In English, you can express skepticism with the classic saying when pigs fly. In Tagalog, a similar sentiment is expressed with a phrase that translates “when the crow turns white, when the heron turns black,” and there’s a Hungarian phrase that...
Someone who spends a lot of time reading books is known in English as a bookworm. The Hungarian and Estonian terms for such a person translates as “book moth,” and in Indonesian as “book flea” or “book louse.” In Spanish, they’re called a ratón de...
In German, the electronic dashboard display on a car has a picturesque name. It’s Mäusekino, literally, “mouse cinema.” The Hungarian term for “mouse cinema,” egérmozi, is often applied to various kinds of small electronic displays, such as the...
Kyle in Fort Monroe, Virginia, says his family uses honyock for someone acting foolish or silly, especially politicians and bad drivers, and he wondered whether it carried older baggage. Variants include hunyak, hunyaker, and hunyokker. The word...
The word adynaton, which refers to a jocular phrase that emphasizes the idea of impossibility, was adopted into English from Greek, where adynaton means “impossible,” a combination of a- meaning “not” and dynatos, which means “possible.” This Greek...
One of many Hungarian jokes featuring an aggressive piglet ends with the porker’s nonsensical response to being stopped by a police officer. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Another Aggressive Piglet Joke” Grant, can I tell you one...