Twitter in Hungary
ONE of the first things new visitors to Hungary notice is how polite people are. An everyday courtesy still thrives here that has faded in western Europe. Strangers greet each other with a cheery “Jó napot kívánok” (“I wish you a good morning”) when they step into a lift and “Viszontlátásra” (“Goodbye”) when they step out. “Jó étvágyat kívánok” (“I wish you a good appetite”) is the usual salutation, even to strangers, when someone is eating.
But as a passionate people, Hungarians also have a rich vocabulary of swear words. Few more, it seems, than Tamas Deutsch, a member of the European Parliament from Fidesz, the ruling party. On March 21st Mr Deutsch tweeted the following about Ferenc Gyurcsány, a former prime minister from the opposition Socialists: “Vannak szemét alakok.Vannak aljas emberek.Vannak rosszindulatú örültek.Vannak irtózatos gecik.Vannak gusztustalan rohadékok.És van Gyurcsány”, which more or less translates as: “There are pieces of shit. There are vile people. There are malevolent madmen. There are revolting dribbles of semen. There are disgusting rotters. And there is Gyurcsány.” (The lack of spaces between sentences is presumably explained by Mr Deutsch’s keenness to stay within the 140-character limit imposed by Twitter.)
Not every Socialist attracts Mr Deutsch’s ire. Last week, after being interviewed by Zsuzsa Demcsák, a television journalist who served as government spokeswoman under Mr Gyurcsány (before she had to resign after some ill-judged comments about the quality of state childcare), he sent out a very different sort of tweet. “Jó volt újra személyesen találkozni Demcsák Zsuzsával. Képernyÿn is gyönyörÿ, de az életben még szebb!” (“It was good to meet Zsuzsa Demcsák. She is beautiful on screen and even more in real life!”) Mr Deutsch told me he stands by his tweets. “My aim was to be honest and direct, as Twitter is a media where personal tone is commonly used and accepted.”
Battered by a recent furore over its controversial new media law, the Hungarian government recently hired Project Associates, a London-based PR firm, for £100,000 to advise on burnishing the country’s image. Perhaps the company could start with lessons in acceptable language in public discourse.
In Boedapest 