Mini language lesson #12: Hungarian abbreviations used in texting

As we all know, we don’t always follow the strict grammatical rules when texting. In fact, the point of texting is to be short and brief. This is why languages developed a type of texting/chatting vocabulary, which is a key to understand natives once you’re friends with them. Therefore, we put together a small guide to Hungarian abbreviations used in texting and slang.

Keep in mind that we are not linguists in any way, we’re just as dazzled by the curiosities of the Hungarian language as foreigners are. So this series doesn’t aim to explain the etymology of words, it’s more a fun take on our language. We try to bring Hungarian closer to you with witty learning cards made by Daily magyar, a language-enthusiast person, whose posts give an insight into the complexity of the Hungarian grammar. But don’t worry, it’s all done in an easy-going way, so that it can make learning fun.

Most of the following abbreviations are characterised by missing letters or syllables, which is a common way of shortening words. Some of them work by assimilating two consonants when pronouncing a word (t+sz → c), while others include numbers in creative ways.

We wouldn’t say that all of these are used in texting by everyone, but younger generations certainly prefer abbreviations. Plus, it’s always good to know about the informal language due to the popularity of texting and chatting.