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Madalmaa (Madalmaa)
Lowland. New or projected street (2008) just off Tuukri. Given the latter’s former name of Hollandi, it could (and some say it does) refer to the Netherlands, in which case it should be plural, dammit: Madalmaade. And so, given the area’s slow geological rise out of the sea, we prefer ‘lowland’, and not an embarassing diplomatic error. See also Lüüsi and Poldri.
Paadi (Paat)
Boat. You guessed it, right next to Laeva down by the docks. This street is part of the E67 from Helsinki to Prague. Home to the beautiful wood-built Püha Siimeoni ja naisprohvet Hanna kirik (St. Simeon’s and St. Anne’s Cathedral Church) about whose lives marvellous tales are told! (see Ahtri).
Parda (Parras)
Often given as a synonym of Poordi, this might be due to semantic shift over time. In this case, it would indicate the outer side or ‘board’ of a boat or ship from keel up (and, nowadays, planes etc., too, think ‘boarding-pass’) as in pakpoord (larboard, now port) and tüürpoord (starboard) but used more in expressions such as üle parda kukkuma (to fall overboard), üle parda heitma (to toss overboard, both literally and figuratively). However, given its etymological origin via Proto-German *barđaz from Old Icelandic barð, both meaning ‘edge’ or ‘rim’, some dictionaries translate the word by ‘gunwale’ (from 15th-C Eng, gonne walle) the (thickened?) ridge/‘wall’ (from OE wale, or ship’s side-timber) supporting the ship’s guns. While gunwale is often translated as reeling (calqued on Eng. railing) or reelingulatt, the general consensus seems to be the lath of wood fitted onto the upper edge of the board for its multiple functional purposes.
