Lost in Translation

I have been studying ancient Greek for school for the past 2 semesters, and really enjoying it. I expected it to be difficult, but was pleasantly surprised by a few things that took the edge off. One was that there are many words that we use in English that have Greek roots - eg "foto" = light, so many times you can deduce meanings. Another reason Greek hasn't been as bad as I expected, is that there are many similarities between Greek and Hungarian grammar as regards verb conjugation.

Yesterday I was doing a word study on μαθητευω (to disciple, as a first person verb), and ran across this commentary of Matthew 28:19-20, which I found insightful:

Interestingly, the usual misionary terms are not employed here: ‘preach’, ‘convert’, ‘win’, and the like. A slower, lower-profile verb is used, an almost scholastic, schoolish word, ‘disciple’. To disciple means ‘to make students of’, ‘bring to school’, ‘educate’... or in modern-Enlish terms, ‘to mentor’, ‘to apprentice’. The word pictures students sitting around a teacher more than it does pentitents kneeling at an altar – an educational process more than an evangelistic crisis, a school more than revival. The word’s prosaic character relaxes and says in effect, ‘Work with people over a period of time in the simple educational process of teaching Jesus’. Only the Cosmocrator can do the big things like convert, win, bring repentance, or bring a person to decision – all authority is his, and his alone...(Brunner, F.D., Matthew: A Commentary: 2, revised edn. [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004], 815)

The calling is that of teaching people the way that Jesus taught his disciples: spending time with them and teaching them what it means to walk in the way of Jesus.

 

Misi's Funeral

Today was the big day. I got out to the Szent Donát cemetery around 10:30 and the funeral began promptly at 11.

Shane did music, and I officiated and preached, all in Hungarian. I'm glad that I haven't lost any of my Hungarian after being in America for the last year. It was very cold out, to the point where I had trouble turning the pages in my notes, and after preaching for 25 minutes, my knees hurt.

After I spoke, Jani got up and shared a few words. Quite a few people were there - well over a hundred, and many people came who I had hoped would come but didn't expect to see there. The gypsies came out from the gypsy church in Heves, as well as members of the Eger church who I hadn't seen in a while and a number of pastors from other churches in Eger and from Calvary Chapels around the Hungary.

It was a sad event, and tragic to see such a small coffin. Many tears were shed, but not nearly as many as I have seen shed at other funerals in Hungary, because here the focus was on the hope of the resurrection. The Gospel was preached, people were called to consider the fragility and fleetingness of life and put their faith in Jesus to be saved. I believe that God was glorified.

After the funeral I went to pick up Julcsi, who was being watched by a neighbor, so Jani and Tünde could go straight to the church for the reception. After getting Julcsi, we went to the church and got to spend good time talking and catching up with the Hernádi's friends and family and many people from church.

Afterwards I went out with Dani to Egerszalók for coffee and then went out to dinner at HBH downtown; I got borjú paprikás - my old favorite, and then came back to the guesthouse where I got to FaceTime with Rosemary and the kids and then spent time talking to my hosts and their son. Really nice people, and, knowing that I was a pastor, they had a lot of questions about the Bible, and we had a great time together.

 

Eger - Friday

The day began with meeting Kati at the plaza. As I was trying to get there on time, I had to wait a while, because a load of firewood was delivered to a building down the street, and it blocked traffic until they could move enough of it out of the way. Ah, Hungary! I love these kinds of things actually :)

After meeting with Kati I went downtown and ran some errands. All along the creek is all torn up, because they are working to put in a bicycle path next to the creek. That's a really nice idea - only problem is it doesn't seem very practical since every spring - including right now - the creek floods and covers the bicycle path. Everyone I talked to in town seems to think that the plan is ridiculous and isn't going to work. It does kind of look like a mess right now - it is especially bad to see how much they aren't concerned about the environment and just dump construction waste into the creek. I watched one guy actually shoveling trash into the creek...

I went out to lunch again with Jani and Tünde and the went with them to buy gifts downtown and exchange some money. After that I went and drove by the places we used to live here in town while I talked to Rosemary and the kids on the phone. Nate remembers a lot from living in Eger; I think he would love to get to come back for a visit.

Here's a picture of the block of flats where we lived for our first few years in Eger, on Csiky Sándor utca. The house next to us, where a family used to live, is now apparently empty and has lost its roof:

After that I went to the Hernádi's and our friend Krisztina came over. Krisztina is the doctor who saved Felicia's life; she also treated Misi and has known the Hernádi family through us and through the church here. We had a nice time together catching up, and afterwards Krisztina came with us to the church and I taught a class about understanding grief and mourning and how to minister to people who are grieving the loss of a loved one. It was something that I had wanted to do for years actually, and I was really glad to get to do it. I didn't know hat Jani was going to be there, but it was actually nice, and he opened up about a lot of his feelings. It was a really great time together and I believe that it was useful for all who attended - which was a pretty good-sized group.

I stuck around the church and with the help of Ilona, Kati and Szabolcs, put the finishing grammar touches on my message for the sermon, which I'm going to do in Hungarian tomorrow. As I was working on it with them in the church office, I began to feel very sick. I'm not really sure what's wrong with me; maybe I'm just exhausted, but I'm really praying it won't cause any problems tomorrow at the funeral. The weather is supposed to be cold but sunny tomorrow. I don't have a coat, only a sweater, so I really hope it will be warm enough for me to get by without just what I have.

Please pray for the funeral tomorrow, that Gid would be honored, that the Gospel would be heard, and that The Lord would be with the Hernádi's. Please also pray that every part of the service goes well.

Here's a picture of the Hernádi's from today:

 

Philistines for Friends

This past weekend we went to visit family friends in Los Angeles and had a really nice time, as we always do. They are more family than friends, and we make sure to see them whenever we are in So. California.

Probably as a result of living in Hungary and being aware that different people speak different languages, Nate often asks me what language different people speak in - including Darth Vader and R2D2.

Here's the conversation we had this morning:
Nate: "What language does Auntie Lola speak?"
Me: "She speaks English and Tagalog."
Nate: "What's Tagalog?"
Me: "It's the language of the Philippines."
Nate - with big eyes: "The PHILISTINES?"

Nate has taken in his fair share of Vegitales videos and Bible stories, so as he said this, it was as if I could see exactly what was going through his mind: "Auntie Lola and her family are Philistines?! The Philistines are the ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD!!!"

So I quickly tried to explain to him that they are not Philistines, they are from the Philippines - but since he doesn't know what the Philippines are, I'm not sure it helped much.

Later on Nate was talking to cousin Jack -
Nate: "Who is that on your shirt?
Jack: "It's Darth Vader"
Nate: "Wow! I have Darth Mal on my underwear! Look!" (starts taking off pants...)
Us: "Nate! Don't take off your pants in public!"

Maybe having such exciting underwear isn't such a good idea... It's hard to have Darth Mal on your underpants and not be able so show anyone!

Funny Guy

Nate likes to make people laugh. His main audience is his sister Felicia - who is usually pretty easy to impress and make laugh.

I have been teaching Nate to tell jokes lately. So far, he knows 3:

1. "A mushroom walks into a bar and says, 'hello everybody! I'm a fungi (fun guy)!"
2. "A horse walks into a bar, and the bartender says, 'Why the long face?'"
3. "What's brown and sticky? ... A stick."

The other night there was a youth group meeting, so Nate went and tried to tell them some jokes. He kind of messed up the horse one - he told them:

• "A horse walks into a bar, and the bartender says, 'Why do you have such a long head?'"

Then he started making up his own versions:

• "A crocodile walks into a bar, and the cowtender says, 'Why do you have a long face?'"

It was at that point when I realized that Nate has no idea what a bar or a bartender are. :)

Teaching Kids about the Real Saint Nicholas

December 6 is St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) Day - HU: Mikulás - in Hungary and other countries of Europe.

Nate came into our room this morning and climbed into our bed. He has been pretty excited about Mikulás - today there is a Santa coming to visit his preschool, and last night we took him to a toy store that had a Santa. Nate told him exactly what he wanted for Christmas, and even wanted to sit on his lap.
We proceeded to tell Nate the story of Santa Claus - that is, the real Saint Nicholas - who was not a mythical fat man in red clothes who rode through the skies on a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, but a devout Christian man, a pastor, who was persecuted for his faith, and gained fame by his generosity to the poor and those in need.

There are some Christians who think that Santa is evil, and that he takes away from the true meaning of Christmas. Not to mention, some would point out, that Santa is nothing more than a misspelling of SATAN, which must be why he goes around in those obnoxious red clothes: because he is from HELL and wants to take you and your kids back there with him!
This of course, is based on a sad lack of knowledge regarding the origin of Santa Claus - the name (in English) being simply a direct derivative of "Saint Nicholas".

For this reason, many Christians protest anything to do with Santa Claus, and tell their kids that Santa is not real, he is bad, and he takes away from the true meaning of Christmas, which of course is Jesus.

We don't avoid Santa Claus - we don't even want to. We see it as a great opportunity to teach our kids about a great Christian man who loved Jesus and was generous and kind because of the love of God which was in his heart. THAT is the "Christmas spirit".
We tell our kids that there are many people in the world who want to follow the example of Saint Nicholas, and that is why they will meet a Santa at their school and at the mall. And we teach our kids that we want to be like Saint Nicholas, and we are going to be generous to the poor and needy because God loved us so much that he gave us his Son, Jesus, so that we could have eternal life and have a relationship with God.

The Story of the Real Saint Nicholas

The real Saint Nicholas was born in the 3rd century in the village of Patara, in what is now southern Turkey, into a wealthy family. His parents died when he was young, and he was taken in and raised by a local priest. Following Jesus' call to the Rich Young Ruler to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor", Nicholas dedicated to use his entire inheritance to assist the sick, needy and suffering.
He became a pastor, and was later made Bishop of Myra. He became famous for his generosity and love for children.

Nicholas suffered persecution and imprisonment for his Christians faith during the Great Persecution (303-311) under Roman emperor Diocletian.
He attended the Council of Nicaea (325), at which he affirmed the doctrine of the deity of Christ.
Nicholas died in 343 in Myra. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, St. Nicholas Day, December 6th.

Many stories are told about St. Nicholas' life and deeds. Perhaps the most famous story is one of a poor man who had three daughters who were of marrying age. Because the man was poor, he was unable to provide a dowry for his daughters, which meant that they would not be able to find a descent husband, and would either be married into further poverty or would have to become slaves. After Nicholas found out about this family's situation, he visited the family's house, leaving them 3 anonymous gifts - each time a bag of gold, which was tossed through an open window while the family was sleeping. Legend has it that the gold fell into their shoes, the reason for the tradition in Europe that St. Nicholas leaves gifts in children's shoes. Nicholas provided for these poor girls to help them break out of the cycle of poverty.

Rather than teaching your kids the common myth about Santa Claus, and rather than trying to make Christmas Santa-free, take back the true story of Saint Nicholas and take hold of this opportunity to talk about a Christian man who loved Jesus and who exemplified the true Spirit of Christ and Christmas through compassion and generosity.

Spelling Matters

One of the hardest things about English for those who learn it as a second language is that there are a lot of words that we don't spell phonetically.
Spell check filters out a lot of mistakes - but it doesn't when the word you spell is an actual word which means something else.

For example: at this restaurant in Ukraine, you can get a delicious "stake".

I hope that is just a misspelling of steak and not a comment on the quality of their meat.

If you aren't in the mood to eat a stake, you could always order some pancakes, AKA: "craps".

Again, I hope this is simply a misspelling of crêpes, and not a warning about what their pancakes taste like.

Morbid Angol Mondókák, 2. rész - Morbid English Nursery Rhymes, part 2.

Egy pár hónapja írtam egy bejegyzést néhány különösen morbid angol mondókáról, és megtudtam, hogy a magyar mondókák közül is van olyan ami elég bizarr.
Fogalmam sincs miért akarná bárki halálról, pusztulásról, betegségről és szenvedésről szóló gondolatokat ültetni egy kisgyermek eszébe lefekvés előtt, de úgy néz ki, hogy ez világszerte egy elég elterjedt szokás!

A few months ago I wrote this post about some particularly morbid English nursery rhymes, and found out that Hungarian nursery rhymes can also be quite bizarre.
I don't know what it is that would make someone want to put thoughts of death, destruction, sickness and suffering into the mind of a little child right before bed, but it seems to be a fairly common practice worldwide!

Íme, még egy mondóka amit találtam néhány napja a gyerekeim egyik könyvében:
Here is one more such nursery rhyme that I came across the other day in one of my kids' books:

"Goosey, Goosey, Gander (Libácska, Libácska, Gúnár)
Wither shall I wander? (Merre járjak?)
Upstairs and downstairs, (Fent, lent)
And in my lady's chamber. (És a hölgyem kamrájában)

There I met an old man, (Ott egy öreg emberrel találkoztam)
Who wouldn't say his prayers, (Aki nem akarta elmondani az imákat)
I took him by the left leg, (Megfogtam a bal lábát)
And threw him down the stairs." (És lehajintottam a lépcsőn)

Először is: Ki ez a liba? Valami gengszter Istenért?
Who is this goose? Some kind of thug for God?

És mit mond az ember a gyerekének miután elolvasta neki ezt a verset? "Jól van fiam, most mondjuk egy imát - mit szólsz hozzá?"
What do you say to your kid after you read them that poem? "Alright son, so what do you say we say our prayers now?"

Lehet, hogy ez nem a legjobb módja, hogy az ember arra tanítsa a gyermekét, hogy szeresse az Úr jelenlétét...
Maybe this isn't the most effective way to instill in your child a love for the Lord's presence...

Anatomy and Huncutság

A conversation with Nate at breakfast this morning:
"Daddy, you're a farmer, and I'm a cow!"
"Oh, ok cow. Can you give me some milk? Do you have milk in your tummy?"
"No. Cows don't have milk in their tummies.
"No? Then where do they keep the milk?"
"Cows keep the milk in their butts!"
"Really?"
"Yea, cows keep the milk in pink butts that are under the cows."

I found it so funny I decided not to correct him :)

Felicia on the other hand is quite the "huncut" (HU for rascal)

She insists on sitting like this at the table when we eat:

She wants to sit on the table with her feet in her chair, and she insists on feeding herself.
Unlike Nate, when he was her age, Felicia is in a hurry to grow up and do everything her big brother does (by this I mean feeding herself and talking - Nate never sat on the table!).

Today Rosemary put Felicia's hair in pig tails for the first time.

The purpose was to get her hair off of her neck, because it has been so hot lately - but she looks very cute with them too :)

Benefits of Being Bilingual

National Public Radio (NPR) posted this interesting report on being bilingual, a topic which is obviously close to our hearts.
Among others, they interview a Hungarian-American family who speak Hungarian in their home.



Nate has been going to óvoda (Hungarian preschool) for two months now, and we have found that the way he learns Hungarian best is by learning Hungarian nursery rhymes (mondókák).
Like the parents in the radio report, people have also criticized us for not speaking to Nate in Hungarian at home. For us, that is just something that isn't natural, and we trust that he is going to learn Hungarian in school, and will be better off for it.

Morbid Angol Mondókák - Morbid English Nursery Rhymes

Rájöttem, hogy sok angol mondóka van ami eléggé morbid. Mi akik ezeken nőttünk fel ritkán gondolunk arra, hogy igazából mennyire negatívak a jelentései ezeknek a mondókáknak.
I realized that quite a few of the English nursery rhymes are pretty morbid. We who grow up with them are so used to them that we rarely think about the negative meanings that they have.

1)

Ring around the rosy, pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Körbe a rózsa, zsebek tele bokrétával,
Korom, korom, mindannyian leesünk.

Ez egy több száz éves mondóka, ami állítólag a bubó pestisre utal. Morbid.
This is an old nursery rhyme which allegedly refers to the black plague. That's morbid.

2)

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Humpty Dumpty ült a falon,
Humpty Dumpty nagyot esett,
A király összes lova és összes embere
nem tudtak újra összerakni Humptyt.

3)

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She fed them some broth without any bread,
Kissed them all soundly and put them to bed.

Volt egy vénasszony aki egy cipőben lakott,
Annyi gyereke volt, hogy nem tudott mit kezdeni velük.
Adott nekik levest kenyér nélkül,
Megpuszilta őket és letette őket aludni.

Szegénység: Minden gyerek kenvenc témája!
Poverty: Every kid's favorite topic!

4)

Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bow breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Ringatózik a baba fenn a fa tetején,
Amikor fúj a szél, ringatózni fog az ágy,
Amikor eltör az ág, a kiságy le fog esni,
És le fog esni a baba, a kiságyával együtt.

Ezt a mondókát szoktak mondani az anyukák a gyerekeknek amikor lemennek aludni. Semmi nem nyugtatja egy gyereket úgy mint egy történet egy kisbabáról aki kiesett egy fából. Jó éjt kicsim!
Mothers sing this to their kids as they put them to sleep. Nothing is more calming to a child than a story of a baby falling out of a tree. Good night little one!

5)

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
and Jill came tumbling after.

Jancsi és Juliska felmentek a dombra egy vödör vízért.
Jancsi leesett és eltörte a fejét,
és Júliska jött utána bukfencezve.

6)

London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.
London bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

A londoni híd leszakad, leszakad, leszakad.
A londoni híd leszakad, szépséges hölgyem.

Did I miss any?
Magyarul is vannak morbid mondókák?

Special Ingredients

Found this in the menu of a restaurant in Mukachevo, Ukraine:


I have a few questions:

1. Bathing? On a pizza?
   
2. Do hunters really bathe so often, that it belongs on a pizza that bears their name?
3. What is this supposed to say?
4. This was approved? What was approved? By whom? Was the the translation approved, or was the use of "bathing" as a special ingredient approved by the public health department?
   

In Hungary I always want to read menus in Hungarian, because more often than not, the English translations of the menu are strange, if not incomprehensible.

I don't say this to criticize the people who translate the menus - I know that it can be hard to know how to translate specific dishes - and I also know that most restaurants don't have the money to pay for an expensive professional translation, and so it usually gets done by the owner's nephew who speaks a little English, mostly learned in high school and from watching TV and playing video games.

Every now and then we run across some really funny translations. Our favorite was at one of the nicest restaurants here in Eger, the menu featured "cake with scum on top" (HU: scum = salak, söprödék).
Obviously, what it should have said was "whipped cream", but when the person translating the menu looked up the word "hab" in the Hungarian-English dictionary, there were many options, and he/she guessed that scum would be most appropriate to describe a desert.

Nonetheless, I did not order the Hunting Pizza. Mostly out of fear that it would have scum on it. The pizza I did order was scum-free and quite good.

Seriously? / Komolyan?

2 things that made me ask the question "Seriously?" in the past few days:
2 dolog ami engem arra indított, hogy azt mondjam, "Komolyan?" az elmúlt napokban:

1. On Tuesday, when Rosemary and I were doing the religious ed. class that I wrote about in my previous post, we were introducing ourselves to the kids, and we asked them if they know how to say anything in English. 2 of them knew something in English - one was "boombox" and the other one was "go and die!".
   Seriously?
   Kedden, amikor Rosemaryvel tartottuk a hittan órát amiről írtam az előző bejegyzésemben, bemutatkoztunk a gyerekeknek, és megkérdeztük tőlük, hogy tudnak-e valamit angolul. Ketten tudtak valamit angolul - az egyik szó az volt, hogy "magnó", a másik az volt hogy "menj és halj meg!".
   Komolyan?
   
2. Today I went to visit Shane and Marianna in Szolnok.
   By the way - if you live in Szolnok or know anyone who does, they are starting a church there. Here is their website.
   So on my way there and back I went through the Jászság - one of the poorest regions and least developed regions in Hungary. And as I entered the town of Jászladány, I saw this sign:
   Ma elmentem Shane-t és Mariannát meglátogatni Szolnokon.
   Amúgy - ha Szolnokon laksz, vagy ismersz ott valakit - Shane-ék gyülekezetet alapítanak ott. Itt van a weboldaluk.
   Szóval, Eger és Szolnok között van a Jászság - Magyarország egyik leginkább gazdaságilag elmaradt régiója. És ahogy bementem Jászladány községébe, ezt a táblát láttam:
   
   It says: "Jászladány: The Town of Opportunity." Seriously?
   I'm curious - opportunity for what? Not to have a job, that's for sure. The only businesses I saw were a few bars and a grocery store. So opportunity for what? To buy a cheap house? Perhaps.
   "Jászladány: A lehetőségek települése." Komolyan?
   Kiváncsi vagyok - lehetőség mire? Valószínűleg nem arra, hogy munkát találjon az ember. Egydül egy pár darab kocsmát és egy élelmiszer boltot láttam a községben. Tehát, lehetőség mire? Hogy viszonylag olcsó telket vegyen az ember? Arra talán, igen.
   

Have you had any experiences lately that made you ask the question "Seriously?"
Volt-e mostanában olyan dolog ami arra indított téged, hogy azt mondjad, hogy "Komolyan?"

Mikulás and the Chocolate People

Unlike in the US, where Santa comes on Christmas Eve, in Hungary Mikulás comes on December 6th - Saint Nicholas Day - and leaves chocolate in the children's shoes, unless of course the children were bad... Whereas in the US, if kids are bad Santa leaves coal in their stocking, in Hungary the Krampusz - a devil - gives the bad kids virgács (wood sticks, kind of like kindling). Nothing says Merry Christmas like this lovely picture depicting Krampusz kidnapping some kids:


Saint Nicholas was a real man, a Christian pastor who was persecuted and imprisoned for his faith in Jesus Christ. Here is a good article about who the real Santa Claus was.

Santa brought Nate a Thomas backpack, which he really loves.

Nate likes to take his toys with him when he goes places, so this was a very practical idea on Santa's part, because now he doesn't have to carry them in his hands, but can put them in his backpack and take them with him! I have no idea how Santa could have known that Nate could use such a thing.

We went into town today for the Mikulás celebrations, where Nate was very excited to see Mikulás and get some Christmas candy (szalon cukor) from him.

Then - one of the highlights of my day - there was a concert for children in the main square. We stopped to listen, and I was a bit surprised by the words of the song that was being performed. Here are the words:

Csodás a csokibőrű Afrika,
A bőrük csokival van bevonva.
(Chocolate-skinned Africa is amazing.
The people's skin is coated in chocolate)

I'm pretty sure that this song would NOT be acceptable in the US! Here, it was the song they were teaching the children to sing in the main square of the city.

A lot of the Africans and Indians I have known in Hungary have told me that when they walked down the street in Hungary, kids would always point at them and yell "Csoki ember!" (Chocolate person!) Apparently they teach their kids this term...I just hope the kids learn to not do that by the time they get a little older.

Horsing Around - A Legfontosabb Állat

I have realized a recurring theme in Hungarian colloquialisms: The horse seems to be the most important animal to the Hungarian people.
Rájöttem egy dologra a magyar közmondásokkal kapcsolatban: A ló a legfontosabb állat a magyar nép számára.

Here are some examples of what I am talking about:
Íme, néhány példa:

• Úgy izzad mint a ló (Sweat like a horse {a lot})
  
• Úgy zabál mint a ló (Chow down like a horse {to eat a lot, fast})
  
• Úgy röhög mint a ló (Laugh like a horse)
  
• Úgy dolgozik mint a ló (Work like a horse)
  
• Húzza a ló bőrt (Pulls the horse skin {to sleep})
  
• Úgy alszik mint a tej (Sleep like milk {sleep well})

Ok, I realize that last one didn't have anything to do with horses, but I think it is an interesting saying.
Tudom, hogy az utolsónak semmi köze nincs a lovakhoz - csak nekem tetszik ez a közmondás.

Here are the English equivalents to those Hungarian colloquialisms:
Íme, úgyan azok a közmondások az angol nyelven:

• Sweat like a pig (Úgy izzad mint a disznó)
  
• Eat like a pig (Úgy zabál mint a disznó)
• Laugh like an idiot (Úgy röhög mint a hülye)
  
• Work like a dog (Úgy dolgozik mint kutya)
• Sawing logs (Fatörzsöket fűrészel {horkolni})
  
• Sleep like a log (Úgy alszik mint a fatörzs)

I don't know what is to be concluded from this...but it's interesting.
Nem tudom mit kellene ebből következtetni...de érdekes.

Do you know any more Hungarian sayings involving horses?
Tudtok-e más magyar közmondást ami lovakról szól?

Slovak Language Act

There is more and more tension between Hungary and Slovakia these days.
In addition to what happened last week - yesterday Slovakia passed a new language act, which "fines anyone misusing the Slovak language and limits the use of the Hungarian language in public." (Source)
Slovakia is being criticized for this law by many, even within the European Union, whereas the Slovak government claims that the law is being misrepresented and misunderstood. Here's the critics' view and the Slovak response.
I'm like Rodney King - I wish we could all just get along :)
Maranatha!

Egyre több feszültség van Magyarország és Szlovákia között manapság.
Azon felül, hogy mi történt a múlt héten, tegnap vezették be az új nyelvtörvényt, ami "bírságot követel azoktól akik helytelenül használják a szlovák nyelvet, és korlátozza a magyar nyelv nyilvánosságban való használatát." (Forrás)
Sokan kritizálják a szlovák kormányt e-miatt, meg az EU-n belül is, miközben a szlovák kormány azt állítja, hogy ezt a törvényt félreértik és média hamisan írja le.
Itt a kritika nézete és a szlovák válasz
Én olyan vagyok mint Rodney King - azt kivánom, hogy mindenki kijöjjön a másikkal :)
Maranatha! (Jöjj el, Uram!)

Kiírás

Találtam ezt a kiírást egy Rozsnyói (Rožňava, SK) falon:

Elég régiesen van írva a szövege. Törtem a fejemet azzal, hogy kifejtsem mit mond, és ennyit sikerült megértemen belőle:
Istennek dicsőségére felépítette ezen rosnai (szerintem rozsnyói-t jelent) ispitalt (gondolom ez korházat jelent) Krasznahorkának eörökös ura, idősbik (idősebbik) Andrássy György.
Lett régi hiv szolgálja tisztanólja (fogalmom sincs mit jelent - talán azt, hogy a régi hiv szolgálja tiszetelére lett építve?)
Rózmáni Industriálja által (gondolom, ez egy akkori cégnek a neve).

Mivel nem vagyok egy vérbeli madjar, lehet hogy ti tudtok jobban megérteni ezt a kiírást.
Mit szóltok hozzá?

Hát, vidéki vagyok, na!

Most hétvégén lenn vótunk az alfődön, és meglátogattuk Rosemary rokonait Imrehegyen. Elmentünk az Imrehegyi temetőbe, asz József bácsi megmutatta Rosemarynek, hogy a nagyapja hun van eltemetve. Sok vót a forgalom a fődúton a temető felé, hisz akkor mindszent vót, és olyankor ott álandóan valaki gyön, valaki mén.

Több évig laktunk az alfődön, Debrecen nagyközségében, és biza máshogy böszélnek az alfődi embörek mint mik, itten Egerben.
Amikor Egerbe költöztünk Debrecenből, az egriek mindig ki probáltak javítani, mert azt gondolták, helytelenül böszéltünk - pedig csak alföldi tájszólással nyomtuk a magyart. Direkt mondtam/kérdeztem olyanokat, mint "mikor jössztök man nálunk?", "honnan gyöttér?", "De szíp!", vagy "bocsika, ípp nincsen pízem!"
Komolyan mondom, hogy az elején amikor kezdtem tanulni a magyart, nem értettem, hogy a magyar abc-ben miért van 2 í betű (é és í)! A gyüliben amikor énekeltünk, probáltam megfejteni a magyar írást és kiejteni a vetített dalszövegeket, de mindig zavarban voltam, hogy az é betű miért pont ugyanúgy hangzik mint az í betű - pl. "Jízus Úr a mennyben..." "És ín úgy vágyom Rád..."

Én tényleg szeretem az ízes magyar böszédet, és igyekszem használni a következő szavakat/kifejezéseket amennyire csak lehet:

• -től, -tól, -ből, -ból, -ről, -ról = -tő, -tó, -bő, -bó, rő, ró
• lány, bolt = jány, bót
• "ám" - akár többször egy mondatban
• "húzzamaninnen!"
• azért = azé
  
• a "hát" bármilyen formája (hát, há, hat) - ami azé jó, mert akármit is jelenthet - igen, nem, talán, persze, mit tuom én?, stb...
• "Ahun-e?"

Na, szóljátok hozzá! Mik a kedvenc vidéki szavak/mondások nektek?