhaps more useful on occasions, abort them; langetõverohi, epilepsy medicine (the plant contains thujone, found in absinthe, but this is also believed to cause epilepsy); and sala-koi-rohi, mysterymonger drug or secrecy-fogey-drug (hallucinogen again). It also gave its name to the city of Chernobyl (Ukrainian: Чорнобиль = mugwort, literally, чорний чорний [black], билля [grass/stalks], although the word could also have come from a personal name, Чьрнобыль [Čǐrnobylǐ]). Lastly, modern-day witches use it for astral travel, saving considerable sums of money in airport taxes.
