kezét-lábát töri
Hungarian
Etymology
kéz (“hand”) + -e (“his/her”, possessive suffix) + -t (accusative suffix) + láb (“leg/foot”) + -a (“his/her”, possessive suffix) + -t + tör (“to break”) + -i (“he/she”, personal suffix). Literally, “to break one’s hand [and] leg/foot”, normally understood as plural (“hands, legs/feet”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈkɛzeːt ˈlaːbaːt ˈtøri]
Verb
- (idiomatic) to bend over backwards, go to great lengths (to make a great effort; to take extraordinary care)
Usage notes
It can be supplemented with the word igyekezetében (“in one’s effort”).
Conjugation
- For the verb, see tör.
- The nouns kéz (“hand”) and láb (“leg/foot”) take the appropriate possessive suffix according to the subject of the sentence plus the accusative case suffix (optionally omitted, especially in the singular): kezem(et)-lábam(at), kezed(et)-lábad(at), kezét-lábát, kezünk(et)-lábunk(at), kezetek(et)-lábatok(at), kezük(et)-lábuk(at).
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.