Forgács Tamás: Szólásmagyarázatok a kemencetájékáról [Explanations of idioms around kemence ‘oven’]

Forgács, Tamás (2024) Forgács Tamás: Szólásmagyarázatok a kemencetájékáról [Explanations of idioms around kemence ‘oven’]. MAGYAR NYELV, 120 (1). pp. 71-81. ISSN 0025-0228

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Abstract

The study presents a number of Hungarian sayings and proverbs with the component kemence ‘oven’. One of its main aims is to prove that the proverb discussed by o. naGy in the form megesküdt a kemencesuttonnyal ‘married the oven snugʼ is most likely based on a mistake, the correct form being rather megesküdt a kemence a suttonnyal ‘the oven married the snug’. Consequently, the meaning of the expression is not ‘sit at home, hang aroundʼ, but ʼ<people who fit together well> entered into an allianceʼ. The source of the alliance may be similar pecuniary situation or similar nature, and the alliance may be a marriage between a man and a woman, but it may also be a union for the attainment of a goal, or a friendship. – The rest of the essay discusses the origins of the idiom sutba vág/dob ‘throw/cast awayʼ and the now extinct idioms ártatlan, mint a pemet a kemencétől ‘innocent like the broom from the ovenʼ and ártatlan, mint a kerék a kemencétől ‘innocent like the wheel from the ovenʼ, and argues that the two nominal components of the idiom Kemence (nem) Velence ‘it’s a far cry; lit. Kemence (isnʼt) Veniceʼ may be proper nouns, as o. naGy thinks, but it cannot be excluded that both components may have been common nouns originally.

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