Brilliant wordplays of the Hungarian language

The Hungarian language is fascinating and has its curiosities. The Hungarian grammar may seem like and endless challenge for foreigners. This collection of wordplays will give you an insight into the brilliant complexity of Hungarian.

A wordplay or play-on-words is defined as a literary technique and a form of wit in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of an intended effect or amusement.

The following Hungarian wordplays might cause some confusion due to the fact that they have several meanings.

1.  “Tiszta víz a ruhám, és ez a te lelkeden szárad” literally means “My clothes are soaking wet and this dries on your soul”. The expression “to dry on your soul” (te lelkeden szárad) means that something is your fault in Hungarian. So this way, the wordplay contrasts wet and dry.

2. “Mostanában a szép dús haj olyan ritka…” means “Nowadays nice, thick hair is so rare… . The word “ritka” has two meanings: rare and thin, so this wordplay contrasts thick and thin.

3.  “Az üzleti találkozómat egy evőeszközboltnál beszéltem meg. Kések” means “I’ve arranged my business meeting at a cutlery shop. I’m going to be late.” The Hungarian noun “kés” means knife, while the verb “késni” means to be late. So by saying “kések” I mean that I’m going to be late, but it literally means “knives” which goes perfectly well with a cutlery shop.

4. “A hóhért grimaszversenyre küldték. Eszméletlen fejeket tud vágni” literally means “The hangman was sent to a grimace competition. He can cut incredible heads” but it figuratively means that “he can pull incredible faces”. The Hungarian compound “fejet vág” has two meanings: to behead and to pull faces/grimace. This is why it is connected to a hangman in a quite bizarre way.

5. “Hogyan lehet egyszerűen repülőt hajtogatni? – Repülő, repülő, repülő…” could be literally translated to “How can you easily fold an airplane? – Airplane, airplane, airplane” but the trick here is the Hungarian verb “hajtogatni”. It means to fold and also to repeat, this is why the answer is “airplane, airplane, airplane…”.

6.  “Kannibál harcosok kínálják egymást: Kérsz egy katonát?” literally means “Cannibal warriors offering each other: Would you like a soldier?”, but the Hungarian noun “katona” has two meanings: soldier and a bite (of food). So they are actually offering food bites to each other.

7. “Egy tudóscsoport lázasan kutatja a malária ellenszerét” can literally be translated to “A research group is feverishly searching for the antidote of malaria”. However, the Hungarian adverb “lázasan” can also mean keenly, zealously besides feverishly which is, again, a bit bizarre connection to malaria.

8. “A magyar katonák a csatában hadilábon álltak” means “The Hungarian soldiers were at odds in the fight”. The literal translation of “hadiláb” would be something like “war-leg” which makes no sense in English, but it goes well with soldiers and fight. Otherwise, it means to be at daggers drawn with somebody.

9. “A focisták a 90. percben az utolsókat rúgták”  literally means “The football players were performing their last kicks in the 90th minute”, but it figuratively means “The football players were on their last legs in the 90th minute”. So the expression “utolsókat rúgja” (last kicks) means to be on one’s last legs in English.

source: dailynewshungary.com

Did you have fun? To make the most use of the expressions let’s contrast the different meanings of the Hungarian words in a table.