Mini language lesson #5: Swearing in Hungarian

One thing Hungarians are known for is that our swearing vocabulary is so wide that we could swear for a few minutes straight, with one breath, not using the same word. It’s debatable whether this is an advantage or not, but it is definitely a curiosity. And the best part is that you don’t necessarily have to use nasty words, because you can choose from a wide range of “polite” options as well.

Maybe we should’ve started our mini language lesson series with this episode, as swearing is probably what people first learn in a foreign country. However, it would’ve been a drastic start, so we kept it for now. It would be impossible to cover all cursing options, and we don’t want to focus on the nastiest ones, because they might burn out your monitor 😀

Nonetheless, we’re also going to touch upon the most common swear words used by essay writers and then get down to the more “polite” versions, which are truly entertaining and the are best options if you want to dazzle people with round oaths.

Keep in mind that we are not linguists in any way, we’re just as dazzled by the curiosities of the Hungarian language as foreigners are. So this series doesn’t aim to explain the etymology of words, it’s more of a fun take on our language. We try to bring Hungarian closer to you with witty learning cards made by Daily magyar, a language-enthusiast person, whose posts give an insight into the complexity of the Hungarian grammar. But don’t worry, it’s all done in an easy-going way, so that it can make learning fun.

Starting off, the Hungarian language even has a million options for the verb ‘to swear’/ ‘to curse’.

szitokszó; szitok – swear-word; cuss

szitkozni – to swear; to curse; to cuss

szitkoz – he/she swears; he/she is swearing szitkozódik – he/she is swearing

szitkozódni – to swear; to be swearing

szitkozódás – swear; swearing

szidalom – imprecation; cuss

szidalmazás – fulmination

szidalmaz – he/she swears; he/she is swearing

szidalmazni – to swear; to curse; to cuss

káromkodás – swear-word; swearing; cursing; cuss

káromkodni – to swear; to curse; to cuss

káromkodik – he/she swears; he/she is swearing

mocskolódás – swearing; abuse

mocskolódni – to swear; to curse; to abuse

mocskolódik – he/she swears; he/she is swearing

mocskos – dirty; filthy; unclean; stain

mocsok – dirt

átkozódás – cursing; imprecation; fulmination

átkozódni – to swear; to curse; to cuss

átkozódik – he/she swears; he/she is swearing

átok – curse; cuss

elátkozni; megátkozni – to imprecate curses on someone

elátkoz; megátkoz – he/she is imprecating curses on

csúnya beszéd – bad-talk

csúnyán beszélni – to swear; to curse; to cuss; to talk bad

csúnyán beszél – he/she is swearing; he/she is talking bad

csúnya – ugly; nasty; dirty; bad

durva beszéd – bad-talk; harsh talk

durván beszélni – to swear; to curse; to cuss; to talk bad

durván beszél – he/she is swearing; he/she is talking bad

durva – rude; rough; profane; harsh

trágárság  – obscenity

trágár – dirty; nasty; obsecene; rude; rough; profane; harsh; vulgar

Here’s a little preview of how variously you can express yourself when it comes to swearing:

You might know that suffixes play an important role in the Hungarian language. We have quite a few of them, which can be mixed up easily. However, they play a key role in changing the meaning of the base word. Here’s an example with the most basic swear word:

Now that you know some common swear words, we can get down to the less harsh category. You don’t necessarily need to use bad words, you can also be polite when swearing. We have to say that Daily magyar did an amazing job with this following collection. Get ready for some round oaths, after the use of which you might even burst into laughter.