Etymology

A story has it that in the 19th century the city of Oulu in northern Finland prospered as exporter of tar produced in its hinterland. The local traders sailed as far as to France in search of the best possible net price. As the sailors wanted to buy sweets as gifts to their folks at home, they pointed at the different sorts they wanted, at which the retailers promptly asked combien? ‎(“how much?”). The sailors believed the word to mean "sweets" and adapted it to Finnish pronunciation.