Mini language lesson #24: Hungarian town names in English – Funny compilation

The peculiarity of the Hungarian language is also reflected in several of our town names. Some town names are made up of only a few letters, while others mean something hilarious when translated into English. We would like to share some examples to prove the latter statement right. Hope you enjoy it!

A few years ago we already shared an article about funny Hungarian town names, but the concept was different. For the most part, the ones mentioned in that article can be expressed with one or two simple words, because the town names themselves make sense.

However, we would not necessarily say that the ones featured in this article are frequently used in everyday speech.

In fact, some of the translations are purely based on pronunciation and would make grammar teachers go mad.

The inspiration for this article was a post shared by Sláger FM, a Hungarian radio channel, which we expanded a little bit (angolnyelvtanitas.hu also has a nice collection). To be honest, this could even be a fun game to play with friends or a complementary teaching method. If I remember well, this was actually a game we played at one of my English lessons back in high school 🙂

Without further ado, let’s see how Hungarian town names translate to English!

Ajka – His/her lip

Baja – His/her trouble

Balatonakarattya – Wish of Balaton

Békásmegyer – Froggy goes R

Békéscsaba – Pacific/peaceful Csaba

Csorna – He/she would steal

Diósd – Nutty D (what a great name for a DJ, right?)

Diósjenő – Nutty Eugene

Érd – Reach it

Érsekvadkert – Archbishop wild garden

Hatvan – Have six/ Sixty

Hévíz – Hey water!

Hódmezővásárhely – Beaver field marketplace

Kistarcsa – Little hold it

Kölked – Your naughty child

Lábatlan – Legless

Lajosmizse – Mizs of Louis

Leányfalu – Girl village

Martfű – Etched grass

Mogyoród – Your peanut/testicle

Nagybajom – My big problem

Nagykovácsi – Big smithy

Nemesvámos – Noble customs officer

Szarvas – Shit iron

Százhalombatta – One hundred piles of Batta

Székesfehérvár – White castle with chair

Szentes – Saint S

Szombathely – Saturday place

Tata – Grandpa

Tolna – He/she would push

Törökbálint – Turkish Valentine

Várpalota – Castle palace / Castle castle 😀

Veresegyház – Red one house

Source: Daily News Hungary