Hungarians are certainly accomplished at many things, but when it comes to translating into a foreign language, anyone visiting Budapest has no doubt learned this is one of those areas fraught with more buktas than average. The most recent example can be found on the Economy Ministry’s façade, where the sign also provides the ministry’s name in English, French and German.
As origo.hu pointed out, the French translation, “Ministere des Affaires Economiques Nationaux” should actually have the last word spelled “Nationales”, as within this context it’s feminine, not masculine. The portal has been unable to reach the ministry for comment on how they would fix this, and while they’re at it, we’d like to add that while “Ministry for National Economy” is the correct translation, it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
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Yeah, why call it the “Economics Ministry” when you can call it the “Ministry for National Economy”?
Ministry for Economic Affairs would be the best translation. They could have called me for both the English and the French: I wouldn’t have charged for my services.