Hello in Hungarian

After you have lived in Budapest for awhile, you realize there are only a few recognizable words for a foreigner. One of these words is “Hello”.

You will hear “hello” when you leave a store. You will hear students and teenagers say “hello” or “hello hello” as they hang up their cell phones or part each other’s company. What is going on?

Hungarians have adopted the word “hello: as “goodbye”. Or perhaps, a better translation is the universal :ciao”. English translation: Ciao means both hello and good bye .

I get a kick out of it whenever I am honored with “hello” when I depart. It means that they think I speak Hungarian!

Hello.