From ex-WAGs doing tell-all interviews to revelations that Hungarian oligarchs own zebras, the 2024-25-26 election campaign has been nuts so far and is likely to get even more bananas. Here are the most iconic quotes that have now entered the Hungarian politics lexicon for eternity. This article is continuously updated because no doubt someone will say something absolutely ridiculous soon enough.
"Zsírra szállt por" // "Dust that's flown on fat"
In the summer of 2024, Péter Magyar didn’t take a summer break like most politicians do – rather he went from hospital to hospital in the baking heat taking photos and videos of some of the truly horrible conditions. At one point one of the videos showed moldy-looking fan vents in the commercial kitchen of one of the hospitals. He said that staff had been complaining about the state of the vents and that parts of the ceiling were falling down but nothing had been done about it. Elsewhere in the hospital, toilets didn’t have toilet paper, soap or hand sanitiser. And in many places the AC didn’t work meaning patients were rotting away in 35-degree heat. I can personally attest to some truly horrific scenes in hospitals in Hungary, which is something Fidesz politicians should hang their head in shame about.
But no, running to Fidesz’s defence was the government spokesperson Eszter Vitályos who said it wasn’t mold but rather dust on fat stains.
Obviously half the nation burst out laughing because it hardly seems to make a difference!? Clean the damn things jeez.
"Szatjor fing" // "Bag of farts"
The President of Hungary — a guy called Tamas Sulyok — was trying to talk about hate speech in such a long-winded strange way that all anyone got out of it was was that he referenced the fact that he is sometimes called a bag of farts.
"Repülőrajt" // "Flying start"
As 2024 drew to a close, Orbán was totally shell-shocked. As I’ve written before 2024 was an annus horribilis for Orbán. The economy remained a dumsterfire and the “Péter problem” was no closer to being resolved. What to do in a crisis? Orbán always returns to one tool: Promise that things will soon be OK. Stand by while things don’t become OK. Then promise with even greater confidence that things will soon be OK.
So, true to form, in January Orbán put out a video to say that the economy was going off to a flying start.
It’s become a joke because obviously no such thing has happened and forecasts for the year don’t exactly indicate it will happen. Maybe next year?
"Hatvanpusztai pánikszoba" // "Panic room at Hatvanpuszta"
Hatvanpuszta is where the Orbán family have a palatial ranch, and Péter was quoted as saying that they have things like zebras and lakes and libraries and family frescos and panic rooms there.
And it’s funny to imagine Orbán rocking back and forth in a tizz over what to do about Péter in his panic room so the quote’s taken off.
"Vége van, kicsi!" // "It's over, little guy!"
In a truly grotesque scene, Fidesz’s Communications Director Tamas Menczer accosted Péter Magyar while he was trying to hand over Christmas gifts to children in a government care home. Péter was part of weeks-long tour of children’s care homes trying to uncover the appalling conditions and give gifts to the kids. Menczer walked up to him in front of all the cameras and got in his face. And an icon was born. Menczer kept saying “Vége van, kicsi!” (“It’s over, little guy!”) and the line took off. It became iconic because it is very much not over, Péter has pulled even further ahead in the polls since then. Now both sides use it against each other.
"Slim-fit-latte-avokado"
In a speech where Orbán was talking about how Fidesz needs to go about recruiting younger people, he said “We have to realise that in future generations there will essentially be only two positions … there will be liberals and there will be nationalists. And I have to say that there will be liberal, slim-fit, avocado-latte, allergen-free, self-satisfied politicians on one side, and on the other side there will be streetwise young people of nationalist sympathies, with both feet firmly on the ground.”
Right away it was taken as a slight on Péter Magyar as Péter is slim and wears tight-fitting clothing. So ever since then, slim-fit-latte-avokado has become a way to tease Orbán’s ridiculous statement. Péter even posted a video of him making an avocado latte at his home.
"Átteleltek a poloskák" // "The bugs survived winter"
Orbán jumped the shark at his March 15th speech commemorating the 1848 Hungarian revolution when he called people who don’t support Fidesz “stink bugs” that have overwintered and need to be eliminated during spring cleaning. It’s crazy for a Prime Minister on a national day of commemoration to be calling his fellow citizens bugs. Read my take on Je Suis Poloska! blowback.
"Bindzsisztán"
Bindzsisztán is the name for a completely fictional country, but if you say it in Hungary it will automatically be understood to be a euphemism for Hungary. Majka — a popular singer — released a song where the lead character (Orbán) is given a truth serum by someone (Magyar) and reveals all of his corruption in a live TV interview. The song is a significant shift in how Orbán is perceived because Majka was previously close to those close to the government, and this is the kind of song that reaches the masses. In the three months since it was released it has 20 million views. I wrote about the significance of Majka’s song here.
"Lépésről lépésre, Tégláról téglára" // "Step by step, Brick by brick"
One of Péter Magyar’s first lines was “Lépésről lépésre, tégláról téglára visszavesszük a hazánkat,” which means “Step by step, brick by brick we will take back our home.” Saying either “Lépésről lépésre” or “tégláról téglára” has become shorthand for Tisza supporters. It is also a signal that Tisza’s campaign will proceed little by little, and is also an understanding that it will take time to unwind the damage Fidesz has done.
"Ne féljetek!" // "Don't be afraid!"
It’s hard to understand for people who don’t live in Hungary, but people can be fearful to speak out against Fidesz. Why? They could lose their job, their business may lose business, or they might even lose family / friends. Fidesz has been in power for so long and they don’t just control the federal government they have their fingers in many pies down to village level and across various sectors. If your boss said to you “You’re coming to Fidesz’s rally this weekend, right?” How are you meant to say no to that? If you speak out against Fidesz, you might lose work because a Fidesz supporter has won the government tender and hands out opportunities based on loyalty.
From the start, one of Péter Magyar’s big slogans has been “Don’t be afraid” — it’s literally in his Facebook name. It’s not just about not being afraid to turn up to a rally or show your support on social media, but it’s also about not being afraid of a post-Orbán world and not being afraid to step out of Fidesz if you’re an insider wanting to defect.
"Kék Fidesz" // "Blue Fidesz"
Blue Fidesz is a nickname that Péter Magyar has given the former main opposition DK because that party’s main colour is blue and Péter is trying to make the point that although they are an opposing party to Fidesz they have actually been working together to keep Fidesz in power. Whether this is true or not, who knows? But there are definitely theories floating around that Fidesz has somehow encouraged DK and it’s figurehead — the widely hated — Ferenc Gyurcsany to stick around to act as a bogeyman that Fidesz can warrior against and constantly beat.
"Zászló, zászló, szív" // "Flag, flag, heart"
One of Fidesz’s big campaign initiatives was to start a “Fight Club” with the idea being that its supporters battle it out with Tisza supporters in the comments section of Facebook.
After the stadium launch event, Fidesz sent around a directive about the kinds of comments to leave. Things like “Liar” or “Wife beater” or “Brussels Pete.”
But there was one that stood out — the recommendation to put two flag emojis followed by a heart; a fine idea except that it was written out in words, not emojis, and so a joke has become writing out or saying “flag, flag, heart” as a way to mock Fidesz.
Péter Magyar has also utilised it by saying “prison, prison, bars, bars” to indicate that corrupt Fidesz politicians should do time for what they’ve done.
It also launched a thousand memes because the word for “heart” in Hungarian can also mean to smoke weed. Below is a Fidesz politician Tamás Deutsch who is rumoured to take drugs.
"Hazaáruló (egy szó)" // "Traitor (one word)"
As part of the above directive to Fidesz Fight Club members, there was a line that said to write that Péter is a traitor but they included in brackets “one word” to ensure they don’t misspell the word.
This has also become mocked by Tisza supporters who are using this as part of their comments to mock the fact that Fidesz supporters had to be told how to spell.
"Árad a Tisza" // "The Tisza River is Flooding"
This is the OG of iconic lines from this period of Hungarian history. It means the Tisza River is flooding or overflowing and was one of the first lines that came to symbolise the fast growing support for Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party. It’s often used by Péter himself, chanted at rallies, or simply used in Facebook comments to show support.
"Gondolom, nem gyalog" // "I don't think I walked"
Hungary’s richest man (aka Orbán’s childhood friend and strawman), Lőrinc Mészáros, is spotted in Munich by 444.hu journalist Balázs Kaufmann who ask him about whether it was necessary to get there by taking a helicopter from the Budapest suburb of Budaörs to the airport then by private jet to Munich.
At one point in the interaction when the journalist asks him how he got to Munich, Mészáros replies “I don’t think I walked.” This instantly turned meme-worthy because he is not thought to be the sharpest tool in the shed and saying “I don’t think I walked” sounds odd as surely you know whether you did or not.
Secondly, it couldn’t have come at a worse time because within mere days of this interaction Hungary’s public transport system came to a halt with delays and cancellations. And so everyone started joking that due to lack of trains / buses they would indeed be walking….highlighting, yet again, the haves and the have nots that is irritating Hungarians so much.
"Dadadadadada da problem is the war"
Poor Orbán had an unfortunate incident where he was trying to answer a journalist’s question in English and he started by stuttering “dadadadada da problem is the war.” Iconic!
"Balsors" // "Bad fate"
Orbán made another incendiary remark similar to calling Tisza supporters stink bugs (“poloska”) when he said that Tisza supporters are a part of the nation like the word “balsors” (meaning “bad fate”) is part of the national anthem. Thanks Viktor!
"Mocskos Fidesz nyár" // "Filthy Fidesz summer"
Instead of hot girl summer, Hungarians get “filthy Fidesz summer” — that’s because the Hungarian “mocskos Fidesz” is a common anti-Fidesz chant and it has taken hold at many music festivals during the summer of ’25
"Zebra"
What do the poor safari animals have to do with anything? Zebras have become a star of the show as it was claimed that Orbán or his oligarch mate, Lorincz Meszaros, have zebras at their ranch. Obviously this is a sign of gross excess in a country that is struggling economically, and it’s taken off as a meme because of how ridiculous the whole thing is. More on zebra-gate here.
"Zsolt bacsi" | "Uncle Zsolt"
A horrible story broke about alleged child abuse / pedophilia at the Szőlő Street juvenile correction home. Allegedly children from the institution were somehow pimped out to high-up politicians (and others), one of which may have been a politician one of the kids referred to as “Zsolti bácsi” (“Uncle Zsolt”).
The result was increased attention on the potential crime and intense curiosity about who “Uncle Zsolt” could be. Although there is no evidence whatsoever as of right now (24 September 2025), if there were such a scandal involving Fidesz it would surely bring down the government. Remember, they already lost a President and a Justice Minister in a pedophile scandal last year.
Ez maga a vérvád, a Bibliából ismert Belzebub-vád
Kullancsok
Ez egy lepkefing
"Elegem van a luxizásból, a repülőzésből, a jachtozásból és az egészből, amit néhány ember ebben az országban csinál"
Én boldog vagyok mert Orban Viktor azt mondta
Soha semmilyen bűnös viszonyhoz nem volt közöm
HK DPK
These are initials of the two initiatives Fidesz had to try to turn things around in the polls. Firstly Harcosok Klubja (HK) and then when that failed they launched Digitális Polgári Körök (DPK) — a kind of online group chat for Fidesz fans.
"Vége van, elvtársak! Tovarisi konyec!
Jo vergodest!
Mennyi az idő, Marci?
A Fidesznek csak jobb hazugságai vannak, mint a Tiszának
Ez egy maffiakormány
Kígyóvállú kis szarjancsik
Azért a víz az úr!
Bilincs, bilincs, rács, rács. A stróman egy szó
Semmi nem lesz elfelejtve, minden fel lesz jegyezve, és minden el lesz rendezve
...szerintem félkész országról beszélhetünk...
“Magyarország azonban még egy félkész ország, és ahhoz, hogy be tudjuk fejezni ezt a munkát, és fellépjünk a fejlett országok sorába, ehhez legalább még négy év kormányzásra van szüksége a Fideszre.”
Nagyon szépen tudom magyarázni, hogy 15 évig miért nem csináltunk semmit
Aki gyerekekhez nyúl, miszlikbe kell aprítani!
Nem mi szűltük őket és nem mi hagytuk őket ott
...kicsit csodálkozom is, hogy a Tisza Párt nem talált magyar embert és egy szlovák asszonyt kellett elindítania...
A lányok is kerestek pénzt, mindenki jól járt, nem?
Azt tanácsolom, hogy a Pride szervezői ne bajlódjanak az idei felvonulás előkészítésével
Előbb érdemes a saját házunk táján söprögetni, mielőtt az államhoz fordulunk, és folyamatosan azért sírunk és picsogunk, hogy mikor mire nem jut
"Na szia mentős"
Pokoli másfél év van mögöttem
Csodálatos másfél évem volt
Piszokban nem lakunk!
Apám évek óta a sátánt szolgálja
Oszd meg, hogy X-hez is eljusson!
X nap!
Pedofiloknak nincs kegyelem
Nincs kiskorú áldozat
Neked miért baj, ha jól érezzük magunkat?
Védőpajzs
"No, I didn't promise him (Orban) [money], but he certainly asked for it"
Kisállat-adó
"A következő interjúban térjünk erre vissza" // "Let's return to this in the next interview"
Magyar Péter nevű képződmény
Úgy bazmeg, hogy elromolhat bármi, amit használnak! Ha elhiszed, hogy Magyar Péter istencsászár parancsára majd a büdös életben SOHA SEMMI nem romlik majd el, akkor jó hülye vagy!”
Hányinger!
biztosvalasztas.hu
“A belső tartalék a magyarországi cigányságot jelenti"
“Valakinek takarítani kell az InterCityn a mosdót, mert oda egyébként a magyar választópolgárok nem olyan nagy lendülettel jelentkeznek, hogy másnak a szaros mosdóját takarítsák, akkor fel kell tárni a belső tartalékokat. És a belső tartalék a magyarországi cigányságot jelenti”
(This article may be updated from time to time after the original publication date)
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