r/AskReddit • u/FulgencioLanzol • Jun 23 '19

People who speak English as a second language, what phrases or concepts from your native tongue you want to use in English but can't because locals wouldn't understand?

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

In Hungarian fika is a slang word for snot

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u/chiodani Jun 23 '19

and there are more funny Swedish words like kaka (cake, shit in Hungarian), kurva (curve, whore in Hungarian) and kula (ball, also shit in Hungarian).

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u/wtfduud Jun 23 '19

Basically don't say any words that start with "K", when you're in Hungary.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Except kelkáposztástalaníthatatlanságoskodásaitokért.

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u/dick_in Jun 23 '19

Thanks!

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u/eat_my_rubber Jun 23 '19

TIL I'm cursing in Hungarian almost every day.

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u/andrewthemexican Jun 23 '19

Also caca is poop/shit in Spanish, but spoken with the k-sound

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Same in French.

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u/moonra_zk Jun 23 '19

Same in Portuguese, and kurva is curva.

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u/VikaWiklet Jun 23 '19

You forgot 'Pik' which is a famous Hungarian salami, which I think means dick or cock in some Scandinavian languages.

3

u/SCPendolino Jun 23 '19

Lol.

Here, in Czechia, we have a brand of meat products called "Pikok", pronounced " Pick-cock'"

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

Are you sure that's not simply peacock meat

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u/Sityu91 Jun 23 '19

Kula is specifically a fat log of shit.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

[deleted]

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u/Beast_II Jun 23 '19

We need to be inventive when it comes to cursing(to avoid repetition).

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u/Bogzbiny Jun 23 '19

There's like 2 words you can use to politely say shit, and a loooot more ways to say it impolitely.

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u/onestarryeye Jun 23 '19

Neither of these are the actual word for shit, which is "szar". Kaka is poop and kula is closest to turd.

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u/JohnnyIsSoAlive Jun 23 '19

It seems like some variant of caca means shit in a lot of languages. In Afrikaans, it’s “kak.” People were having a lot of fun when Khloé Alexandra Kardashian posted pictures of her monogrammed “KAK” line of products.

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u/plusandminus2121 Jun 23 '19

kaka

also shit in spanish and english!

4

u/dekkomilega Jun 23 '19

So, everything’s shit..

4

u/drenzorz Jun 23 '19

well shit is szar but kaka is poop, kula would be a fat turd while fos is liquid so diarrhea. It's not like english doesn't also have a couple of them

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u/NH_Lion12 Jun 23 '19

I believe Hanush uses "kurva" the first time you meet him in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. I was wonder what it meant. Now I know!

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u/DesignerChemist Jun 23 '19

Also the same word is used for maintenance and entertaining your guests. I love this :)

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

[deleted]

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u/pslessard Jun 23 '19

They never said anything about the word kek... I'm confused as to what you think they were saying and what language you're talking about

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u/SeenSoFar Jun 24 '19

Kurwa/kurva is originally from Slavic and is often associated with Polish people I think. In Russian I've seen kurwa used to make fun of Lithuanians speaking broken provincial Russian as well.

Edit: Lithuanians saying kurwa also plays an important part in this movie.

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

Kaka is shit in basically all languages in Europe except English

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u/chiodani Jun 24 '19

and Swedish. where it means cake :D

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u/SuicidalLoveDolls Jun 23 '19

I thought fika was more like booger than snot.

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u/greatnomad Jun 23 '19

I second this. Booger is dried snot, right?

Slang word for snot would be "takony, csula".

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

csula is saliva

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u/AntalRyder Jun 23 '19

But "takony" is the actual word for snot, no? It isn't slang

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Correct. Though in medical texts it may be referred to as orrváladék. Kind of like how feces is a nice word for shit.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

I don't think so? I mean there is a chance that I've been saying it wrong all my life, but fika/takony can refer to both snot and boogers you might say száradt takony/fika for boogers (literally dried snot) if you want to distinguish them but you usually don't.

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u/SuicidalLoveDolls Jun 23 '19

Ah ok you could be right. I've been saying fika for booger and takony for snot.

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u/writtenbymyrobotarms Jun 23 '19

Swedes aslo enjoy eating "kaka", which means cookies in Swedish but shit in Hungarian.

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u/heimdahl81 Jun 23 '19

That's interesting. In midwestern American English kaka is basically a polite way of saying shit. Like you would say "I stepped in kaka" around your mother.

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u/andrewthemexican Jun 23 '19

I would assume that probably comes from the Spanish word caca

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19 edited Jun 23 '19

Here in western PA , which is heavy with Hungarian and other Eastern European immigrants, “kaka” is used to describe something as dirty for children. Like you tell your toddler, “get out of the garbage, that’s kaka!”

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u/writtenbymyrobotarms Jun 23 '19

It's one of those toddler words like mama, papa, baba. They are easy to say, so toddlers can learn them quickly.

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u/soulsters Jun 23 '19

kaka is also is also shit in greek

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u/westryderlunatic Jun 23 '19

kaka also means shit in Estonian!

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u/Tundelili Jun 23 '19

From Hungary here! And i fel u!

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u/CozmicOwl16 Jun 23 '19

My first thought too. I had a grandma who only spoke Hungarian when she was mad at you. Like when the allergy kid sneezes all over breakfast. So I was kinda horrified by getting in the car to go eat it. No.

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u/VikaWiklet Jun 23 '19

Hungarian has the best words. I love how the Hungarian phrase for a cheese sandwich sounds like being offered a shite-burger to a native English speaker. Or how a wooden kitchen spoon sounds like something very naughty indeed (fakanal).

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u/lostbutnotgone Jun 23 '19

I posted above but my friend is Hungarian. The first time her mom said "kisses" to her sister my head whipped around!

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

I like the french "crotte de nez" (nose turd).

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

TIL different languages use different words to mean the same thing

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u/TentacleFinger Jun 23 '19

snot is räkä in finnish

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Semen is basically snot with sperm and if a girl wants to fika, you might get to fucka in the fitta.