So, it is becoming apparant to me how beautiful, literal and poetic the Hungarian language is. As a student of language, and a learner of the Hungarian language, it is interesting to know where words come from. Latin Roots are normally present in the English language, but sometimes words are completely arbitrary! The only thing that makes a cat a cat is that we all agreed to call it that!
I am always looking for ways to remember new Hungarian words, and it's easier to break up big words to what their root words are to understand the whole meaning. Turns out that when you translate from English to Hungarian and then back to English, you occasionally end up with some poetic form of the original word....Or if not poetic, mildly humorous!
I want to start recording these when I find them....I have been collecting them for a while and now I'm going to start sharing them.
Today's word is:
Tip
Tip > borravaló > "A little Money for the Wine"
Okay, so maybe this first one isn't so poetic, but it's definitely amusing. Hungary obviously has a very rich and long history with wine, and so much so that wine (or bor) is actually included in the word for "tip" (probably because that is mostly what they were tipping for back in the day!)
More to come!
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