The Hungarian language is special – What to say to sound like a real Hungarian?
They say one really learns a language or a culture by understanding its sayings, phrases, proverbs, and terms that are completely meaningless for the foreign ear. It really reveals a lot about people, how they express great wisdom, or how they put feelings and thoughts into words.
It’s quite interesting to compare the sayings of languages, too. And by the way, learning these proverbs’ meaning is an easy and enjoyable way to improve your Hungarian. While, for example, English says “curiosity killed the cat”, the Hungarian proverb expressing similar wisdom goes for a bit more tame version, saying something along the lines of: “a curious person grows old sooner” (“aki kíváncsi, hamar megöregszik”).
We have covered some of the funniest of proverbs in our previous compilations, like THIS and 20 more in THIS article.
And we also suggested some Facebook and Instagram pages to follow to enlighten yourself about the complexity of Hungarian grammar and sayings as well as the ridicule of their literal meaning:
- Mini language lesson #13 – Hungarian proverbs, sayings
- Want to spice up your language? Use some Hungarian sayings!
Proverbs are something most native speakers unconsciously learn, probably during childhood, probably from the cautionary speeches from old relatives. While these phrases contain great pearls of wisdom about the Ultimate Question of Life, like how useful it is to get up early, or how important modesty is, there is another genre of Hungarian sayings to be learned:
the amazingly weird and extremely funny terms used in everyday conversations.
If you would like to learn to sound like a proper Hungarian, you need to use these phrases. For example, when something is really close, you could say it is near, but why not say
“it is just a spit away”
(“csak egy köpésre van”)? Or when you see an adorable child, you could say “cute” (or “cuki” in Hungarian), but why not go all the way and say, “I will eat his heart!” (“egyem a szívét”) like Hungarians would?
We have another Instagram page worth following if you’d like to deepen your knowledge in the twisted way Hungarians think and speak. @inhungarywesay shows terms and phrases used in everyday slang, the kind of sentences you hear on a bus or the street and cannot wrap your mind around. Like why would someone tell you that you have poppy seed while smiling and nodding reassuringly?!
We are here to help! This Instagram account collects these funny and wonderful phrases from its followers and then shares them with explanations. You see how an average, polite English-speaking person would put something to words, then the madness of Hungarians, and then you can also check out the literal translation in the description.
Here are some great examples:
If you would like to go even further and get the hang of Hungarian cultural references and pop culture quotes, we recommend Ausztrál Tom, an amazingly enthusiastic Australian Youtuber who has committed himself to learn not only the Hungarian language but everything it means to be a Hungarian.
- Also interesting: Magma Translation
Read alsoAusztrál Tom: The Joy of Learning Hungarian – VIDEO
Source: Daily News Hungary
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4 Comments
Magyar is not weird. It is colourful, it is descriptive, it is engaging. the language has a huge vocabulary enabling short sentences and saying to equal a good photograph. Yes, in some languages there is such poverty that you must have photographs ‘to say a thousand words’ but in the Magyar language there are enough words which can be joined into phrases that your brain can create the image. No photo needed.
And yes, we did learn from ELDERLY relatives, not just the ‘old’ (forgotten or deceased) ones.
Thank you for your email to me today to acknowledge that you have changed the title of this article, which I had found to be incorrect and offensive. Saying the language is ‘special’ is a funny choice for a replacement since today that word more often refers to people who have some kind of disability that sets them apart from ‘average’ people in their group or circle. Teachers often referred to both ends, low and high, students. To be polite and not hurtful but recondnize that child’s abiltiy or struggle.
I would have perhaps said that our language is unique and rich in descriptive abiltiy.
A Magyar nyelv ku”lo”nleges e’s pa’ratlan.
Modern ido”ben szota’r miat le forda’sok nem mindig pont aszt mondanak amit e’rtu”nk amiat hogy ma’s fe’le ke’pen haszna’lunk szavakat ahogy a ne’p ma’s ke’pen gondol meg e’rti a vila’got. Ismerek Magyarok akik nagyon sze’pen besze’lik a Amerikai angolt…de e’vek uta’n me’g is lehet tudni hogy nem iteniek. Mint mikor e’n voltam othon a rokonok ki nevete’k az e’n Magyar besze’letemet amiat hogy gyerek koru szavakat ismerem csak e’s a szoka’som mint egy paraszt (aszt mondta’k nekem). Nekem a nyelv haszna’lat nagyon e’rdekes. E’s nehe’z. Mert a ne’pi termezetet is bele kel fonni.
Pe’lda’ul ahol e’n most vagyok az iteni ne’p nem nagyon szivesen va’rja a ne’pet ma’s heljekbo”l le telepedni ide. ( La’togatni, igen) E’n ma’r 1975 ota tartok kerti ha’zakat iten, gyermekem szu”letk de me’g is ugy mutatnak be rokonoknak hoyg e’n vagyok ” a come from away”. Ez csunya, ( mert aszt yelent hogy nem tartozol ide, a gondolatod, a kinloda’sod nem sza’mit ) e’s sokat besze’lnek rola a ra’dion, ujsa’gokba de foyamtosan a ne’p me’g is meg tartja a szoka’st. A szavak nem roszak, de a gondolat e’s e’rte’s ha’ta, nem sze’p.
Covid allat nagyon ezrek Onta’rio meg Amerika’bol, meg vettek laka’sokat la’ta’sne’ku”l e’s fizetek majdnem 50% el to”bet mint ke’re’s volt. Az e’n egyedu”l a’lo 33 e’ves la’nyom alig tudot meg venni maga’nak laka’st emiat. E’vel hamarab $30,000.00 kevesebet fizetet volna a 2 ha’lo kondominiume’r.
Mi fog e miat ki deru”lni e’rdekes lesz. A 4 genera’szio csala’dok nem lesznek a leg to”b ne’pek itten ez uta’n. Me’g csak most fognak engede’jt kapni be ko”lto”zni amiat hogy majdnem nincs na’lunk ma’r betegse’g Nova Scotia’ba. (1 beteg van ugy hallom) Hoznak majd nem csak pe’nzt, besze’d szoka’st is. Most nyitottuk ki a hata’rt de nem is az ege’sz Kanadai ne’p nek. Csak akik Ma’jus 19 edik elo”t vettek laka’st. Ke’so”b vevo”knek me’g kel va’rni. E’n szeretne’m ha Magyarok is lakna’k iten. Sajnos nem hallok to”b mint 6 csala’drol edig.
Hát, Kate, gratulálok ahogy próbálsz írni magyarul. Nem könnyű, de lehet angol billentyűzeten is úgy írni mintha az magyar lenne. Çsak így tovább…
George