Ha! My son does a similar icebreaking thing with folks of different culture/language. He asks them how to say "Excuse me, your dog is on fire!" Has it in 5 or six languages now.
(though in practice the polite forms are rarely used in Finnish. You'd probably go for hei, sun koiras palaa)
I knew lots of old words they'd never heard, though, since I was practiced at speaking with 70-year-olds who'd learned from their immigrant parents. A little linguistic time warp...
The spruce is on fire. = Kuusi palaa.
The spruce returns. = Kuusi palaa.
The number six is on fire. = Kuusi palaa.
The number six returns. = Kuusi palaa.
Six of them are on fire. = Kuusi palaa.
Six of them return. = Kuusi palaa.
Your moon is on fire. = Kuusi palaa.
Your moon returns. = Kuusi palaa.
Six pieces. = Kuusi palaa