A part mályát turbikálja ‘grope in the mud of the bank’

Abstract

Many of the old Hungarian dictionaries and collections of sayings contain a phrase originating from Péter Pázmány (a part mályát turbikálja) or its variants. In the latter, there is vacillation regarding both the nominal part (mallyát ~ mályát ~ malját ~ majját) and the verbal  component (turbikál ~ turbokol), and the editors do not give the meaning of the idiom. The present study has succeeded in revealing the meaning of the phrase by exploring the meaning of the components. According to this, one who stirs the mud of the bank (part mallya) is not merely trying to fish by groping in shallow water, but also trying to herd and catch fish in deep water by disturbing the hollows along the coast. As this is a metaphorical meaning, the real meaning of the idiom is that someone is not doing his job superficially, but really thoroughly. Yet, it is a further question whether we are dealing with a real idiom also used by others, or with an individual creation of Pázmány. The author considers the latter option to be more probable, despite the fact that a number of 19th-century phraseological  collections include this idiom. However, only Pázmányʼs work entitled “Five Letters” and these later collections have provided data for it so far.