Sunday, June 7, 2009

Expressions

Ili gave me an assignment this week. I was to learn 30 new expressions. I figured that during the BBQ I could ask some of the other teachers for their opinions on what I should learn.

They were quite helpful, though some of the expressions are not for the young kids. In fact I was explicitly warned that some were 18+. They don't seem that bad to me, but maybe I just don't understand.

Anyway, here they are.

Meg tudom oldan - I can do it myself
Tudok bánni a gyerekekkel - I can handle children
Ne csalj - no more tricks or cheating
Szedd ossre magod - Put yourself together man!
Mi a csudát csinálsz itt? - What are you doing here?
Menj a pokolba! - Go to Hell!

And the 18+ ones
A rák egye meg - A crab should eat it
A kutya szokott izélni - (I don't remember the translation for this one)
Dinnye vagy - You are a melon/ you are stupid

2 comments:

Tara's Fan said...

Very interesting!

The expression “A rák egye meg” has a double meaning.
1 -The crab should eat it...
2 -The cancer should consume it...
(rák is crab, but also cancer!).

„A kutya szokott izélni” is hard to translate exactly. It’s “The dog used to do stuff”. It doesn't sound right in English. Perhaps a better translation is “doggy business” (it’s kind of like the English expression “Monkey Business”).

MH

Emily said...

Tomi seemed puzzled too, and finally gave me this example:

Emily: "Hol van Eszti és Atti?" (Where are Atti and Eszti?)
Tomi: "Eszti és Atti most izélni." (They're doing you-know-what)
Emily: "Hagyál mar - a kutya szokott izélni!" (Ah, knock it off! Dogs etc etc. Like "talking-schmalking", maybe?)

But then again, just now when I asked him to proofread this comment, he insisted that no such phrase exists in Hungarian, and that you must have heard it wrong. I'm guessing some kinda village Hungarian?