wrote:

<<No, szia was around at the beginning of the 70s, before those record
<<numbers started to travel.  I think there vas a progression to
<<szevasz - sziasztok and than the szia form.  I was learning English
<<for years and never have met the "see ya" in any films etc,


Tom Angi  (Angi Tamas) wrote:


>>The "szia" form is much more commonly used than "sziasztok," and many
Hungarians
>>remain a bit uneasy using the plural form.  I think "szia" came first, not
in...

>>Young Hungarians in the 1950's were enthralled with American rock and roll
music...
>>  Even though it may have been illegal, American Rock
>>music was heard in Hungary in 1950's on Western European Radio, VOA and
RFE.
>>Stop and listen.

In this debate, I side with Eva Durant.  As a teenager in the early fifties,
I listened to a lot of American and Western European radio broadcasts (VOA,
Free Europe, Radio Monte Carlo, BBC, etc.) but never heard any rock music,
only jazz.  Most of us could not make out the words in the songs, but enjoyed
the music anyway.

As for the greeting szia, I remember starting to hear (and occasionally use)
it around 1950, the year of darkest Stalinist oppression.  By then teens
stopped using the word "szervusz' and "szevasz" (plural:"szevasztok") became
the popular greeting.  Soon the version "sziasz" , "sziasztok" started to
spread, sometimes without the final "sz" in the singular.  By 1956 "szia"
became the hip greeting, as opposed to the more square "szevasz".
The latter version is now rarely heard among today's young people.

I am convinced that "szia" has nothing whatsoever to do with "see ya".
 Having studied English for three years in the late forties I would have
noticed any Americanisms seeping into common usage, but saw none.  Besides,
American slang may not have even been that prevalent over here, much less so
in Europe, and even less behind the Iron Curtain.

Hope this helps.

Ferenc

>From the NYT, June 1, 1995:

"Balazs Kiss, whose picture is on the cover of the program for this meet,
became more than just a cover satory today. The 6-foot-1 1/2-inch,
220-pound junior from the University of Southern California won his
third straight National Collegiate Athletic Association hammer throw
title, and he did it in the style as the NCAA Division I championship
opened.

Kiss won by almost 20 feet and set a meet record of 261 feet 3 inches.
In fact, he broke the record three times.

..Kiss grew up in Veszprem, Hungary, in the wine growing region on the
shores of Lake Balaton, and at the age of 19 was a promising thrower
with a best of 231-10. But he wanted the coaching and constant
competition available at an American university. He wound up at USC,
where today he became the 100th Trojan individual winner in the meet's
history."