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Delve into the world of Hungarian culture and language with the Fungarian blog! Explore Hungary’s history, traditions, and linguistic quirks through engaging articles.
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Well before the anniversary of the October 23rd 1956 Revolution, the national flag with a hole in the middle is displayed on buildings all over the city. Newcomers to Budapest…
HERZL TIVADAR – Binyamin Ze’ev Herzl (1860-1904)
Well before the anniversary of the October 23rd 1956 Revolution, the national flag with a hole in the middle is displayed on buildings all over the city. Newcomers to Budapest…
The Pentecost Rose
Tomorrow, June 5 and moreover Monday June 6, are public holidays in Hungary. No shopping in Hungary unless you live next to a ”non-stop” grocery. It’s Pünkösd.
WHY DO HUNGARIANS WEAR A ROSETTE ON MARCH 15?
WHY DO HUNGARIANS WEAR A ROSETTE ON MARCH 15? Throughout the city you will see people wearing ’kokárda’ (rosette shaped badge with the national colours of red-white-and-green) on their lapels.
LUCK-BRINGING LENTILS
Like it or not, you must eat LENCSEFŐZELÉK on New Year’s Day. Lentils symbolise prosperity, wealth and luck for the new year.
The Hungarian Santa Claus Quiz
In Hungary, like some other European countries Santa Claus comes on December 6, keeping the Medieval tradition. The Hungarian version of Santa Claus has some pecular features. Guess which answer is correct.
Quirky Budapest
Quirky Budapest Snake with wings One of Ödön Lechner’s masterpieces is the Postal Savings Bank (now the State Treasury) built in 1901 at the height of the popularity of Art Nouveau. One of the finials depicts a snake with wings, symbolizing rebirth. See the piece of...
BUBBLY WATER
BUBBLY WATER ANOTHER HUNGARIAN INVENTION When you have FRÖCCS (Wine Spritzer) next time, make sure it’s made with SZÓDAVÍZ (carbonated water) and not plastic bottled SZÉNSAVAS ÁSVÁNYVÍZ (carbonated mineral water).
Puskás Öcsi, Everybody’s Little Brother
Puskás Öcsi Everybody’s Little Brother Before some dimwit in the Ministry of Tourism invented the image of “goulash and the Great Plains” to advertise Hungary abroad, the person who helped foreigners put Hungary on the map was Puskás Ferenc.
The Life of Numbers in Hungarian
In our new series to make your language learning more enjoyable, we are going to highlight what associations go with numbers in Hungarian.
Easter food
A unique Easter custom known only in the Eastern part of Hungary (mainly in Hajdú and Szabolcs counties and in Carpathian Ukraine among the Greek Orthodox community) is the ‘pászkaszentelés’ i.e. blessing Easter food with holy water.
THE BEM FLAG OF HUNGARIAN FREEDOM
Hungarian history could be well related by the history of flags starting from the Árpáds until the flag with a hole of 1956. The present red-white-green flag dates back to 1848/49 War of Independence against Austria but these colours…
Colorful Hungarian
Naming colours varies from culture to culture. What’s even more interesting is what associations go with a certain colour.
Quirky Hungarian
This section is recommended for ardent learners of Hungarian.
Forget about conjugation charts and all the 32 cases, enjoy the flavour of the language.
THE HUNGARIAN ACCENT
Even if a Hungarian pretends to speak impeccable English they are often given away by their accent, which is due to the following reasons:
Attila the HUN
Attila’s historical representation is most controversial in Western countries and Eastern cultures like Turkish or Hungarian. Actually, they are two parallel stories.
BOO ACHE = B.Ú.É.K.
Hungarian folklore is abundant in superstitions and customs related to new year. The reminiscences of these traditions are still alive in the symbols of luck such as:
What Has Little Jesus Brought you?
Mit hozott a Jézuska? That will be the standard question Hungarian people ask their relatives in the coming few days.
VIRGÁCS, THE PUNISHMENT GIFT
December 6 is Miklós nameday, the English equivalent of Nicholas. It’s more than just a nameday, it’s when Santa Klaus brings gifts to the children for their good deeds. However, there is a strange extra gift for the bad deeds, called VIRGÁCS.
Katalin Karády
Most nations have a history, Hungarians have Fate. If you want first-hand experience of what this means, go to YouTube and listen to Katalin Karády’s melancholy chanson ‘Smouldering cigarette end’ (Hamvadó cigarettavég).
THE CITY OF ELIZABETH
Elizabeth, in Hungarian Erzsébet, Erzsi, Erzsike is a prestigious name-day in the Hungarian calendar, November 19. You may come across the name a lot when rambling in the city.
HUNGARIAN CUISINE FOR BEGINNERS
This little guide gives an explanation of Hungarian dishes for learners of the Hungarian language. Then all you have to do is taste these delicacies!
THE BULLET RIDDLED WALLS OF BUDAPEST
Should the facade of the bullet-riddled apartment buildings be plastered and following the trend of gentrification look neat or leave them as memento of difficult times in our history?
THE CASE OF ST STEPHEN WITH THE HUNGARIAN BREAD
August 20 this year is a long 4-day holiday for most Hungarians from Thursday to Sunday, enjoying the last days of summer pleasures at Lake Balaton or elsewhere but away from work.
BEST OF ZSOLNAY ROOFS
In this five-item quiz, you’ll have to guess the most well-known iconic buildings.
WHICH ONE IS THE ORIGINAL?
Sometimes great architecture becomes so popular that a replica is made at a different location. We will show two Hungarian-related examples. Can you guess which one is the original and which one is the replica?
WHAT’S THE FUNCTION OF THESE BUILDINGS?
Guess the function of these iconic buildings in Budapest! When newcomers stroll the city for the first time, they come across grand buildings and wonder what their function is.
HOW TO GET RID OF YOUR CONFLICTING STATUES?
Yesterday’s heroes are today’s enemies. The symbolism of statues has become a hot issue most everywhere. In Hungary, where history has been rewritten …
The story of the Hungarian Cards
MAGYAR KÁRTYA also called Tell-cards can be an ideal gift for both kids and adults. But how did they become part of the Hungarian freedom struggle against the Austrian Habsburgs?
The Ice Saints are here again
May 12, 13 and 14 are the name days of the three so-called ‘ice saints’ in the Hungarian calendar: Pongrác, Szervác and Bonifác.
May 1st.
Nonetheless, for Hungarians over 40, the day still rings the bell, with all its associations with Long Live May 1 (Éljen május elseje) – this was the jolliest of all Communist holidays…
Statues of St. George
The cult of the 4th-century martyr, Saint George, thrives in many countries, especially England and Caucasian Georgia…
Hungarian Easter
Unlike in usual times, in this virus-stricken year, Easter is mainly about eating. Eating a lot!
Heralds of spring warmth
Today’s the day when you should wish your Hungarian friends named SÁNDOR (nickname SANYI, the Hungarian equivalent for Alexander or Alex)
The Hungarian coat of Arms- with or without the holy crown
March 15 is the main national holiday commemorating the 1848/49 Revolution and War of Independence against the Habsburgs …
St. Stephen’s Vikings
Luckily for us, Fungarian’s clientele is becoming increasingly diverse. Recently, we hosted a lovely couple from Iceland and we exchanged views on the Vikings.
Goose Feast
November 11th is St. Martin’s day. Márton (nickname ‘Marci’, prounounced ’Martsee’) is quite a popular name in Hungary. The story of Saint Martin and the geese provides …
Mind the difference between St. Stephen’s Cathedral & St- Stephen’s Basilica
Both Budapest and Vienna have a major church named after St. Stephen. But there is a big difference. August 20th is a national holiday: St. Stephen’s Day. …
Cold fruit soup from Hungary
When in Hungary, do not miss GYÜMÖLCSLEVES (gyümölcs=fruit, leves=soup). It’s served chilled as a starter but if you wish you can have it as a dessert.
Cucumber season
The term UBORKASZEZON (cucumber season) has come to denote a period when the media is awash with spoof stories or sensational articles about animals and plants.
Alex, Joe and Ben in the hungarian nameday calendar
Hungarian folklore is full of folk weather forecast prophecies. One of the most popular ones is attached to these three popular name-days with the rhyming verse: …
Hungarian pair speech
In Hungarian, being a descriptive language, it’s easy to decode the meaning of compound words like PÁRBESZÉD literally: PÁR BESZÉD, pair speech i.e. dialogue.
The story of the flag with a hole
Well before the anniversary of the October 23rd 1956 Revolution, the national flag with a hole in the middle is displayed on buildings all over the city. Newcomers to Budapest…
Canicula hungarianised to kánikula
August is traditionally the hottest month in Hungary, often with periods of ’KÁNIKULA’ i.e. the Hungarianized French word for dog days. The national pastime is to escape to a STRAND …
Can you guess what this utensil is used for?
Foreign visitors find some strange objects when they visit the Central Market. The thing you can see above is called a NOKEDLISZAGGATÓ, literally ’noodle tearer/ wrapper.’ The main difficulty…
Multifaceted Budapest
The Fungarian Team is delighted to introduce a new blog called CatchBudapest. Maintained by Julie and Flo. The blog is full of first-hand information about lesser-known…
Where are you going for Sylvester?
The name of the fourth-century pope, Sylvester I, who converted Roman Emperor Constantine the Great to Christianity, has become synonymous with New Year’s Eve in Hungary.
Hungarian Fondant Candy
Hungarians’ obsession with SZALONCUKOR (fondant candy), the traditional Christmas tree sweet, goes deep into the national psyché. The fun part of it involves hanging them …
Wild geese flock to Tata
Hundreds, if not thousands, of enthusiastic birdwatchers make a pilgrimage to Tata, a scenic small town 80 kms north-west of Budapest, every November. There they observe the multitude of …
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