Budoucnost světa, školství a nejdůležitější lidská dovednost

What does “hodný” mean in Czech?

Asked which skill will matter most in the future, this speaker doesn’t say coding. He says hodný (kind): «aby lidi byli hodný» (“that people be kind”). It’s one of Czech’s most-used adjectives, covering “kind,” “nice,” and “well-behaved” at once, the word for a good child, a gentle dog, or a decent human being.

Parents praise a “hodné dítě” (good kid), and “Buď hodný!” (“Be good!”) is the universal goodbye to a child. Its opposite, zlobivý (“naughty”), runs through every Czech fairy tale. Hearing a grown adult name hodný as humanity’s key skill is exactly why the line sticks.