Sisu

2006-09-28T12:44:58Z

141.35.12.66: revert

{{wiktionary}}
: ''as an abbreviation, '''SISU''' may also refer to [[Shanghai International Studies University]]''

'''Sisu''' is a [[Finnish language|Finnish]] term that could be roughly translated into [[English language|English]] as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. The equivalent in English is "to have guts", and indeed, the word derives from ''sisus'', which means something inner or interior. However, sisu has a long-term element in it; it is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain the same. To [[anthropology|anthropologists]], it is an appropriate invention for a cold northern land, dotted by thousands of lakes, and long under threat of being overwhelmed, militarily, linguistically and otherwise, by more powerful neighbours. Similar concepts exist among other cold-weather peoples, such as the [[Inuit]] and [[Chukchi people|Chukchi]].

Due to its cultural significance, ''Sisu'' is a common element of [[brand name]]s in [[Finland]]. For example, there are [http://www.sisuauto.com/portal/english/ Sisu trucks] (and [[Sisu XA-180|armored vehicles]]), a brand of strong-tasting candy manufactured by [http://www.leaf.fi Leaf] and a metapolitical nationalist organisation [http://www.suomensisu.org Suomen Sisu]. Mount Sisu is also the name of a mountain discovered by mountain climber [[Veikka Gustafsson]] in the Antarctic.

The term is commonly used in everyday speech to describe stoic toughness. It is widely understood in the [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan|Upper Peninsula]] of [[Michigan]], which is home to a large concentration of Finnish-Americans. For instance: ''Even after cutting his hand open and getting 12 stitches, he didn't shed a tear. Wow! He's got sisu!'' By analogy, the term has picked up new meanings. Depending on context, "sisu" can refer to spunk, attitude, self-confidence, and so on. However, sisu is not [[bravery]], nor strength, and needs to be distinguished from [[courage]], especially when talking about the military. In contrast, sisu is an ability to finish the task and get things done, as defined by [[Roman Schatz]] in his book ''From Finland with Love'' (2005) and decisiveness. Usually sisu means will and decisiveness to get the things done against impossible odds, or to succeed when given the [[chinaman's chance]].

Sisu can be either good or bad, but the usual meaning is good. Bad sisu (Finnish ''paha sisu'') means malice combined with ruthlessness and implacability: it means relentless strive for mischief, persecution and vengeance (compare [[chutzpah]]). It is in a sense the mirror image of good sisu. Finnish expression ''pahansisuinen'' implies "audacious", "implacable", "full of effrontery", "malevolent" etc with aggressive overtone.The verb ''sisuuntua'' refers to getting angry, but with an element of determination and even being unforgiving. The idiom ''meni sisu kaulaan'' "the sisu went to the neck" returns to the original meaning, "innards"; "get a lump in one's throat", as in become too intimidated to act.

==Other uses==
Foreign users of the term include [http://www.sisu.com Sisu], a [[Canada|Canadian]] company that makes vitamin and mineral supplements; SISU, the educational association of the Swedish National Sports Confederation; and [http://www.sisunet.org Sisu Medical Solutions], an American non-profit company providing IT support.

As an abbreviation, '''SISU''' may refer to [[Shanghai International Studies University]].
Also, the Belgian Red Cross has a "Sisu" service which provides psychosocial emergency assistance in critical events (fire, explosions, floods, catastrophes & disasters); in that context the acronym "Sisu" stands for Service Intervention Sociale Urgente.

'''[[SiSU]]''', note capitalization, refers to the (Unix and command line oriented) text structuring and document publishing framework, which from minimal document preparation produces [[Plain_text]], [[HTML]], [[XHTML]], [[XML]], [[OpenDocument]] (ODF:ODT OpenDocument text), [[LaTeX]], [[PDF]], and populates an [[SQL]] database ([[Postgresql]] or [[Sqlite]]) in paragraph sized chunks so that document searches are done at this "atomic" level of granularity. Document output formats share a common (page independent) numbering system for locating content. The acronym here stands for "SiSU information Structuring Universe" or "Structured information, Serialized Units". Related links: [http://www.jus.uio.no/sisu/ SiSU::Home], [http://freshmeat.net/projects/sisu/ SiSU::Freshmeat], [http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/sisu.html SiSU::Debian], [http://raa.ruby-lang.org/project/sisu/ SiSU::RAA]

==External link==
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032201943.html Washington Post: The Finnish Line], about Finnish fortitude and resilience

[[Category:Finnish culture]]
[[Category:Upper Peninsula of Michigan]]

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Sisu