# Összefusizik



## LeBro

Jó napot kívánok!

I would like to ask for your help regarding the meaning of "összefusizik" (and the meaning of the whole sentence, indeed) as in the following:

Original (_Néhány Perc Külpolitika_, Örkény István):

_Ha elmondanám, mennyi utánjárásomba került, amíg rátaláltam arra a bizonyos csillaghegyi kisipari szövetkezetre, ahol - persze nem egy üveg rum, hanem egy angol mechanikás pianínó és hat vég lepedővászon szétosztogatása árán! - nehezen __összefusiztak __egy közepes hatósugarú rakétát, ezzel csak fölverném a hasadóanyag árát._

My rough translation:

_If I told how much trouble I had to go until I found this small-scale (csillaghegyi) cooperative where - not at the cost of a bottle of rum, of course but of a mechanical English piano and six (vég lepedővászon szétosztogatás) - they hardly __összefusiztak __a medium-range rocket, this would only increase the price of the fissile material._

I reckon that it might mean _barkácsol _(DIY) considering Wikiszotar. But I'd like to ask which word you think would be the most appropriate if you translated it into English? To assemble (to put together, to produce) (on one's own) (maybe illegally?) or something completely different?

I'd also like to ask about the ones in parentheses but I think I should start separate threads about them, shouldn't I? Yet the thing is I have difficulty in understanding the meaning of the whole sentence. Could you help me to make sense of it fully?

Előre is köszönöm a válaszokat!


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## Ngu7

I am a native Hungarian speaker and I have never encountered this word before. I have consulted many online dictionaries in order to find out what it means but to no avail. I couldn't find the word in any of the online dictionaries and this kinda confirms what I have been suspecting for a long time: Hungarians tend to 'coin' words that they use once but then never again. 

The bottom line is that probably it's just a word that the author probably coined for short-term use in order to make the book more interesting to read.

As for its meaning, I think you are right. Here is another English equivalent that this weird verb might have: to build sth carelessly.

Hope this helps.

*Correction: I have just seen that there is an adverb 'nehezen' in front of the verb. That adverb definitely alters the meaning of the verb. Maybe 'manage to get sth with difficulty' is a better translation.


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## LeBro

Ngu7 said:


> As for its meaning, I think you are right. Here is another English equivalent that this weird verb might have: to build sth carelessly.



I came across something like "fusizik is DIY in Hungarian" as far as I can remember, but can't find where.

In addition, idegen szavak szótára gives the definition "illegálisan végzett munka" for "fusizás". So I think it is meant that they could hardly (and illegally) find (whether they assembled it themselves (most probably) or just acquired it from somewhere else) a rocket. I am just trying to hit the bull's-eye with a single eqivalent 

Thank you very much for your contribution!


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## Ngu7

LeBro said:


> I came across something like "fusizik is DIY in Hungarian" as far as I can remember, but can't find where.
> 
> In addition, idegen szavak szótára gives the definition "illegálisan végzett munka". So I think it is meant that they could hardly (and illegally) find (whether they assembled it themselves (most probably) or just acquired it somewhere) a rocket. I am just trying to hit the bull's-eye with a single eqivalent


Unfortunately, there aren't always exact equivalents. In some languages, you can convey a message by using a single word whereas in others, you need to use two-three sentences in order for the same message to come across.


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## LeBro

Ngu7 said:


> Unfortunately, there aren't always exact equivalents. In some languages, you can convey a message by using a single word whereas in others, you need to use two-three sentences in order for the same message to come across.



Igen, igáza van. Nem tudtam jól kifejezni magam. Csak azt akartam mondani, hogy a legpontosabb ekvivalenset szeretném megtalálni, akár csak egy szóból akár hosszú mondatokból álljon ez az ekvivalens.



Ngu7 said:


> *Correction: I have just seen that there is an adverb 'nehezen' in front of the verb. That adverb definitely alters the meaning of the verb. Maybe 'manage to get sth with difficulty' is a better translation.



Úgy látszik, hogy ez a legjobb fordítás lesz, azaz "manage to get/find sth with difficulty" az "(nehezen) összefusizik" kifejezésre, a fordítási jelentés elvesztésének kockázatával.


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## Zsanna

I haven't found a lot of examples for it but they exist. (See here, the last article in the right bottom part, entitled: Havi tízezret is.)
So the verb is not Örkény's creation.

The definition of _fusizik_ that applies here:"(Üzemben) üzemi anyagokból --tiltott módon -- magának vagy eladásra, megrendelésre dolgozik/így készít valamit." (In English: fabricate something or do work for oneself or to somebody else for a fee, in one's workplace/factory using factory material, illegally.) 
I think nowadays it does not happen necessarily at one's workplace. The point is that work is done for undeclaired income.

The preverb _össze_ is used partly to indicate that the action - although with difficulty - has been carried out with success. 
The other part is more complex (and it is mainly my interpretation): that the workers had to go _here and there_ to find the right parts, the right tools and the right people to be able to accomplish the (illegally undertaken) task.

The adjective _nehezen_ refers rather to the speaker's efforts (all the pay/bribe, he had to give, the time and negotiations it took) that resulted in acquiring that rocket.
N.B. Örkény excelled in the grotesque (English?), so it should be taken into consideration here, too.


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## LeBro

I've had two vague meanings in my head so far, which I can express with these two verbs:

1. The one that I gave in my #1 post as:

To assemble (to put together, to produce) (on one's own) (maybe illegally?)

I think this meaning fits with the one you also gave (i.e. to fabricate something or do work for oneself or to somebody else for a fee, in one's workplace/factory using factory material, illegally.)

You also expressed your interpretation as:


Zsanna said:


> that the workers had to go _here and there_ to find the right parts, the right tools and the right people to be able to accomplish the (illegally undertaken) task.



Your interperation together with the first impression that I had lead me to think that they fabricated a rocket themselves on the spot by putting different parts together.

2. The one that I gave in my #3 post and @Ngu7's suggestion in his #2 post, i.e. respectively:


LeBro said:


> So I think it is meant that they could hardly (and illegally) find (whether they assembled it themselves (most probably) or just acquired it from somewhere else) a rocket.





Ngu7 said:


> Maybe 'manage to get sth with difficulty' is a better translation.



Therefore, the verb to be used in English would be one of "to find, to get, to acquire" (a rocket) with a possible loss in translation, if there is any (like the one in the first meaning above)



LeBro said:


> _nehezen __összefusiztak __egy közepes hatósugarú rakétát_





Zsanna said:


> The adjective _nehezen_ refers rather to the speaker's efforts (all the pay/bribe, he had to give, the time and negotiations it took) that resulted in acquiring that rocket.



It seems to me that the adverb _nehezen _modifies the verb _összefusiztak _here, therefore "they hardly/with difficulty fabricated/found a rocket". Am I wrong? 



Zsanna said:


> Örkény excelled in the grotesque (English?), so it should be taken into consideration here, too.



I agree that it also poses a certain difficulty in understanding his short stories, a fact/risk he himself also expressed but I think the ambiguity over _összefusizik_ here rather has to do with itself than Örkeny's grotesque style. Or am I missing something? My Hungarian is far from being (really) good, let alone being perfect.

Thank you for your contribution @Zsanna, much appreciated!


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## Zsanna

You are welcome.  
I agree with all your suggestions above, including the one concerning "nehezen". (See your PMs.)
It is true that it refers to the fabrication of the missile first of all. Nevertheless, I have the impression that the writer feels to be involved personally in the process as well and his feelings are included in the use of this word. (It is not a simple description of how the work was done.)
The connection between _összefusizik_ and Ö.'s style is his description + criticism of that era. The use of this verb seems bitterly funny (but not ambiguous). Those who lived in those times know what it meant to work one's guts out for the extra cents, to lose your morality and dignity at the same time just to be able to afford something simple that people a few hundred kms to the west couldn't even be bothered to be happy to have...


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