Expats living in Hungary share their favourite Hungarian words

Hungarian is a rich language with a deep-rooted heritage. It is also a pain in the neck to learn for its complicated grammar and word structure. Nevertheless, some people still had the courage to try to master it. We have asked expats living in Hungary to share their favourite Hungarian words with us. The responses we got were surprising, sweet and, at times, hilarious.

Christopher (40) – France

 “Zsuszi, csúnya es buta vagy! (Eng. Zsuszi, you are ugly and dumb) – I used to mock my Hungarian ex-girlfriend with this phrase, which I picked from a Hungarian textbook when I began learning this extremely difficult language. She happened to be called Zsuszi too. Needless to say, she hated it.”

Mariana (24) – Cuba

“Pattogatott kukorica (Eng. popcorn) – It’s hilarious for Spanish speakers. Pato means duck while gato means duck. The word kukorica reminds me of the word cucurucho which is a local delicacy in Cuba. There was a joke in my hometown: La dieta del cucurucho , comer poco y follar mucho. And its translation goes like this: the cucurucho diet consists of little food but lots of love making.”

Tom (35) – Canada

“Fröccs (Eng. a mix of wine and soda water; spritzer) – for obvious reasons. I love a good fröccs, or two or three, on a hot summer night in Budapest. It is a country where you can easily get drunk even if you are low on cash. This is one of the many advantages of living here.”

Read more: Hungarian words that are also used in English

Bahiti (29) – Egypt 

“Micsoda rendetlenség van! (Eng. What a mess! – referring to an untidy room e.g.) – I can’t tell you why. It’s just I can easily pronounce and it feels cute. It was one of the first expressions I learned when I started studying Hungarian back in 2014.”

Fred (50) – Australia

“Fotelhős (Eng. couch hero) – Apparently, I became one during Covid. My Hungarian wife likes to call me that when I root for my football team or write some politics-related wisdom on Facebook. My kids have a good laugh when I attempt to pronounce this word.”

Ashvin (49) – Mauritius 

“Aranyhíd – translates to a golden bridge but refers to the sun rising to a golden colour and causing a glittering on a bridge. I’ve seen it many times when I was standing on of the bridges on the Danube. The reason why I love this word is that it reminds me of hope, a feeling that the new day can give humanity a blessing, where we all can find a piece of love.”

Giorgos (31) – Greece

“Kirándulás (Eng. excursion) – this is one of my favourite words in Hungarian. First of all, whenever I use this word, chances are I’m on a holiday trip. So who doesn’t like that? Secondly, it sounds a bit funny to me. Actually, it is fun to say it: kirándulás.”

Read more: 5+1 Useful tips to get you started with learning Hungarian!