Better Hungarian

I originally posted this translation some years ago, but I decided to go and add in the vocabulary like I’ve been doing with other translations lately.

This is a more ‘complicated’ song, as in there are lines that can’t be directly translated without sounding strange, and it has some more advanced vocabulary. I’ve edited my translation so it is closer to the original, but you can see the full, proper translation on my lyricstranslate account here.

Why are you so hard on yourself?

Hungarian	English
Fecseg a felszín, hallgat a mély Ugathatsz, de csak a pénz, a pénz beszél Mint halandók közé a halhatatlanok, A képbe szambáznak a brand new gazdagok	The surface chatters away, the depth listens You can yap, but only money, money talks Like immortals among mortals The brand new rich folk dance into the scene
Nézd, a senkiházi! (Mögötte egy nagyúr) A céges rendezvényen három whiskytől bevadul Forogj kisleány! – a titkárnővel flörtöl Kényes a bele, a feje megfájdul egy sörtől	Look, the nobody! (Behind a despot!) At the company party drunk off three whiskeys Twirl around little girl! – flirting with the secretary Her stomach is sensitive, her head hurts from one beer
Ő nem akárki, ő a mintapolgár Templomba jár, a súlyos tekintélynek szolgál Otthon van az asszony és a termék: négy gyerek A beosztottak alattvalók – le nem térdelek	He’s not anybody, he’s the model citizen He goes to church, serves the Almighty Has a wife at home and the product: four kids The subordinates are subjects – I will not kneel
Évek óta nyomod és nincs vége Ott a kiscsalád, gürcölsz érte Miért töröd magad, miért töröd magad? Nekik áll a bál – neked nem marad	For years you bust your ass and get nothing Your little family there, you work hard for it Why are you so hard on yourself, why are you so hard on yourself? They have it great – nothing is left for you
Felfelé nyal, lefelé tapos Hiányos a műveltsége, a humora lapos Mohó az ego, etetné egy jachttal A csinos pincérlánynak imponálna gigajattal	He kisses the ass of those above him, treads on those below him He’s lacking in culture, his humour is flat His ego is greedy, he’d like to feed it with a yacht Impress the pretty waitress with a big tip
Megteheti és megteszi, mert hagyod A munkahelyed félted, ő meg a zsírjában ragyog Arrogáns, ha iszik és nőket zaklat A modora meg olyan, mint egy konzervgyári raklap	He can do it and he does it, because you allow it You worry about your job, he basks in his excess luxury Arrogant, when he drinks and harrasses women His style is just like a cannery pallet
Itt a csont: de-de-de-demokrácia A húsos tál körül a bunkókrácia Övék a hatalom, a pénz, övék az ország, a lelked, és helyettük neked pirul az orcád	Here’s the bone: de-de-de-democracy While the doucheocrats get the gravy train They own the power, the money, the country, your soul And instead of them, it’s you whose cheeks turn red
Évek óta nyomod…	You bust your ass for years…
De neked tetszik ez, te is urizálnál Csak nem jutott már hely a nagy pénztárnál Hol rontottad el – ezen töröd a fejed És közben szépen eltelik a tyúkszaros életed	But you like it, you also put on airs Only there wasn’t room at the big checkout Where did you go wrong? – you wrack your brains While your shitty excuse for a life just goes on by
Manipulálnak , te farokcsóválva hagyod Hátha egyszer te is úgy élhetsz majd, mint a nagyok Itthon is jó, de a legjobb máshol A buta kitalál, az okos szorgalmasan másol	They manipulate you and you allow it with a wagging tail If only you could also live like the big guys for once It’s good at home, but the best is elsewhere The stupid create, the smart diligently copy
Fullon a kicsi kocsi, hajtasz dél felé A diszkont szalámi már alig fért belé Az asszony az olcsóbbikba vonszolna De te négy csillag közt alszol ma	The little car is full, you drive towards the south The cheap salami you could barely fit in the car The wife would drag you to the cheaper one But you’ll be sleeping among four stars today

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Vocabulary

fecseg (v.) – to chatter, babble

felszín (n.) – surface

ugat (v.) – (a dog) to bark; (a person) to speak/say something in a harsh way, to yap

halandó (n.) – mortal

halhatatlan (n.) or (adj.) – immortal

kép (n.) – picture, image, photo

szambázik (v.) – to dance the samba, ‘boogie’

gazdag (n.) or (adj.) – rich

senkiházi (n.) – a nobody, a wastrel

nagyúr (n.) – a lord, master, despot

cég (n.) – company, firm

rendezvény (n.) – event, program (set of activities)

bevadul (v.) – to go wild, get crazy

forog (v.) – to revolve/rotate (continuously)

titkárnő (n.) – secretary
note: this word nowadays can sound a bit pejorative and has some negative connotations. A more ‘PC’ term would be személyi asszisztens (personal assistant)

kényes (adj.) – sensitive, delicate

bél (n.) – stomach, intestines, gut

akárki (n.) – whoever (no matter who), anyone, anybody

mintapolgár (n.) – minta (model, paragon) ; polgár (citizen)

templom (n.) – church

súlyos tekintély (n.) – súlyos (adj.) (heavy, massive, serious) ; tekintély (n.) (authority, prestige) – this is talking about a higher power, i.e. God/the Almighty

szolgál (v.) – to serve, be in service (of)

asszony (n.) – woman (currently married or has been married), wife, lady. can also be used as a form of address.

termék (n.) – product, result

beosztott (n.) – an underling, subordinate, inferior

alattvaló (n.) – subject (a citizen in a monarchy)

letérdel (v.) – to kneel down

nyom (v.) – to press/push, (slang) to do something/work hard at something

gürcöl (v.) – to toil, grind, work hard

tör (v.) – to break (used with “maga” (reflexive pronoun) here, it essentially means to give oneself a hard time/overwork yourself striving for something)

áll a bál – this is a phrase literally translating to “the party stands” or more loosely “the party is still on”, in this case basically meaning that someone has it easy/they’re having a good time

nyal (v.) – to lick

tapos (v.) – to trample/tread (on)

hiányos (v.) – lacking, incomplete, insufficient, defective

műveltség (n.) – education (of a person) ; civilization (of a people)

lapos (adj.) – flat, dull, bland

mohó (adj.) – greedy

etet (v.) – to feed (someone/something)

csinos (adj.) – pretty, good-looking

imponál (v.) – to impress

gigajatt (n.) – ‘giga‘ here just means ‘big/huge’, and ‘jatt‘ means ‘tip’ (as in the tip you leave at a restaurant for the server)

munkahely (n.) – workplace

félt (v.) – to fear for, worry about (something/someone) – object takes accusative case

zsír (n.) – (animal) fat, grease – used here to mean an excess of wealth/possessions

zaklat (v.) – to trouble, annoy, bother, harass

modor (n.) – manners, manner/style (of a person/people)

konzervgyár (n.) – cannery

raklap (n.) – pallet

csont (n.) – bone

húsos (adj.) – meaty

tál (n.) – dish, bowl, platter, plate

bunkókrácia – this is not an actual word, but rather a play on words that combines ‘bunkó‘ (jerk, uncivilized/rude) and the ending -krácia, like in ‘demokrácia‘ – so it’s basically referring to a system full of jerks/assholes

hatalom (n.) – power (control and influence)

lélek (n.) – soul
note: the stem changes in accusative (lelket), plural (lelkek), and superessive (lelken). It also changes with all possessive suffixes (lelkem, lelked, lelke, etc.)

pirul (v.) – to turn red
note: the phrase ‘pirul az orcád’ here literally means ‘your cheeks turn red’, but it refers to being ashamed/embarrassed

orca (n.) – cheek

urizál (v.) – to act haughty, put on airs

jut (v.) – in this case, it means ‘to be/have enough (of something)’

hely (n.) – place, location ; space/room (for something/someone)

pénztár (n.) – cash register, checkout

elront (v.) – to botch something, mess up, screw up

eltelik (v.) – (time) to pass/go by

tyúkszaros (adj.) – literally translates to ‘chicken shit’ (a sorry excuse for something/pathetic)

élet (n.) – life

farokcsóválva – this is a combination of ‘farok‘ (tail), ‘csóvál‘ (to wag), and the suffix -va to make it into an adverbial participle. So basically it means ‘(in the process of) wagging your tail’ or ‘while wagging your tail’

buta (adj.) – stupid, silly, foolish

kitalál (v.) – to invent, make/come up with something (such as an idea)

okos (adj.) – smart, bright, clever

szorgalmasan (adv.) – diligently

másol (v.) – to copy

hajt (v.) – to drive

dél (n.) – south

diszkont (adj.) – cheap/discount

alig (adv.) – barely, hardly

fér (v.) – to fit (somewhere, into something), have enough room (space)

olcsó (adj.) – cheap, inexpensive

vonszol (v.) – to lug, drag, haul

csillag (n.) – star

alszik (v.) – to sleep