"Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook" is a Monty Python sketch. It first aired in 1970 on Monty Python'sFlying Circus as part of Episode 25. Atlas Obscura has noted that it may have been inspired by English as She Is Spoke, a 19th-century Portuguese—English phrase book regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour, as the given English translations are generally completely incoherent.
Plot
A Hungarian enters a tobacconist's shop carrying a phrasebook and begins a dialogue with the tobacconist ; he wants to buy cigarettes, but his phrasebook's translations are wholly inaccurate and have no resemblance to what he wants to say. Many of them are plainly bizarre and become mildly sexual in nature as the skit progresses. After the customer used gestures to convey his desire, the tobacconist looks in the phrasebook to find a Hungarian translation for "six and six" ; he reads out a phrase, which provokes the Hungarian to punch him in the face. A policeman, hearing the punch from a considerable distance, runs to the shop. The Hungarian angrily points out the shopkeeper to the constable, saying "Drop your panties Sir William, I cannot wait 'til lunchtime." In anger and confusion, the policeman arrests the Hungarian, who protests absurdly, "My nipples explode with delight!" The publisher of the phrasebook, Alexander Yalt, is taken to court, where he pleads not guilty to a charge of intent to cause a breach of the peace. During initial questioning, the prosecutor hits a gong after Yalt answers "yes" to a question. After the prosecutor reads some samples from the book, Yalt changes his plea to incompetence. A policeman in the court asks for an adjournment. When the judge denies the request, the policeman lets off a loud fart he has been trying to suppress. When the judge asks him why he did not mention the reason he wanted an adjournment, the policeman responds, "I didn't know an acceptable legal phrase, m'lud."
Cast
John Cleese as the Hungarian and then a barrister
Terry Jones as the tobacconist and then the magistrate
Graham Chapman as the policeman
Michael Palin as the publisher
Eric Idle as the clerk, prosecutor, and voice-over journalist
Location
The 1970 version is partly filmed in London in Dunraven Road. The tobacconist exterior location is 107 Thorpebank Road. This was renovated back into a private residence in 1996. This corner is also used for The Ministry of Silly Walks sketch.
In other Python works
In the same episode, the Hungarian character appears briefly in the "Spam" sketch. The sketch also appears in the filmAnd Now for Something Completely Different. In this version, another Hungarian tells someone on the street, "Please fondle my buttocks," a mistranslation of "Please direct me to the railway station." The listener then gives the Hungarian directions in English with the Hungarian following his directions in a Gilliam animation.
