What is “holdséta” in Hungarian?
Megpróbálom Michael Jackson hold sétáját
A2 Hungarian listening practice · Standard Hungarian · Picked for people who know a little
Attempting Michael Jackson’s signature move, the vlogger describes it exactly: «úgy néz ki mintha előre sétálnál, de közbe hátramész» (“it looks like you’re walking forwards, but you’re going backwards”). Hungarian calls that move the holdséta, a clean calque of “moonwalk”: hold (“moon”) plus séta (“a walk, stroll”).
It’s a tidy window into how Hungarian often translates foreign terms part for part rather than borrowing them whole. The plain noun séta (“a walk”) and the verb sétálni (“to stroll”) are everyday words; bolt on hold and you’ve moonwalked your way into Hungarian.
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this A2 Hungarian listening practice video?
How common in written Hungarian
How common in spoken Hungarian
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸Hungarian dance and challenge videos attempting the moonwalk.
- ▸In Hungarian talk about Michael Jackson’s iconic moves.
- ▸Everyday Hungarian: séta (a walk), sétálni (to stroll).
- ▸In Hungarian calques that translate, rather than borrow, foreign words.