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Raamatukogu (Raamatukogu)
Library, public library, lit. book collection. Soviet occupation renaming (1950-1989) of Kiriku. While raamat is a loan from old Pskov and Novgorod Russian гра́мота (gramota, book or writing-paper), borrowed from Greek γράμματα (grammata, letters, evolving into modern ‘grammar’), modern Russian for book is кни́га (kniga, said to trace back through Danube-Bulgarian *küiniv and ancient Turkic *küinig to a Chinese word for ‘scroll’). Interestingly, while this part (loosely) of the world’s history uses birch bark as writing substrate (see Tohu), Germanic languages’ ‘book’ comes from Proto-Germanic *bōk(ō)-, from *bokiz (beech) and Italic languages’ ‘liber’‑type words from Latin librum, the inner bark of trees.
Söe (Süsi)
Coal, charcoal, carbonic. One of a small locomotive-themed group next to Tallinn-Väike station. See Tendri.
Politseiaed (Politseiaed)
Police garden. Located, oddly, opposite the fire station. Today, about 0.24 ha between Gonsiori and Kunderi J., while 100 years ago it was 500 m further east and took up about 1.75 ha, reaching almost as far as Narva and Tartu. Police supervision of gardens was clearly a bigger thing back then, hence the expression: “If you want to mow the thyme, ask a policeman…”
Põdrasambla (Põdrasammal)
Elk moss, better known as Icelandic moss, Cetraria islandica, and not a moss but a lichen. Common in Estonia, but not in Tallinn – streetname dropped due to planning changes. See Käokõrva.
