Sekalaista

Sekalaista is a Finnish adjective meaning mixed, varied, or miscellaneous. It is used to describe items, information, or topics that do not form a single uniform category. The form sekalaista is commonly used in the partitive case, as in sekalaista tavaraa (miscellaneous goods) or sekalaista tietoa (mixed information). The term can also function as a label in itself, indicating a collection that does not fit specific categories, similar to “miscellaneous” in English.

In everyday language, sekalaista appears in a wide range of expressions. It is frequent in shopping, archives, and media to group items that are diverse or not easily classified. Common collocations include sekalaista tavaraa, sekalaista materiaalia, and sekalaista sisältöä, reflecting its role as a catch-all descriptor. In storytelling, journalism, and publishing, sekalaista can denote a miscellaneous section or assortment of shorter items, notes, or odds and ends.

Etymology traces sekalaista to the Finnish root seka-, meaning to mix or mixed, with the familiar suffix pattern that forms adjectives and partitive forms. The concept has been part of Finnish usage for many decades and remains a standard way to indicate non-uniform collections across spoken and written Finnish.

See also labels in Finnish contexts often use sekalaista to designate miscellaneous content in catalogs, libraries, and media archives, but it remains distinct from more specific categories. It conveys inclusivity of varied items without implying a particular order or hierarchy.