Every nation has culture- and language-specific words that do not have a direct translation in other languages, and many of these expressions are part of the daily vernacular. We collected some Hungarian words that do not have exact English equivalents and provided the translation of the overall meaning to bring Hungarian closer to you.
Let us know if you are familiar with the English equivalent of any of the following expressions or you can complement our list with other words.
1. aranyhíd (n.) [ɑrɑɲhiːd] “golden bridge”
meaning: the glistening reflection of the setting sun on the surface of the lake or ocean
2. báty/öcs, nővér/húg (n.) [bɑː/ətʃ, nɜːveːr/huːg]
meaning: older/younger brother, older/younger sister
in Hungarian, we have separate words for older and younger siblings depending on their gender
3. háryjános (n.) [hɑːrijɑːnɒʃ]
meaning: a person boasting with fictional or exaggerated deeds
a common noun derived from the name Háry János, a character in a Hungarian folk opera
4. házisárkány (n.) [hɑːziʃɑːrkɑːɲ] “domestic dragon”
meaning: an ill-tempered, nagging, and constantly dissatisfied housewife
the English word with the closest meaning is probably ‘shrew’
5. káröröm (n.) [kɑːrərəm] “schadenfreude”
meaning: malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else’s misfortune, usually accompanied by envy
6. nebáncsvirág (n.) [nɛbɑːntʃvirɑːg] “hurt-me-not flower”
meaning: a super-sensitive person, someone who is easily offended
7. világfájdalom (n. with German origin) [vilɑːgfɑːjdɑlɒm] “world pain”
meaning: a peculiar, pessimistic concept of the world, according to which we seek happiness in the world but can never find it; German ‘Weltschmerz’
“It signifies a mood of weariness or sadness about life arising from the acute awareness of evil and suffering.” (Beiser, Frederick C. (2016). Weltschmerz: Pessimism in German Philosophy, 1860-1900)
8. irgum-burgum (interjection) [irgʊm-bʊrgʊm]
meaning: it indicates feigned or playful anger, often addressed to children
9. tutyimutyi (n. and adj.) [tʊtjimʊtji]
meaning: a weak-willed, helpless, or wimpy person, someone with little physical strength
(8. and 9. are playful expressions similar to the English ‘itsy-bitsy’ or ‘lickety-split’)
10. madárlátta (adj.) [madɑːrlɑːtːɑ] “seen by birds”
meaning: originally, it referred to the food a shepherd or farmer brought home when he returned from the field; leftover food
11. kolbászol (slang v.) [kɒlbɑːsɒl] “to sausage around”
meaning: to loiter, walk, or wander aimlessly
12. piszmog (v.) [pismɒg]
meaning: to do something small, meticulous, or tedious that takes a long time but does not have a real purpose
13. szöszmötöl (v.) [səsmətəl]
meaning: to fidget with something, do something slowly and meticulously
the meaning of these expressions (10. and 11.) are quite similar, but in the case of ‘szöszmötöl’, someone is doing something unimportant usually without being aware that it does not have a purpose
Featured image: bokik.hu
Thank you for this. Very interesting.
A few do have an english word, like ‘háryjános’ is ‘mythomaniac’, ‘nebáncsvirag’ is ‘touchy’, ‘káröm’ is ‘schadenfreude’ as indicated above, ‘házisárkány’ can be ‘fishwife’or ‘harridan’ or ‘termagant’ and the list goes on. It is wise to remember that the English language has a lot more words that the Hungarian language.
háryjános=Trump
nebáncsvirág=Trump
világfájdalom=Republican
tutyimutyi=dottard or Trump
Read more at: https://dailynewshungary.com/10-hungarian-words-with-no-english-equivalents/=
Read more at: https://dailynewshungary.com/10-hungarian-words-with-no-english-equivalents/
Read more at: https://dailynewshungary.com/10-hungarian-words-with-no-english-equivalents/
Read more at: https://dailynewshungary.com/10-hungarian-words-with-no-english-equivalents/
#Baumann Richard: Well said!
Paulus, nonsense. Hungarian has far more words and because it is agglutinative new words can be continually formed from a root word, noun or verb. It is also a richer vocabulary and thousands of years older.
#Edward: I am afraid it is your opinion that is nonsense. Hungarian, in common with Englush is a mish mash of other languages so they did not have a ‘time’ when they started – the people living in the British Isles were not mute, they had a language which developed, so Hungarian cannot be called older. Secondly, English has numerous new words added each year, it is not a static language so agglutination is irrelevant. As for a ‘richer’ vocabulary, define ‘richer’. A close friend here in Budapest is a Hungarian famous Professor of Linguistics and upon reading your comment above, agreed that you are incorrect.
For what it’s worth, English does have agglutinative words – shame-less-ness and hope-less-ness being 2 examples, derived from an agglutinated plural marker -(e)s.