Most of us have encountered the Hungarian saying “Hátra van még a feketeleves” (“The black soup is yet to come”) and its supposed origin story—if nowhere else, then at school.
Phrase researcher O. Nagy Gábor summarized the commonly known explanation as follows:
“The Turks want to capture a powerful Hungarian lord. Pretending friendship, they invite him to lunch, and when the Hungarian lord, sensing danger, prepares to leave, they persuade him to stay by saying that the black soup is yet to come. At that moment, Turkish soldiers appear, bind him, and take the trapped guest into captivity.”
Linguist Grétsy László later refined the story.
According to the anecdote collection of Szirmay Antal, the tale is linked to the capture of Thököly Imre in Nagyvárad in 1684. Meanwhile, poet Arany János associated it with an event a century and a half earlier: the capture of nobleman Török Bálint in 1541 by Suleiman II.
However, as Grétsy points out in his work, neither theory can be true. Although Suleiman II may already have been familiar with coffee—since coffee drinking began spreading in Turkey in the early 16th century—there is no linguistic evidence from that period referring either to black coffee or to “black soup.” These terms only appear about half a century later. Moreover, it can be proven that by the time of Thököly’s capture in Nagyvárad, the saying had already been known for at least two decades.
A Black Sauce — But Not Coffee
From Grétsy’s writing, we learn that the term feketeleves (today written as one word) originally did not refer to coffee at all. Instead, it comes from the language of old Hungarian cookery.
“It was the name given to a typically black-colored sauce served at the end of a meal, which got its dark color from cooked blood added to it. Old cookbooks or food descriptions often mention dishes such as goose with black sauce or rabbit with black sauce,” the linguist explains.
But How Did a Sauce Become a Threat?
Grétsy explains that the Hungarian words lé (“juice, liquid”) and leves (“soup”) also developed figurative meanings related to “trouble” or “unpleasant consequences.” Just think of expressions like “he will drink the juice of it” (meaning he will suffer the consequences) or nyakleves (literally “neck soup,” meaning a slap).
Over time, this semantic shift spread to the saying as well, giving it an entirely different meaning. What once referred simply to a sauce gradually came to signify looming trouble.
And if we think this kind of change is unique, we would be mistaken.
From Compliment to Insult
“As this type of change in meaning is not rare at all. Just think: if someone today is called a ‘poppy flower’ or a ‘fine bird,’ would they be pleased? Of course not! Yet once these expressions were words of praise,” Grétsy László concluded.
Source: Grétsy László: A szavak ösvényein. Szavaink és szólásaink
Bea Szöőr’s Hungarian article cab be read here.
