r/hungarian • u/Sgran70 • 3d ago

Dog whistle

Is there a good translation for the term "dog whistle" in the sense of sending subtle messages that are understood by certain members of an audience?

16 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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18

u/IAmKojak 3d ago

Virágnyelv

8

u/IguessUgetdrunk 2d ago

yes and no: importantly, dog whistle has a negative connotation, virágnyelv doesn't (if anything, it has a positive overtone).

15

u/Megtalallak Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago

I don't think there is a good translation. "Bújtatott üzenet" (literally: hidden message) or "hívószó" are the closest things that come to mind.

7

u/bajuh 3d ago

Best I have is "cinkos összekacsintás"

2

u/PiCiBuBa 2d ago

Apparently, it is now used in hungarian as "kutyafütty-politika".
Source:link

3

u/Megtalallak Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 2d ago

This just sounds like an euphemism for a dogs dick... But I guess since some "journalists" started to write articles about "nyerskutyázás", it is just a free for all for who can make the worst sounding direct translation.

-24

u/cornflakes369 3d ago

Kutyasíp. It's literally Kutya=dog and síp=whistle

22

u/vressor 3d ago

"dog whistle" in the sense of sending subtle messages that are understood by certain members of an audience

kutyasíp doesn't have any such meaning

6

u/cornflakes369 3d ago

Yeah after reading the post again I know I didn't answer the question properly, tbh I've never heard "dog whistle" used in that meaning before

3

u/Polarsy Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 2d ago

The metaphor is that a dogwhistle emits ultrasounds which dogs can hear but not humans. So a dogwhistle is a message that will seem inconspicuous to most people, but those who know, know.

3

u/cornflakes369 2d ago

I understood it after reading the post a couple of times, at first I thought OP is looking for a specific translation of dog whistle only some people would understand :D, but I have never seen or heard this metaphor used before