Author Archives: Dutch Gurus

279. Ontzet

Posted on by

1. relief, rescue [noun] [het ontzet, de ontzetten] [‘ont-zet‘]

Today is the celebration of the "relief of Leyden" – in Dutch "het ontzet van Leiden" or "Leids ontzet". The city of Leiden was liberated from the Spanish siege on October 3rd of 1574 during the Eighty Year’s War. The story goes that the cooked bits of potato that were left by the Spanish formed the origin of the recipe for "hutspot", a typical Dutch winter dish made of mashed potatoes, carrots and onions. When entering the city, the liberators ("Geuzen") brought herring ("haring") and white bread.
So if you are in Leiden today and you don’t like hutspot, you can still feast on the haring 😉

Examples:
– "Elk jaar op 3 oktober vieren de inwoners van Leiden het Leids ontzet."
("Every year on October 3rd, the inhabitants of Leiden celebrate the "Leids ontzet".)

– "Tijdens de viering van het Leids ontzet wordt er gratis haring en wittebrood uitgereikt."
("During the celebration of the "Leids ontzet" free herring and white bread is handed out.")

Related word:
– "Ontzetten": to relieve (city), to rescue.

Example:
– "Toen de politie arriveerde kon het slachtoffer eindelijk worden ontzet."
("When the police arrived the victim was finally rescued.")

2. dislocated, wrenched, out of alignment/gauge [adjective] [‘ont-zet‘]

Examples:
– "Ik ben gevallen en nu is mijn schouder ontzet."
("I fell and now my shoulder is dislocated.")

– "Door de aanrijding zijn de treinrails ontzet geraakt."
("Due to the crash the rails are out of gauge.")

3. aghast, horror-stricken, dismayed at/by [adjective] [‘ont-zet‘]

You might not encounter the word "ontzet" too often in this translation, but it is a perfectly normal word to use. A very common derivation of "ontzet" is the adverb "ontzettend", which can also be used as an adjective.

Related word:
– "Ontzettend": terribly, awfully, terrifically, tremendously, immensely, incredibly etc.

Examples:
– "Ik vind het laatste album van Nick Cave ontzettend goed, en jij?"
("I think the latest album by Nick Cave is incredibly good, what do you think?")

– "Het heeft afgelopen nacht ontzettend geregend."
("There was terrible rain last night." Literally: "It has rained terribly…")

– "Ontzettend bedankt voor je hulp!"
("Thanks awfully for your help!")

278. Afwijking

Posted on by

deviation, defect, aberration, anomaly [noun] [de afwijking, de afwijkingen] [‘af-wij-king’]

Examples:
– "Dokter House heeft een afwijking geconstateerd in de lever. U moet onder het mes…"
("Doctor House has diagnosed an aberration in the liver. You need surgery…" Lit.: You need to go under the knife…")

– "Door een minuscule afwijking in het kompas, kwam het schip in vijandige wateren terecht."
("Due to a minuscule devation in the compass, the ship ended up in hostile waters.")

– "Door een aangeboren afwijking aan zijn spieren, zit hij de rest van zijn leven in een rolstoel."
("Due to a congenital defect to his muscles, he will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.")

– "Kapitein, de sensors registreren een afwijking in het tijd-ruimte continuüm."
("Captain, the sensors are picking up an anomaly in the time-space continuum.")

– "Heb jij een afwijking of zo?! Doe normaal gast!"
("Are you mental(ly deranged) or something?! Act normal dude!")

– "De intercity van Den Haag naar Utrecht stopt vandaag in afwijking ook te Gouda-Overwelle."
("In deviation from the schedule, the intercity train from The Hague to Utrecht will also stop at Gouda-Overwelle.")

277. Droom

Posted on by

dream [noun] [de droom, de dromen] [‘droom‘]

Just like in English the Dutch word "droom" is used both literally and figuratively. The related verb is "dromen".

Examples:
– "Gelukkig was het maar een droom!"
("Luckily it was just a dream!")

– "Mijn droom is om – later als ik groot ben – beroemd te worden."
("It’s my dream to become famous when I’m a grown-up." Literally: "My dream is to – later when I am tall – become famous.")

– "Ik heb vannacht een onwijs bizarre droom gehad!"
("I had a truly bizarre dream last night!" The word "onwijs" is a bit informal.)

Expressions:
– "Dromen zijn bedrog": dreams are lies. Literally: dreams are deception. Check out the song "Dromen zijn bedrog" by the popular Dutch singer Marco Borsato.

– "… van mijn dromen": … of my dreams. For example: meisje, man, huis, baan (girl, man, house, job).

– "Iemand uit de droom helpen": to disillusion someone, to open someone’s eyes. Literally: "to help someone out of the dream."

Related words:
– "Dromen": to dream.
– "Nachtmerrie": nightmare.
– "Remslaap": REM sleep.
– "Natte droom": wet dream.
– "Klaasvaak": Dutch name for the character that helps you fall asleep. We haven’t seen him in quite a while 🙂 What is the English equivalent?
– "Dagdromen": to daydream.
– "Fantasie": fantasy.

276. Mompelen

Posted on by

to mumble, to mutter [verb] [mompelde, gemompeld] [‘mom-pu-lun’]

Examples:
– "Je moet niet zo mompelen, maar duidelijk praten!"
("Don’t mumble like that, speak up clearly!" Lit.: "You must not mumble like that, but talk clearly!")

– "Kon jij Frank verstaan? Hij zat echt onverstaanbaar te mompelen tijdens de vergadering…"
("Could you hear what Frank was saying? He was mumbling really unintelligibly during the meeting…")

– " ‘Ik heb hier helemaal geen zin in’, mompelde Hermelien zachtjes, toen ze de kamer van professor Sneep binnenstapte."
(" ‘I really don’t want to do this’, muttered Hermione quietly, when she entered professor Snape’s room.")

Related words:
– "Articuleren": to articulate.
– "Binnensmonds spreken": to speak inarticulately (lit. "to speak within/inside the mouth").

Schurkenstaat

Posted on by

rogue state [noun] [de schurkenstaat, de schurkenstaten] [‘sgur-kun-staat’]

“Schurkenstaat” is a word that is used for a state that poses a threat to world peace or safety. We are not sure when it first appeared in the Dutch language. It is a combination of the words “schurken” and “staat”.

A “schurk” is a bit of an old-fashioned word and translates to “villain”, “scoundrel”, “crook” (or similar). You will not encounter it much in daily speech. The word “staat” translates to “state”, “nation” or “country” depending on context.

So, literally a “schurkenstaat” would be a “state of villains”, but the common meaning is that of a state that poses a threat to world peace or safety. You might see the word in newspaper articles or hear it on the news when certain Middle Eastern countries or North Korea are discussed. You can compare it with the “Axis of Evil” terminology introduced by  George W. Bush. However, “schurkenstaat” is not limited to a defined set of countries and you can apply the label “schurkenstaat” to any country that you think meets the definition 🙂

Examples:
– “Wat denk jij, is het aantal schurkenstaten toegenomen of afgenomen in de laatste tien jaar?”
(“What do you think, has the number of rogue states increased or decreased in the past ten years?”)

– “Is Libië nu wel of niet een schurkenstaat?”
(“Now, is Libya a rogue state, or is it not?”)

Related words:
– “Boef”: scoundrel, rascal.
– “Slechterik”: a bad person (derived from “slecht”: bad).