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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…
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 …
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.
The Pentecost Rose-Pünkösd
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.
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