Hungarian is one of the hardest languages to learn in the entire world. It is very unique and for oursiders it has many quirks and oddities, which are difficult to understand. We have created a quiz for you about the Hungarian language so you can test your knowledge ans skills.
Feel free to prepare yourself before you begin the quiz. Here are some of our article you might find useful:
Best-selling writers, authors and journalists will join the start-studded cultural activities at the 40th annual Sharjah International Book Fair. The 2021 Nobel Laureate for Literature, Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, will lead the list of international literary luminaries from 13 countries who will participate in the 40th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2021), which takes place from November 3 – 13 at Expo Centre Sharjah.
Organised by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), the book fair boasts an extensive programme of 440 cultural activities, which will include literary talks and panel discussions led by renowned authors, writers, and journalists from around the world.
America’s and Canada’s bestselling authors at SIBF 2021
Among the headlining personalities at SIBF 2021 is American film producer, entrepreneur and bestselling author, Chris Gardener, whose novel The Pursuit of Happyness has been translated into more than 40 languages, including Arabic, and was adapted to an award-winning film starring Will Smith.
Also hailing from the United States, Gitanjali Rao is a child prodigy
– an inventor, scientist, STEM promoter, and the first child to be featured by Time magazine in 2020 as ‘Kid of the Year’. She is also the bestselling author of A Young Innovator’s Guide to STEM.
Her compatriot, award-winning thriller writer Kathleen Antrim, is the author of the bestselling Capital Offense. She is a former journalist and radio show host. Michael Anderle is a bestselling author and publisher who has been consistently ranked among the top 100 authors available on Amazon store and has sold over 4 million of his books so far.
Abdulrazak Gurnah
Tosca Lee is a New York Times bestselling author of 11 novels including The Line Between, A Single Light and The Legend of Sheba.
She has won many awards including two 2020 International Book Awards, and her work has been translated into 17 languages.
Lee will be joined by Daniel Mallory, known as A.J. Finn, author of the bestselling The Woman in the Window that became a Hollywood blockbuster starring Amy Adams, will be one of the star attractions at SIBF. Social psychologist and bestselling author John V. Petrocelli will also join SIBF 2021 from the USA.
John V. Petrocelli.
Lebanese-born bestselling author, speaker, educator and activist Najwa Zebian will be present in the fair coming from Canada.
K.J.Howe, also from Canada, is the bestselling author of The Freedom Broker series and has won several awards for her thrillers.
Diversity of European literary culture to be represented by UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Italy
The Ugandan-born British short story writer and novelist Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, who won the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, is the author of The First Woman, Manchester Happened and Kintu. Also from the UK, Karen Millie James is a novelist and businesswoman, author of The Shadows Behind her Smile, and Where in the Dark. She is now working on her third novel A Thousand Silent Cities.
Other UK-based authors include: Rabina Khan is a writer, politician, broadcaster and author of My Hair is Pink Under This Veil; Candice Carty-Williams, bestselling author of Queenie, Empress & Aniya and People Person; award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author of The Nine Waves and other bestselling books, Mihir Bose; and B.A. Paris, bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors, The Breakdown, and The Therapist, among others.
B.A. Paris.
From Ireland, thriller writer Alan Gorevan will speak about his critically acclaimed novels including The Kindness of Psychopaths and Better Confess.
From Spain, bestselling author of self-help and inspirational books such as Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, Francesc Miralles, will join SIBF 2021.
Creator of the Editions du Jasmin, Saad Bouri from France is the author of traditional French-Arabic tales The Fox and the Hyena and The Wolf, the Lion and the Fox. Hans Limon, author of several popular plays and books including La Bataille d’Hernani, joins the French contingent to SIBF 2021. His compatriot Isabelle Leymarie is a pianist, filmmaker, translator, photographer, musicologist and author of Cuba and its Music and several other works.
Yasmina Khadra, also from France, is the pseudonym of Mohammed Moulessehoul. His works have been translated into 52 languages and have been adapted for the cinema and theatre.
From Italy, SIBF will welcome Lisa Ginzburg, author of Cara Pace and several other acclaimed novels; and Donatella Di Pietrantonio, award-winning novelist of L’Arminuta and Borgo Sud, among others.
Literary champions from the African continent and Russia at SIBF 2021
Serial entrepreneur, speaker, and author of Where Beauty Blossoms, I am, Swaady Martin will enrich SIBF with the point of view from Ivory Coast in West Africa, while two authors from Kenya will bring the East African perspective to SIBF 2021. Academic and bestselling author of three novels including Dance of the Jakaranda, Peter Kimani is known as the voice of his generation. Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, winner of the 2003 Caine Prize for African Writing, showcases the East African experience through a coming-of-age story in her latest work The Dragonfly Sea.
Russian writer, academic and editor Dr Naumkin Vitaly will be joining the literary line-up at SIBF 2021.
He has authored more than 600 publications and has been a senior political advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria since 2016.
A host of 15 literary greats from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be joining this group of global participants and enrich the discussions and debates at SIBF 2021.
Themed ‘There’s always a right book,’ the forthcoming 40th annual SIBF will see the participation of 1,576 publishing houses from 83 countries. More than 15 million titles will be on display throughout the 11-day celebration of literature, knowledge and culture.
Learning a new language is more than just memorising grammar rules and new vocabulary. In order to achieve a more native-like language competence, you have to learn idioms, proverbs, and slang expressions that constitute an important part of everyday language use and colloquial speech.
Every language is full of creative and funny slang expressions. Perhaps the easiest and best way to learn slang is to watch movies and series in your target language − for example, on Netflix − or read the posts of native speakers on different social media platforms. We have collected some common Hungarian slang expressions.
adom [ʌdɒm]
literal translation: I give
meaning: good/great idea
az ő asztala [ʌz ɜː ʌstʌlʌ] – right up/down one’s alley
literal translation: this is his/her table
meaning: to be in one’s particular speciality, especially suited to someone’s tastes or abilities
beéget (valakit) [bɛeːgɛt (vʌlʌkɪt)]
literal translation: to burn (someone)
meaning: someone puts the other person in an awkward situation
be van sózva [bɛ vʌn ʃɔːzvʌ], zabszem van a fenekében [zʌbsɛm vʌn ʌ fɛnɛkeːbɛn]– have ants in one’s pants
literal translation: to be salted, to have oat grain in his/her bottom
meaning: to not be able to keep still, to be restless
csapassuk [tʃʌpʌʃʊk] – let’s hit it
literal translation: let’s hit it
meaning: let’s begin, let’s do it
elgurult a gyógyszere [ɛlgʊrʊlt ʌ ɟɔːɟsɛrɛ] – out of one’s mind
literal translation: his/her pills have rolled away
meaning: he/she has lost his/her mind, he/she is acting weird
As part of the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (India @75) celebrations Hindi Diwas 2021 was organised by the Amrita Shergil Cultural Centre of the Embassy on 29th September 2021. Dr. Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe, President of Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) was the Chief Guest for the event.
After the traditional lamp lighting and welcome remarks by Ambassador Shri Kumar Tuhin, Professor Mate Ittzes of the Department of Indian Studies at the ELTE University presented an overview of Hindi teaching in Budapest. In his address on this occasion, Dr. Sahasrabuddhe said, ‘ Gurudev Rabindrnath Tagore, who is much loved in Hungary, said, “Our forefathers, three thousand years ago, had finished extracting all that was of value from the universe, is not a worthy thought. We are not so unfortunate, nor the universe, so poor.” So India marches ahead. As a famous Sanskrit saying says,let all that is good in the world come to us.
Innovations backed by high quality research, sustainable models of inclusive development, environmental protection, rule of law and free flow of information are the paths we have taken to rightfully reclaim our thought leadership of humanity.’
The event also comprised of a short film of compilations of documentaries on the growth of Hindi in Hungary, a music video titled ‘Dance of Freedom’, a devotional fusion dance presentation by Hungarian dancers and ICCR alumni Ms. Panni Somi (Bharatnatyam), Virág Turi(Odissi) and Gabriella Tóth (Kuchipudi) as well as poetry recitation by Hungarian Hindi students led by Professor Péter Sági, who teaches Hindi at the ELTE University. A Kathak performance by the Amrita Shergil Cultural Center Kathak teacher accompanied by Tabla and Pakhwaj was also part of the events. In conclusion, Indian Hindi students performed a Hindi Play titled ‘Çhamde ki Naav’. President ICCR felicitated students of Hindi course and couple of Hungarian staff of the Embassy who are proficient in spoken Hindi.
The programme was attended by over 100 invited guests.
Did you know that you can learn a great variety of languages, including Hungarian, or practice your foreign language skills by watching movies and series on Netflix? Language Reactor (previously called “Language Learning with Netflix”) is a browser extension for Netflix and Youtube that provides additional features for language learning such as dual language subtitles and a popup dictionary, thus allowing for an effective, engaging, and enjoyable learning experience.
Learning a language is a complex task that requires persistence and hard work, but fortunately, some strategies can help you study more effectively. Watching films, TV shows, or series in another language can provide an excellent and practical learning experience for several reasons. Films and series are an integral part of our lives, and they make the language learning process more motivating and entertaining. Films provide us with authentic, real-life language input by exposing us to the natural flow of speech. Films also enable us to interpret the language in a visual context, and people tend to be better at memorising and remembering words that have some context.
Language Reactor is a free and easy to install the browser extension for Chrome that adds dual language subtitles (for example, English subtitles are presented simultaneously with the Hungarian translation), a popup dictionary, video playback controls and many other features to Netflix.
If you search for “language learning with Netflix” and click on the first page, you will be directed to Language Reactor on the Chrome web store.
Photo: Google search screenshot
Then you click on “add to chrome,” and now you have access to the additional features if you watch films on Netflix. In the settings, you can choose between two types of translations: machine (literal translation, can contain errors) and human.
Photo: video still from Netflix, Money Heist, season 1, episode 1
You can also adjust the vocabulary-highlighting feature to your level of language proficiency and use keyboard shortcuts to control the player and listen to the dialogues phrase by phrase at your own pace: press ‘A’ or ‘⬅️’ to go back to the previous subtitle, ‘S’ or ‘⬇️’ to repeat a subtitle, ‘D’ or ‘➡️’ for the next subtitle, the space bar to play/pause playback and ‘R’ to save a subtitle. You can access a pop-up dictionary by clicking on a word.
Photo: www.languagereactor.com/help/basicPhoto: video still from Netflix, Money Heist, season 1, episode 1
Language Reactor is a valuable tool for any level of language proficiency. Still, it works best as a supplement for people who already have some basic understanding of the language they’re learning.
Language Reactor even has a catalogue of recommendations to help you find Netflix titles with high-quality subtitles in the language you want to study or practice.
Unfortunately, this tool only works on Google Chrome, so you can’t use it with your Netflix app.
Monor City Court convicted a total number of 122 defendants for bribery offences, acceptance of bribery and forgery of administrative documents. According to the non-binding judgment, the fraudsters sold the exam solutions to their clients for a price ranging from HUF 150,000 (~EUR 430) to HUF 800,000 (~EUR 2296) per exam.
The prosecutor’s office laid charges in bribery, acceptance of bribery and other crimes, writes hvg. The court rendered judgement after 62 trial days, finding a total of 6,800 counts of crimes in the case of the first twenty defendants.
There have been other cases of language exam bribery before; for example, in 2002, a criminal group specialised in obtaining language exam certificates through bribery, among other crimes. This organisation targeted individuals who were in need of a language exam certificate in English or German to earn their degree or to get a job. Through the employees working in different language schools in Pest county and Budapest, the fraudsters had access to the exam tasks sheets and the answers. With this method, the criminal group was able to guarantee successful language exams for their clients for more than a decade.
In the present case, based on the evidence, the court found one of the defendants guilty of accepting bribery in the first degree and therefore sentenced this person to 2 years of imprisonment. Still, this sentence was suspended for three years. The defendant also has to pay a fine and is permanently disqualified from the practice of conducting language exams, 24.hu explained.
Another 19 defendants were sentenced to a term of imprisonment from18 to 24 months for bribery, acceptance of bribery, trading in influence, complicity in forgery of administrative documents and incitement to commit trading in influence. The sentence also includes the confiscation of the proceeds of crime and paying a fine.
Most clients were students who needed a language exam certificate to earn their degree and employees who wanted to receive an allowance for their language exam certificate. The defendants usually collected a larger team of clients and gave the correct answers in advance or placed these people in a separate room. The tariffs ranged from HUF 150,000 (~EUR 430) to HUF 800,000 (~EUR 2296) per exam.
When the topic of the Hungarian language comes up, perhaps the most common impression one hears is that it sounds really difficult. Obviously, we think of it differently as native speakers, but from time to time, it is useful to recall how unique the language we speak is.
We have repeatedly reported on how various sources consider the Hungarian language complex and extraordinary. For instance, according to English (American) native speakers, Hungarian is a foreign language of almost nuclear difficulty. As FSI reports, one must study Hungarian for one year, putting everything else aside in order to acquire the language.
A few years ago, language teachers were asked about the difficulties that, for example, English, German and French students have with the Hungarian language. What are the most significant challenges? In what terms is Hungarian different?
Every language is beautiful and unique, although some are more complicated than others for foreigners to learn, even on a basic level. Hungarian is definitely one of them. The following video is here to prove it:
Hungarians have long-lasting memories about the aggression of occupying powers, as well as the trauma caused by Trianon and understand why the annexation of Crimea has remained an “open wound” to the people of Ukraine, President János Áder said at the opening of a series of events dubbed Crimean Platform in Kyiv on Monday.
Áder said Hungary supported Ukraine’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity. At the same time, he said “if a state neglects its international obligations and bans the mother tongue of a national minority from schools, restricts the use of their mother tongue in public life, and
threatens those that use their mother tongue with fines,
then it is not only a serious violation of minority rights which is unfit for a country dedicated to democracy, but it also works against the interests of the majority nation”.
Concerning the crisis in eastern Ukraine, Áder said that “there is no alternative to peaceful settlement”. He noted Ukraine’s efforts towards resolving the conflict, but warned that “a lot of perseverance, consistency and patience” would still be needed to find a reassuring solution.
Áder noted that Hungary had been one of the first countries to recognise Ukraine’s independence 30 years ago, and
expressed his congratulations on the anniversary.
“We truly wish that a state so important for us should further develop in peace and stability. We wish to see Ukraine offer a secure and attractive future to all its citizens and that the Hungarian community feels at home in that country. To meet those goals we stand ready to provide all assistance,” the president said.
The conference was attended by representatives of 46 countries, including 14 presidents and prime ministers, as well as the president of the European Council.
German, Nepali, Spanish, Irish, and Russian people reacted to Hungarian proverbs in a video. There were some good guesses, but some of them were far from the real meaning – as far away as Makó from Jerusalem.
Borrowed bread must be returned
The international people asked were on the same page about the meaning of this proverb. Their general idea was that something borrowed must be given back, favours should be returned, everything comes with a price. The most interesting guess was that if you buy bread with blue mould, you have to give it back to the shop. However, the proverb means something like “what goes around, comes around”. If you harm someone, they can do the same to you.
The skin is burning on my face
The people in the video guessed that it means a really bad sunburn or an expression of anger. But what this Hungarian proverb means is that someone is embarrassed or ashamed. Do you remember the reporter caught with no pants live on air? The skin was probably burning on his face.
Crack pepper under someone’s nose
This proverb got some creative definitions: make someone sneeze, wake someone up, shut up angry people. But what it truly means is to annoy someone. Like in tales, the protagonist prince really can crack pepper under the antagonist dragon’s nose.
When red snow falls
The people in the video thought this means something really disastrous and odd. “Poor me, I’ve never seen this,” one of them said. But other guesses were exceptionally diverse: impossible things, the sky bleeding, a woman getting her period, fighting someone, or killing someone. While it makes sense why they came to these conclusions, the proverb means “never”. In other languages, you might say “when pigs fly”.
To put on the rabbit shoes
Good luck, being fast, being in a hurry is what this proverb means, according to the international people. And they were not far from the truth! It really does mean to get going or start running. In order to catch the bus in the morning, for instance, you might put on the rabbit shoes.
How well do you really know the English language? English has become an actual global language over the past centuries, but during the course of its existence, just like with most languages, history has left its mark on it. English has been influenced and impacted by many other languages and cultures, from French to German, from Greek and Latin to Spanish, but to some extent, also by Hungarian. In this article, we try to gather all words in the English language that have Hungarian origins.
If you are a long-time follower of this site, you will probably recognise some, if not most, of these words. Let us start with English words that come from proper Hungarian names.
Proper names
Rubik
This is probably the second outlier, but it is so well-known worldwide that it had to be included. It comes from none other than Ernő Rubik, the inventor of the world-famous Rubik-kocka, or Rubik’s cube.
Source: Pixabay / congerdesign
He invented it around 1975, and it was called “bűvös kocka” (magic cube) back then. Shortly after, it was nicknamed Rubik-kocka, and the name stuck. Since then, it has become a kind of brand, and there are many varieties of brain-teasing puzzles under Rubik’s name.
Tokay
“A name of a town in Upper Hungary (‘Tokaj’). Also, Tokay (‘Tokaji’) wine, rich sweet wine of an aromatic flavour, made near Tokay in Hungary. Tokay grape is the variety of grape from which Tokay wine is made.” – Oxford English Dictionary
Photo: Facebook.com/tokajiaszushop/
“The Tokaj aszu (or ‘Tokaji aszú’ in Hungarian) is a special wine produced in the Tokaj wine region; it is the nectar of individually hand-picked “aszu” berries botrytised on the vine stock” – Collection of Hungarikums. You can read more about this unique wine HERE.
Biro
The ballpoint pen is widely referred to as a ‘biro’ in many countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Italy. It is a registered trademark that comes from the name of its inventor László József Bíró, who was a Hungarian-Argentinian inventor.
He patented the first commercially successful modern ballpoint pen. In 1945, Marcel Bich bought the patent from Bíró for the pen, which soon became his company’s main product. BIC has since sold more than 100 billion ballpoint pens worldwide.
Foods
Dobos torte
“A torte made of multiple thin layers of sponge cake often containing ground hazelnuts, put together with a mocha-chocolate filling, and topped with caramel glaze,” – Merriam Webster Dictionary
“The layered pastry is named after its inventor, Hungarian chef József C. Dobos, a delicatessen owner in Budapest. Dobos cake was first introduced at the National General Exhibition of Budapest in 1885; King Franz Joseph I and Queen Elisabeth (Sisi) were among the first to taste it. The cake soon became popular throughout Europe” – Collection of Hungarikums.
Source: facebook.com/GerbeaudCafe/
We have already written several articles about this delicacy, and if you would like to try it at home, we also have the original recipe you can try.
Paprika
It is one of the staples or perhaps even the soul of Hungarian cuisine, and according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is a powdered spice that looks deep-orange or red, made by grinding the dried fruits of peppers.
In many languages, ‘paprika’ also refers to the plant itself, but not in English. ‘Paprika’ has been part of Hungarian cuisine since the plant’s arrival to the country around the 16th century. It is so characteristically Hungarian that paprika made from the peppers of Szeged and Kalocsa have become Hungarikums.
Goulash
This might be one of the most well-known and most commonly used words in English that originate from Hungary. It is not uncommon for foreigners to identify Hungarians with this dish.
Photo: facebook.com/magyargulyasetterem
“It originates from Hungarian ‘gulyáshús’, from ‘gulyás’ (herdsman of ox) + ‘hús’ (meat). A beef or lamb soup originally made by herdsmen while on the fields” – Online Etymology Dictionary.
The real question, however, is whether it is a soup or a stew. Find out HERE.
‘Halászlé’ or fisherman’s soup
It is another dish that uses quite a lot of paprika, the halászlé or fisherman’s soup, sometimes fish soup might be almost as well-known as goulash is. Every cook does it differently, but there is a heated debate between the two main types. One is the ‘Tisza’ (river in eastern Hungary) fish soup, and the other is the ‘Baja’ (a city in southern Hungary, next to the Danube). Never mention one to the other area.
Palacsinta
“In Hungarian cuisine: a thin pancake eaten as a dessert, often filled with jam, cheese, nuts, or chocolate” – Oxford English Dictionary.
Photo: facebook.com/GundelRestaurant
You can call it a pancake, but it might actually be closer to French crêpes. Regarding the fillings, the sky is the limit. Most often, you could find ‘túró’ as a filling, sweetened and sometimes with raisins. I personally like a little vanilla flavouring but hate raisins. You could use any kind of jam or marmalade, cocoa (sweetened), Nutella, pudding, but another one of my favourites is cinnamon with powdered sugar. There is also the famous Gundel ‘palacsinta’.
It is usually a dessert item, but there is also a savoury type that restaurants list with appetisers. It is called the ‘Hortobágyi húsos palacsinta’, meaning Hortobágy (a region in eastern Hungary) meat pancake. It contains minced meat, and it is drizzled with sour cream and – of course – paprika gravy.
“It means light-cavalryman. The original Hussars were bodies of light horsemen organised in Hungary in the late 15th century, famed for courage and elaborate, semi-oriental dresses. They were widely imitated all over Europe” – Online Etymology Dictionary.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the Hungarian ‘huszár’ originates from the medieval Serbian husar, meaning brigand (because early hussars’ shock troop tactics resembled that of brigands). Another theory is that the term is an original Hungarian one, having nothing in common with the Serbian ‘gusar’.
This type of light cavalry was especially characteristic of the Hungarian armies, equipped with bows, arrows, spears, and sabres, later adopting the use of firearms.
“Also ‘chako’ is a cylindrical soldier’s hat with plume. It comes from the Hungarian ‘csákó’, short for ‘csákós süveg’ (peaked cap)” – Online Etymology Dictionary.
Photo: Alpár Kató – Daily News Hungary
An essential part of the Hussar dress, but also a paper toy that children can easily make.
Sabre
“It is a type of single-edged sword, […] probably ultimately from Hungarian ‘szablya’ (saber), literally means a tool to cut with, from the verb ‘szabni’ (to cut or to tear).” – Online Etymology Dictionary
A sabre or saber is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central-Eastern European cavalry, such as the hussars, the sabre became widespread in Western Europe a bit later. The sabre probably arrived in Europe with the Magyars and Turks.
Verbunkos
“A borrowing from Hungarian, the ‘verbunkos’ was originally danced by uniformed Hussars to the music of gipsy bands in Hungary in order to attract recruits to the army. The Hungarian word comes from the German ‘Werbung’, meaning recruitment.” – Oxford English Dictionary
Hungarian Dog Breeds
Puli
“More fully Hungarian Puli is a breed of large black, grey, or white sheepdog characterised by a long, thick coat with a corded appearance.” – Oxford English Dictionary
Komondor
“Large, powerful, shaggy-coated white dogs of Hungarian origin that are used to guard sheep” – Merriam-Webster
Kuvasz
“A large, white, long-coated Hungarian breed of dog used as a guard dog” – Oxford English Dictionary
Vizsla Photo: Pixabay / Anna-f
Vizsla
They are short-coated, golden-brown hunting dogs, specifically “pointers, with large pendant ears” – Oxford English Dictionary. They are robust but rather lightly built; they are lean dogs that have defined muscles.
Pumi
“It is a medium-sized alert, intelligent, energetic, and agile Hungarian herding breed” – American Kennel Club
Pusta or Puszta is a traditional Hungarian landscape meaning “a large plain, a steppe; a flat, treeless region.” – Oxford English Dictionary
Fogas
“An Eastern European fish (Lucioperca sandra) resembling a perch, especially one from Lake Balaton in Hungary that is highly esteemed as food,” – Merriam Webster Dictionary
‘Fogas’ or also referred to as ‘süllő’ depending on its size; the latter is smaller than 1.5 kg Source: Wikimedia Commons / Tiia Monto
“The principal monetary unit of Hungary; a coin of this denomination.” – Oxford English Dictionary.
Pengö
In Hungarian, it is written ‘pengő’. It was “the basic monetary unit of Hungary from 1925 to 1946.” – Merriam Webster Dictionary
Czárdás
‘Csárdás’, often seen as ‘czárdás’ or ‘csardas’, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance. The name is derived from ‘csárda’, an old Hungarian term for roadside tavern and restaurant. It originated in Hungary and was popularised by bands in Hungary as well as the neighbouring lands of Slovakia, Slovenia, Transylvania, etc.
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:
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:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMFkgRjlZQI/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfD36CFjYS/
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.
Preserving linguistic and cultural diversity is an interest of all nations, President János Áder said at the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples in Tartu, Estonia, on Wednesday.
Áder noted that the congress was first held in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic in Russia, in 1992, “as a fruit of the cooperation of related nations, on a basis of mutual trust and goodwill.”
Hungary was happy to join the initiative “because of our shared ancestry but also common fate” as millions of Hungarians have been living as minorities for a century, the president said.
Out of the 90 languages spoken in the European Union, only 37 are official languages, and some 100 million of the bloc’s citizens belong to ethnic minorities, he said.
“Much good has come” of the cooperation of Finno-Ugric peoples in the past 29 years, Áder said. This is a community where all participants are equal partners, with one vote each, he said, adding “and peaceful and friendly cooperation built on trust has not only a past but a future too.”
“Let us preserve cultural and linguistic diversity for the good of Finno-Ugric peoples and all other nations in the world,” the president said.
János Árpád Potápi, the state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad at the Prime Minister’s Office, marked Hungary’s Day of National Cohesion in Éberhárd, in Slovakia, on Sunday, and in a speech he noted the consequences of the Trianon peace treaty.
Potápi said that although Trianon to this day affected the togetherness of Hungarians, circumstances had changed in the Carpathian Basin and the peoples of the region were able to work together for their futures.
“We Hungarians have an interest in finding the things that connect us to the rest of the peoples of central Europe … because this is the only way to ensure our common success in the future and respond to the challenges of the 21st century,” he said.
The government, he added, was focused on helping Hungarian communities in the world and around the Carpathian Basin regain momentum.
Potápi paid tribute to Albert Apponyi, the head of the Hungarian delegation at the Paris peace conference after the first world war, saying he served as a role model for young Hungarians today since he unerringly insisted on his Hungarian and Christian identity.
Commemorations have been held over the weekend in various localities inhabited by Hungarians in Slovakia to mark the Day of National Cohesion.
Hungarians have become a unified nation thanks to the policy for Hungarians beyond the border pursued by the government over the past ten years, Katalin Szili, the prime minister’s commissioner in charge of autonomy affairs, said in London on Saturday.
Szili is attending a conference of Hungarian weekend schools in London, which provides an opportunity for teacher training, building relationships and sharing best practices.
She said the government considered it important that those living in the diaspora retain their Hungarian identity, and thanked the teachers who teach at Hungarian schools in their free time.
Szili noted that the priority areas of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers include national minority protection, religious communities and the rights of families and children.
Ambassador Ferenc Kumin said that weekend schools required a lot of energy, commitment and sacrifices from both teachers and parents,
as they use their weekends and free time to give children special education without which they would not be able to preserve their Hungarian identity, special cultural traditions and heritage.
When was the Hungarian language formed, how many people speak it around the world and what are its most beautiful words according to foreigners? Find out some interesting facts about one of the most complicated languages in the world.
Every language is beautiful and unique, although some of them are more complicated than others for foreigners to learn, even on a basic level. Hungarian is definitely one of them.
It is actually among the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn.
There are always exceptions, of course. For instance, the case of an
Let’s start with the basics. As Katalin Gugán, a scientific colleague of the Research Centre for Linguistics, told index.hu,
the Hungarian language was formed over 3000 years ago, way before its people arrived in its territory of today in the Carpathian Basin.
One of the reasons for which Hungarian today sounds so particular and different from the languages spoken around the country is the fact that this date around 3000 years ago is not the actual time of birth of the language, but the time when Hungarian speakers started to separate themselves from the Ugor language community. The time of the actual formation of the Hungarian language is impossible to know due to the lack of written records, but we know for sure that it happened even earlier. If we had any records of that era, we probably would not understand a word anyway, as the earliest written record of a text probably used at funerals was written with Latin letters, and only some of the terms are understandable for us Hungarians today.
Despite being a relatively small country, about 13 million people speak this complicated and unique language worldwide, putting Hungarian in the 96th position among the 7000 languages of the globe.
Of course, the difficulty of a language and the trouble it causes to learn it is a pretty subjective matter. It depends on the age at which we start learning, our mother tongue and our previous experience with languages in general, whether we studied any or nothing at all. Similarities and common points of two languages make it easier to learn another language perfectly, however difficult others might say it is. For this reason,
learning Hungarian for an Indo-European will be much much harder
than for a Finnish, for instance, due to the similarities Finnish and Hungarian have.
There is a saying about the Hungarian language according to which its words sound like if someone was bleating while talking. In reality, we have encountered very few people who have more or less the same feeling. Of course, it is very subjective and will depend on personal preferences, but the general impression of foreigners is quite different. They find it rather nice and pleasing to listen to, especially some of our words, that for us Hungarians would not even be in the top 100. The reason for this is simply the meaning of these words.
The absolute favourite Hungarian word of foreigners is “cipőfűző”.
Do you find it melodic? It is indeed, but for Hungarians, it is rather funny, as cipőfűző means shoelaces. Not the most romantic word out there. However, even one of our most famous writers, Dezső Kosztolányi, had his favourite word, with which many foreigners agree. “Fülolaj” does sound nice until you think about the meaning. It literally means ear oil. Well, we all have our preferences, right?
Do you know any Hungarian words? (Sparing us from curse words would be appreciated). Which one is your favourite and where did you learn it? Let us know in the comments below.
Languages should be seen as living beings, spoken by communities whose lives are also dynamically shaped by our rapidly changing world. But what makes the Hungarian language so unique?
According to novekedes.hu, on account of many English speakers, Chinese Mandarin is the most difficult language in the world to learn, but Japanese and Hungarian are also at the top of the list. Many linguists, writers, academics and artists claim that the Hungarian language is one of the richest and most expressive languages in the world.
According to the Austrian scientist Erbersberg: “The structure of the Hungarian language is as if it had been created by a congregation of linguists to have all the regularity, conciseness, harmony and clarity, and also to diligently avoid all commonalities, pronunciation difficulties and irregularities.”
In his interview with the American CBC, playwright George Bernard Shaw commented on the Hungarian language: “I can safely say that after studying Hungarian for years, it became my conviction: if Hungarian had been my mother tongue, my oeuvre could have been much more valuable. Simply because in this strange language, filled to the brim with ancient power, the tiny differences, the secret vibrations of emotions can be described much more accurately.”
Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti, who spoke 58 languages himself, said of our language: “Do you know which language, because of its constructive ability and the harmony of its rhythm, comes before all the others? The Hungarian! It seems as if the Hungarians themselves do not know the treasure of their language…”
But what makes the Hungarian language so special?
Concise, descending and consistent: The Hungarian language is non-binding, i.e. it has free word order. In Hungarian, the beginning of sentences, the first syllable of words, and mostly the most important part of the sentence is always emphasised.
The richness of verbs meaning movement and relocation: while, for example, the Italian language uses 26 verbs of motion and relocation, the Hungarian one uses more than 1000 different verbs.
Melodic: many believe that after Italian and Greek, it is the third most melodic languages in the world, yet challenging to identify by sound.
Ancient: Considered to be a highly antiquated language preserving an ancient character: today’s English contains 4% etymon, Latin 5%, today’s Hungarian contains 68% ancient etymon! ”
We have a rich vocabulary: over 1 million words, and many words possess transmitted, secondary meanings.
Word families are created: new, subtle nuances and atmospheric words are very characteristic. From our 1000-4000 ancient words, word formation, word composition, and other ways of word-formation give rise to our newer and newer words. Huge word families are created this way.
Space-time orientation/directional trinity: our ancestors also had to orient themselves in space and time, which is why the directional triad developed at the place and time determinant.
The way of thinking fixed in language also affects the person themselves. Perhaps this may be one of the explanations for the fact that in recent decades, relative to the number of Hungarian speakers, relatively many Hungarian scientists have gained world fame for their outstanding work.
“Language is a natural phenomenon. Its roots go deep into the prehistoric past of the past, all the way to prehistoric times, and it also has a trunk, branches, foliage, and living flowers. It affects us like something huge, elusive, a spiritual miracle. But it is so alive and real that we can perceive it with our senses.”
– wrote Dezső Kosztolányi in the work of Language and Soul
It is often easier to value as an outsider what people born here in Hungary under normal conditions take for granted. Words and language have overwhelming power.
Every language has its expressions, phrases, and sayings that might sound funny to foreigners. That is one of the beauties of each and every language. Sometimes, however, these idiomatic expressions cause a laugh even among those who use them naturally as it is a phrase in their mother tongue.
The weather has been quite funny this week in Hungary, with smaller or bigger snowfalls in certain parts of the country.
Restaurants and bars are unfortunately still closed, and so are the borders of the country. We really hope that very soon, you will get the chance to visit our beautiful Hungary (or re-visit it), but until then, we have brought you a list of Hungarian expressions that are either very hard to process or cause a huge laugh when translated to English. Learn one or two of them and impress either your Hungarian friends or people you will meet during your next stay in Budapest.
Hungarian is a beautiful but extremely hard language for foreigners. Truth be told, it can sometimes be tricky even for native speakers, especially when it comes to all our various expressions containing interesting words that simply do not seem to belong in the sentence. In many cases, the reason for the use of a specific word sounding extremely strange or even stupid for someone from the East of Hungary is simply the fact that the expression comes from the other corner of the homeland, where the word in question is used for a specific object. This word can either be another different word used for the same object by our friend coming from the Eastern part, or it simply does not exist in their vocabulary because the object does not exist in their area. Take a look at some of these expressions.
Miért itatod az egereket? – Why are you giving drinks to the mice?
Have you ever given a glass of water to a mouse? I do not think so, we rather fear them and even scream if we see one, let alone give them drinks. Do not think Hungarians are this strange that they do it; the meaning of this sentence is very simple. In Hungary, when asking a crying kid, for instance, for the reason of their sadness, we do not directly ask them the question Why are you crying?, we rather choose this creative way to find the problem and to solve it.
Örül, mint majom a farkának – He is as happy as a monkey about his tail
This sounds fairly funny in English, I think. Monkeys are considered happy animals that have a lot of fun, at least they are depicted this way in movies and cartoons. According to Hungarians, they are the happiest about the fact that they have a tail. Is this true? Well, we should ask an expert to find out, nevertheless, we will continue to use it to say someone is extremely happy about something, and just like monkeys, they would be jumping from joy.
Kutyából nem lesz szalonna – You cannot make bacon out of a dog
This is one of my personal favourites. Everyone likes bacon because it is yummy (at least every Hungarian, we just call it szalonna) and everyone likes cute little puppies. However, when you put the two into one sentence, bacon loses some of its appeal. Luckily, the Hungarian expression states very clearly that you cannot make bacon out of a dog so do not even try it. A slice of dog bacon sounds cruel and not very tasteful, and it is definitely something that stays in your head after you have heard it. We simply use it for someone who will never change, someone who will keep making the same mistakes. Once a thief, always a thief.
Nem kolbászból van a kerítés – The fence is not made of sausage
As we love to use animal names in our expressions, the same is true for food. If you have read any of our articles containing a yummy Hungarian recipe, you already know that food, and especially a tasty and spicy sausage (kolbász), is very important in our little country. Naturally, we will use them quite often in our sayings. But do we have huge family houses surrounded by a sausage fence in the countryside? The answer is no, however, not only because the saying says so, but because it would simply be a crazy (but somewhat delicious) idea. As we LOVE sausage and consider it one of the best things in the world, whenever the fence is not made of sausage, it is simply not as good as you thought it would be. Makes sense, right?
There has been an ongoing debate about whether Hungarian is one of the world’s most difficult languages to truly master. While language skills are very much dependent on the person learning the language, it might feel that Hungarian is trying to fight back.
In today’s article, we will introduce you to five advanced language examples that you might hear from native speakers and probably have no idea what they are talking about. Some of these expressions might come from other languages even to Hungarian, but that does not take away their strangeness. Thanks to Dívány, we can show you where these words and phrases come from.
In Hungarian hónalj means the armpit (literally put, the “underside of hón”), but there is no body part named hón. Or is there?
The English word is much better in describing that the word arm is also used separately from pit. While in Hungarian, alj means the bottom, we simply do not use hón separately, and many Hungarians have the shower-thought: What is hón?
The solution is relatively simple. Dívány says that the Hungarian dictionary just defines hónalj to hón as well. The answer lies in the Hungarian etymological dictionary. It says that it is part of Hungary’s Finno-Ugric heritage. Because hónalj and other similar words only exist in Hungarian with the -alj and -alatt additions; hón might have originally meant the shoulder joint.
In Hungarian macskajaj is the state of having a hangover, but what does it have to do with cats (macska)?
In order to crack this, you would need a little bit of German as well. According to Dívány, the macskajaj is the direct translation of the German Katzenjammer. In German, there is a saying as well: “einen Kater haben”, meaning to have a cat.
As for many similar things, this saying came into being when students used it as a euphemism. Originally, the German word translated into Hungarian comes from Katarrh, which meant catarrh, malaise, flu or illness. The pronunciation of this word in Saxony sounded more like Katers.
Are you curious about how other foreigners struggle with the Hungarian language? In this article, you can see how foreigners try to speak Hungarian for the first time. But to help you acquire the Hungarian language, here is an article that makes learning Hungarian easy.
There are many ways you can say that something fails in Hungarian, one of them is dugába dől. But what is duga?
This would literally translate to: “collapse (in)to duga”. Dívány helps us find out what could duga be. The problem lies with the fact that duga has no relation to the Hungarian verb dug, which means to “put in”, another Finno-Ugric heritage in the Hungarian language. Instead, duga comes from South-Slavic and means the many wooden pieces that make up a barrel. It becomes quite clear from here. If the cooper does not assemble a barrel properly or the pieces of a barrel do not fit tight enough, then each piece, duga, would tumble and fall over, like a house of cards.
Hungarians often use kutya bajom to describe that they are fine, they did not get injured or similar things like that, but what exactly “ails the dog”?
According to Szabadföld this saying goes way back and has some quite negative connotations. Although Hungarians have always liked dogs, for some reason, Hungarian expressions where people are treated badly or worth nothing often include the word kutya, meaning dog. Kutya hideg means it is freezing, kutya élet implies that life is quite harsh, and gyáva kutya means coward. The meaning of dog in kutya bajom is most likely closely connected to kutyába se vesznek. The latter implies that they are not treated properly. This meaning of nothing is what resurfaces in kutya bajom. Suggesting that there is no problem there at all… usually, there is.
When someone tells you kikosaraztak in Hungarian, they are trying to tell you that they have been dumped or rejected.
The origin of this expression is quite interesting. According to Dívány, this also has some German origin to it. The German idiom is the following: “Jemandem einen Korb geben”. This means that they have been given a basket. In medieval times, when a knight courted a lady, they were lifted in a large, human-sized basket with the help of ropes and pulleys to the window of the woman they were in love with. There was a huge problem, however, if the feelings were not mutual. If the girl did not like the suitor, they gave them a basket without an underside or one that was damaged so that the suitor would fall out mid-air.
In Hungary, there was also a somewhat similar tradition in place. If the woman did not want to marry the suitor, she could place the basket around the man’s neck or simply throw the basket at him. Even after that, some people did not get the memo. Today the meaning of this expression in Hungarian has broadened quite a bit and just generally means that someone was rejected.
