mérget vehet
(Redirected from mérget vehet rá)
Hungarian edit
Etymology edit
From méreg (“poison”) + -et (accusative suffix) + vesz (“to take”) + -het (“can, may”, potential suffix), literally “one can take poison on it”. Compare German auf etwas Gift nehmen können.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
- (idiomatic, with -ra/-re) to (be able to) bet the farm, bet one's bottom dollar, bet one's boots, take to the bank (to be absolutely sure about it, to have no doubt about something)
- Nem vennék rá mérget. ― I would not count on it.
- 1952 (Hungarian translation: 1972), Isaac Asimov (translator Gyula Baranyi), Foundation and Empire (Alapítvány és Birodalom)[1][2]:
- És beszéltek. Mérget vehet a szavukra.
- They talked. You can believe them.
Usage notes edit
- It most commonly occurs with the pronoun rá (“on it”, sometimes “on him/her”), but other arguments are also possible with the same -ra/-re suffix: (arra, erre, (egy)valamire, semmire (se/sem), amire/amelyre, másra, a többire, valaki szavára/szavaira, hűségére, megbízhatóságára etc.).
- When the demonstrative pronouns arra (“on that”) or erre (“on this”) take the place of the argument, they are normally moved to the beginning of the phrase:
- Arra mérget vehetsz. ― You can bet the farm on that.
- Erre mérget vehetsz. ― You can bet on this.
Other variations:
- Mérget mernék venni rá, hogy ez így történt. ― I’d bet this is how it happened. (literally, “I would dare to take poison on…”)
- Ha ő kezeskedett érte, akkor mérget lehet rá venni. ― If he guaranteed it then you can bet on it.