mérget vehet

Hungarian

Etymology

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; see also the explanation in its etymology.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈmeːrɡɛtvɛhɛt]

Verb

mérget vehet^[1]

(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

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.

Conjugation

For the verb, see vesz.
The inflected noun mérget remains unchanged.

References

^ Given as mérget lehet rá venni (“one can take poison on it; poison can be taken on it”) in méreg in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“An Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN and in Pusztai, Ferenc (ed.). Magyar értelmező kéziszótár (“A Concise Explanatory Dictionary of Hungarian”). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2003. 2nd, expanded and revised edition →ISBN. Online searchable version (under development).

[1] Given as mérget lehet rá venni (“one can take poison on it; poison can be taken on it”) in méreg in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“An Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN and in Pusztai, Ferenc (ed.). Magyar értelmező kéziszótár (“A Concise Explanatory Dictionary of Hungarian”). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2003. 2nd, expanded and revised edition →ISBN. Online searchable version (under development).

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