Some new additions to the already prodigous Hungarian vocabulary have been submitted for entry into the lexicon by The SF Total Subversion Society.Rizibizi : General term for the omnipresent punctuation marks of accent symbols and umlauts that decorate so many Hungarian words. Taken from the name of a popular side dish made of peas and rice, as this is what these symbols resemble.
example: "I don't know how the hell to pronounce this word, there's too much rizibizi on it"
Tesséknő : A type of female clerk found throughout Hungary, usually a middle-aged woman with garishly dyed hair held over from the service industry of the communist era. They are invariably surly and not helpful. So named because of their distinctive way of croaking the all-purpose word "tessék" when a customer advances upon her cash register or ticket window, e.g. Tessék + Nö (woman) = "Tesséknö".
example: "We should just get the hotel reservations off their website, the tesséknő I talked to was no help at all."
Fukenbasztárdz : This is one of the many appropriations from English that have now entered into popular usage. Refers to police or security force officers, usually of Slovak or Serbian extraction, who work the crowds at international football matches.
example: "When the fukenbasztárdz heard us speaking Hungarian they started to hassle us and push us around."
Jó Csányi : A send-up of the expression jó csaj, which means, roughly, "Whoa! What a hot babe!" The remark Jó Csányi is used for the opposite purpose, when one wants to call attention to a woman of marked masculine appearance (the word "Csányi" being a nod to famous Hungarian hunk actor Sándor Csányi.) A variation is to use this in reference to a man, in which case the term is intended to be flattering.
example: "Check out the chick with the mustache... jó csányi!"
previous lessons
Total Subversion Hungarian Lesson #1 : Contemporary Expressions
Total Subversion Hungarian Lesson #2 : Non-Words
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Cheers for the add & the kind words. I have enough trouble with the lingo here without even contemplating the rizibizi...
J