According to Hungarian consumer blog Tékozló Homár where we found this gem, this image has been racing through the reaches of Hungarian cyberspace. A bukta is a small pastry, often filled with lekvár (jam). But in Hungarian slang, bukta also means “mistake,” or according to one rather “comprehensive” online Hungarian-English dictionary, “fuckup.” Either way, the people who did the translation for this cafeteria sign didn’t know that writing “fuckup” would be, well, one giant fuckup. And speaking of fuckups, over on Chew.hu they’ve just published a recipe for Lekváros Bukta with just the right amount of dubiously translated information necessary you’ll need to thoroughly fuck up your own big batch of marmalade fuckups.
Which is why my magyarul tanarok warn against this particular dictionary!
Well, at least they are selling the fuckup for a good price. In the States, its hard to fuckup for less than a buck fifty these days.
Actually, it’s a really excellent dictionary – the problem is that for most English words, there are about 1000 Hungarian words for each minute shading of meaning conveyed by the English word, and the reverse is also true (except for far fewer words). Just goes to show that you should learn a foreign language rather than try to skate by with a dictionary.
This dictionary is ok 99% of the time, but when it gets it wrong it really gets it wrong. For example, try looking up ügyvédjelölt in there. Apparently an articled clerk/trainee barrister is something slightly more esoteric.