The Far-Away State of....Hungaria
How many times has it happened to you (if Bulgarian) to be introduced by someone else who will say, "This is so-and-so, she/he comes from Hungaria"? It has happened to me a few times and it is HIGHLY annoying. First of all, there is no such country and second just because Hungary and Bulgaria share the "gar" in the middle, doesn't mean that you have an excuse to confuse or combine the two. (I am sure this has happened to Hungarians as well though.) We are talking about two distinct countries, with distinct (and not at all shared) histories, languages of completely different origins, and so forth. Bulgaria was never part of the Austro-Hungarian empire even.
Anyway, what reminded me of this is that I overheard parts of a conversation of passers-by in NYC this afternoon. One woman was adamantly explaining to another how "She comes from Hungaria" (referring to a third person, not present at that moment) and repeated that "fact" twice, as if wanting to emphasize her intimate knowledge of that person's origins. At which, a man (I assume her husband) corrected her and said "It's Hungary." "Oh, yes, right, Hungary, " she agreed.
So, yes, right, Hungary and Bulgaria it is.
I apologize for the "emotional" rant but, after all, I never confuse the USA with the UAE or UK for example, although they all start with "United".
4 comments:
I get it, definitely.
Just wanted to say though that I have on occasion certainly said the wrong one Australia/Austria or Vienna/Venice. I knew which one I meant and what the difference it but my tongue didn't....
heinz
well, slip of the tongue is ok... in your case both countries/cities actually exist... but Hungaria...hmmm
just funny too when people say it so seriously, and obviously some of them are trying very hard to show that they know something about Eastern Europe and where I come from... which I can appreciate I guess to some extent, but still... anyway, I will shut up about this now :)
I admit to confusing Slovakia and Slovenia. I finally had to stare at a map and memorize which one was which...and now I think - I've tried great cheese from northern Italy, cheese has an "E" in it, so Slovenia is the one near Italy. I'm a little slow!
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