csa*

csa*

csaj – girl; woman [used in slang – comes from the language of the Roma people]
csak
1) just; only
2) Other meanings.
csal – he/she is cheating; he/she cheats
csap
1) tap
2) faucet
3) pivot
4) (anatomy) cone [a type of light-sensitive cell found along with rods in the retina of the eye]
5) strike
csat – clasp

csalni – to cheat; to deceive
csapni – to slap
[e.g.: pofon csapni valakit – to slap someone]
csatolni
1) to buckle; clasp
2) to bind to; fasten to something
3) to enclose (attachment)

°

pofon – a slap in the face
pofán – on the face [offensive]
pofa
1) (animal) face, mouth
2) (people, offensive) face, mouth, gub, trap
3) grimace

Pofon csaplak! – I slap you in the face!
Pofán csaplak! – I slap you in the face!
(Literally::: I slap you on the face!)

művészettörténész

művészettörténész – art historian

művészettörténet – art history
művészet – art
művészi – artistic
művész – artist
mű
1) work (generally)
2) opus; work (a piece of artwork of a particular artist or craftsman)
3) artificial [Adjective]

történelem – history
történelmi – historical
történész – historian
történet – story; tale
történni – to happen

You’ve got to love Hungarian! :D #17

For some people ‘strawberry‘ can only be translated into Hungarian as ‘eper‘. They say that ‘wild strawberry‘, which is smaller and grows mainly in the forest, is ‘szamóca‘ and ‘mulberry‘ is ‘szeder‘.

The others (including me) say that ‘strawberry‘ can only be ‘szamóca‘, ‘wild strawberry‘ is ‘erdei szamóca‘, ‘mulberry‘ is ‘faeper‘ and ‘blackberry‘ is ‘szeder‘.

eper [ˈɛper]
1) strawberry
2) mulberry

földi eper [ˈføldi ɛper] – wild strawberry
erdei szamóca [ˈɛrdɛi sɑmoːtsɑ] – wild strawberry
erdő [ˈɛrdøː] – forest

szamóca [ˈsɑmoːtsɑ]
1) strawberry
2) wild strawberry

..what grows on the mulberry tree can be called as ‘eper‘, ‘faeper‘ or ‘szeder‘ and the ‘mulberry tree‘ itself can be ‘eperfa‘, ‘szederfa‘ and sometimes also ‘szamócafa‘:::

eperfa [ˈɛperfɑ] – mulberry tree
faeper [ˈfɑɛper] – mulberry
fa – tree

szamócafa [ˈsɑmoːtsɑfɑ]
1) mulberry tree
2) strawberry tree

szederfa [ˈsederfɑ] – mulberry tree
szederbokor [ˈsederbokor] – mulberry bush
szeder [ˈseder]
1) blackberry
2) mulberry

°

So ‘szamóca‘ is ‘strawberry‘, ‘erdei szamóca‘ is ‘wild strawberry‘, ‘faeper‘ or ‘eper‘ is ‘mulberry‘ and ‘szeder‘ is ‘blackberry‘, but a lot of people uses any of these four names to name something other from this quartet 😀 ..but they are wrong, what I wrote here is the right version. 😉

Read this article, which proves me right.

uccsó

uccsó – last [used in slang]
utsó – last [used in slang]
utolsó – last (final)

Lot of words for one thing #18

étel – food
étek – food [archaic]

enni – to eat
ennivaló – food
(Literally::: something to eat)

élni – to live
élelem – food
élelmiszer – food; provision
elemózsia – food; provisions [archaic]
eledel – food (rather for animals); fodder
eleség – food; provision [archaic]

harapni – to bite
harapnivaló – food
(Literally::: something to bite)

kaja – food [used in slang]
koszt – food [rather a slang expression]

tápanyag – nutriment; food
táplálék – food; nutriment
táp
1) pet food
2) food [used in slang]

betevő
1) food [used in slang]
[e.g.: a napi betevő – the daily food/the food for a day)]
2) depositor

°
anyag
1) material, matter, substance
2) (school) a unit of knowledge to be taught and learnt
3) drugs [used in slang]

elem
1) battery (a device that produces electricity)
2) chemical element
3) element; component

szer
1) tool; instrument
2) remedy; drug

betenni – to put in; to insert

való
1) fitting, suitable, appropriate (-nak/-nek or -hoz/-hez/-höz)
[e.g.: Ez a könyv neked való. – This book is suitable for you. / You will like this book.]
Péter hozzád való. – Peter is suitable for you. (as a boyfriend/husband)]
2) (rare) real
[e.g.: A való életben ez másképp van. – It is different in the real life.]
3) Used to connect modifiers (e.g. adverbs) to a noun that expresses an action or process (ending in -ás/-és, similar to the English gerund)
[e.g.: Az Annával való találkozásom óta boldogabb vagyok. – Since my meeting with Anna, I am happier.]

jurta

Before the Honfoglalás, when the Hungarians still were nomadic people, they used to live in yurts. Take a look on how it could have looked like inside.

jurta – yurt

hon – home; homeland; fatherland
honfoglalás – conquest of the homeland; home-taking

foglalás
1) distress
2) booking; reservation

foglalni; lefoglalni – to reserve; to book
elfoglalni – to occupy; to conquer
elfoglalás – occupation; occupancy; takeover; seizure

°

ott – there
otthon – home
(e.g.: Szeretek otthon lenni. – I like to be at home.)
[The speaker is away from his home now.]

itt – here
itthon – home; at home
[e.g.: Szeretek itthon lenni. – I like to be here at home.]

Hungarian proverbs #29

Nem egyszer, nem százszor. [ˈnɛm eɟser nɛm saːzsor]

 

Translation: Not once, not a hundred times.

Meaning: A lot of times.; I cannot tell how many times.

 

(e.g.: Megmondtam már neked, nem egyszer, nem százszor, hogy ne menj oda mégegyszer, de te nem hallgattál rám. – I have already told you a lot of times not to go there, but you didn’t listen to me.)

 

nem [ˈnɛm] – no; not

egyszer [ˈeɟser] – once

egy [ˈeɟː] – one

százszor [ˈsaːzsor] – a hundred times

száz [ˈsaːz] – hundred

 

mégegyszer [ˈmeːgeɟser] – again; once again

még egyszer [ˈmeːg eɟser] – one more time again(, but never after)

még [ˈmeːg] – still; yet; even

Hungarian grammar #3

There are words that you might hear in spoken language used both in questions and both in answers, statements, …etc (not questions :)). But the words used in questions, if are used in the answers, statements, …etc, should be used only with the a- prefix, like:::

– Mikor jöttél tegnap haza a buliból?
– Amikor bezárt a diszkó.
NOT
– Mikor bezárt a diszkó.

– When did you come home from the party yesterday?
– When the disco closed.

°

– Hol laksz?
– (Ott,) ahol még a madár sem jár.
NOT
– Hol még a madár sem jár.

– Where do you live?
– (There,) where not even the birds fly.

° °

Mi?
Ami…

Ki?
Aki…

Kié?
Akié…

Milyen?
Amilyen…

Mikor?
Amikor…

Mivel?
Amivel…

Hogyan?
Ahogyan…

Honnan?
Ahonnan…

Hova?
Ahova…

Hol?
Ahol…

…and so on 🙂

Check out the #1 and #2 too.

Hungarian proverbs #28

Nem most jöttem le a falvédőről.

[ˈnɛm moʃt jøtːem lɛ ɑ fɑlveːdøːrøːl]

 

Translation:::

I have not just came off the tapestry.

 

Meaning:::

I was born at night, but not last night.

I am not that stupid to believe what you are saying.

 

most [ˈmoʃt] – now

jönni [ˈjønːi] – to come

lejönni [ˈlɛjønːi] – to come off; to come down; to get off

falvédő [ˈfɑlveːdøː] – gobelin; tapestry; wall-protector

fal [ˈfɑl] – wall

védeni [ˈveːdɛni]

1) to protect; guard

2) to patronize; support

3) (law) to defend

4) (sports) to keep goal; save

 

° °

 

The falvédő is a fabric/material that is hanging on the wall and has been used to protect the wall from anything that could leave a spot on it or somehow destroy or make it dirty. It has been used mainly in the countryside houses and there is always some saying written on it, which rhymes. Here you can see one e.g.

 

I read somewhere that the proverb with the falvédő probably comes from the thing that people from big cities think of the villagers that they are not that clever people. The things written on the falvédő are mostly so optimistic and sometimes also naive, so the people living in big cities think that the villagers are as naive (and sometimes stupid) as those sayings on the falvédő are and, that that they live the way as it is written on them. For example the falvédő I linked here says “Jó kedvvel jön haza a párom, mert én mindig jó ebéddel várom.”, which means “My love comes home in a good mood, because I always cook him good lunch.”

 

So probably the villagers said something like “I have not just came off the wall-protector. – I am not that stupid and naive etc as those people who live the way as it is written on the falvédő”…. and that proverb was born 🙂

magyarázni

So to explain, to Hungarianize, to convert the said thing to everyday Hungarian, so that the average Hungarian person could understand it. 😉

magyar [ˈmɑɟɑr] – Hungarian
magyarázni [ˈmɑɟɑraːzni] – to explain
magyaráz [ˈmɑɟɑraːz] – he/she/it is explaining; he/she/it explains
magyarázat [ˈmɑɟɑraːzɑt] – explanation
magyarán [ˈmɑɟɑraːn]  – squarely; straightforwardly; frankly; bluntly; roundly (in plain language, without mincing words)
[e.g.: magyarán mondva – frankly spoken]

megmagyarázni – to explain; to explicate; to unfold
megmagyaráz – he/she/it explains (it fully); he/she/it explicates it
megmagyarázhat – he/she can explain
megmagyarázható – explainable
megmagyarázhatatlan – unexplainable
megmagyarázhatatlanság – unexplainableness

magyarul [ˈmɑɟɑrul]
1) in Hungarian; Hungarian
[e.g.: Mit jelent ez magyarul? – What does it mean in Hungarian?]
[e.g.: Nem beszélek magyarul. – I don’t speak Hungarian.]
2) (figuratively) to put it clearly; that is (without beating about the bush)
[e.g.: Nem tartották be az ígéretüket. Magyarul hazudtak. – They did not keep their promise. That is, they lied.]

We also have magyarítani and magyarosítani, but they mean “to make sth Hungarian”. While magyarázni means “to explain”. 😉