for tallinn street names: ao, hallivanamehe, süsta
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Ao (Agu): Early dawn, daybreak. Built on land occupied by former copper foundry. Part of the dawn and dusk triad. See also Eha. Not only one of the three shortest street names in Tallinn (Although WW doesn't really count), but the only possible anagram of Oa.
Hallivanamehe (Hallivanamees): Literally "grey old man". Two possibilities paraphrased from Kivi: 1) There used to be a very sharp curve here resulting in numerous accidents. Given the, ahem, abstemious nature of Estonian drivers, any mishap that occurred had to be due to Ülemiste Vanake suddenly appearing in the middle of the road (then again the old man of Ülemiste was a liquid spirit); 2) The curve, then street, where a grey-bearded old codger used to live until his house was demolished. And one less romantic possibility: the word hallivatimees means variously grey bird or animal, or wolf (becoming grey-coated chap, i.e. soldier). It also seems to have a deeper history, with its animal forms perhaps related to kriimsilm, scar-eye, wolf of Estonian folklore from kriim, suggesting something soiled, spotted, scratched or wounded, something malevolent. Hallivanimees would be the sanitized version and, quite simply, is easier to pronounce.
Süsta (Süst): Canoe, folding-boat.
- A Rambling Dictionary of Tallinn Street Names, pages 9, 23, 148, © 2014 Simon Hamilton
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