---
layout: post
comments: true
title: "Hau/Mau"
category: [english]
tags: [FAQ, frequently, asked, question, hau, dogs, finnish]
redirect_from:
  - /hau.html
  - /hai.html
  - /mau.html
---

*A frequently asked question: "what does hau mean?" To avoid repeating
 myself, I will explain it here.*

"Hau" is what dogs "say" in Finnish (they also "say" some other things such
as "vuh").

At first I just greeted [Tessu] and family members by saying "hau" and then
it widened to IRC & elsewhere.

[Tessu]:https://mikaela.info/r/tessu

It cannot be any worse greeting than "hai" (below) which some people use.

![hai](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/White_shark.jpg)

<div class="centered"><em>Valkohai (Carcharodon carcharias) by Terry
Goss (CC BY 2.5) via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White_shark.jpg">WikiMedia</a>.</em></div>

[WikiMedia]:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White_shark.jpg

* * * * *

*Update: add some point I started saying "mau" instead which is what
 the cats say in Finnish, but why not as it only changes one letter.*

*This is probably caused by the fact that I moved away from Tessu and
 [Karou from the Daughter of Smoke & Bone](/r/karou) was very easy to
 identify with in the first book.*

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1UNXMaNfiYA" allowfullscreen></iframe>