belly, stomach, tummy, abdomen [noun] [de buik, de buiken]

"Buik" is used to indicate a region of the body. The organ "stomach" is translated with "maag".

Examples:
– "Die man heeft een dikke buik."
("That man has a fat belly.")

– "Mijn vrouw is zwanger!" – "Wat leuk, wordt haar buik al dikker?"
("My wife is pregnant!" – "How nice, is her belly getting bigger already?")

– "Ik heb buikpijn, misschien heb ik iets verkeerds gegeten."
("My stomach aches / I have a stomachache, maybe it’s something I ate that’s upsetting me." Literally: "Maybe I ate something wrong.")

– "<moeder tegen een kind:> Heb je je buikje lekker rond gegeten?"
("<mother to a child:> Have you eaten your fill?" Literally: "Have you eaten your tummy nicely round?")

Expressions:
– "Schuddebuiken van het lachen": to shake with laughter. This expression is intended  to be used to say that you really really have to laugh hard. Literally so much that your belly is shaking (‘schudden’). However, it is mostly used ironically.

Examples:
– "Het publiek schuddebuikte van het lachen."
("The audience shook with laughter.")

– "Heb je gister die comedy nog gezien op tv?" – <ironisch:> "Ja, het was echt schuddebuiken."
("Did you see that comedy on tv yesterday?" – <ironically:> "Yeah, it was really fun (NOT).")

– "Dat kun je op je buik schrijven.": You can forget about that / that’s not going to happen / no way! Lit.: You can write that on your belly.

– "Daar heb ik mijn buik van vol." I’m fed up with that. Lit.: My belly’s full of that.

– "Vlinders in de buik hebben." To have butterflies in one’s stomach, to be in love.

– "Het zijn twee handen op één buik.": this is said about people that are in agreemeent or take up the same position ("to be hand and glove"). Lit: That’s two hands on one belly.

Related words:
– "buikpijn": stomachache, bellyache.
– "navelpiercing": belly button piercing.
– "wasbordje": washboard.

alphabet [noun] [het alfabet, de alfabetten; ‘al-faa-bet’]

Examples:
– “Ken jij het Griekse alfabet?”
(“Do you know the Greek alphabet?”)

– “A, b, c, d, …, x, y, z; dat zijn de letters van het alfabet!”
(“A, b, c, d, …, x, y, z; those are the letters in the alphabet!” See below for the pronunciation of the letters of the Dutch alphabet.)

– “In de bibliotheek staan de boeken op alfabetische volgorde.”
(“In the library the books are arranged in alphabetical order.” Literally: “…the books are standing in…”)

Related words:
– “Alfabetiseren”: to alphabetize.
– “Analfabeet”: [noun] illiterate (person). A person who is illiterate with respect to computers is called a “digibeet”.

The Dutch alphabet
Below we list the Dutch alphabet with pronunciation. Remember that we use Dutch phonetic script: the letter P is not pronounced as the English ‘pee’ but as ‘pay’; the latter we write as ‘pee’. See ‘Hints on pronunciation‘ for interpretation. Also, try to copy the examples below into one of the on-line text-to-speech engines.

A – aa
B – bee
C – cee
D – dee
E – ee
F – ef
G – gee
H – haa
I – ie
J – jee
K – ka
L – el
M – em
N – en
O – oo
P – pee
Q – kuu
R – er
S – es
T – tee
U – uu
V – vee
W – wee
X – ix
Y – ij
Z – zet

Example: (try to copy the text into one of the on-line text-to-speech engines!)
– <aan de telefoon:> “Kunt u uw naam spellen alstublieft?” – “Ja zeker, mijn naam is Jones: J-O-N-E-S.”
(<on the phone:> “Can you please spell your name?” – “Yes of course, my name is Jones: J-O-N-E-S.”)

About N and M:
It is sometimes hard to distinghuish between N (‘en’) and M (‘m’) when spelling out these letters on the phone. This is resolved by saying ‘Nico’ if you mean N and ‘Maria’ if you mean M (there are names for each letter in the alphabet). Alternatively, one uses the word ‘tweepoot’ (‘two leg’) for N and ‘driepoot’ (‘three leg’) for M to clarify.

Example:
– <aan de telefoon:> “Mijn naam is Boom: B – O – O – M.” – “Hoe zegt u: Boom of Boon?” – “Boom, met een driepoot op het eind.”
(<on the phone:> “My name is Boom: B – O – O – M” – “Did you say Boom or Boon?” – “Boom, with a ‘driepoot’ at the end.”)

1. chest, breast [noun] [de borst, de borsten]

– "Borst vooruit!"
("Chest out! (Shoulders back!)")

– "Die bodybuilder heeft een erg brede borst.")
("That body-builder has a very broad chest.")

– "De vader hield zijn zoontje dicht tegen zijn borst gedrukt."
("The father clasped his (little) son close to his breast.")

Related words:
– "Borstkas": chest, thorax.
– "Borsthaar": chest hair. See also 126. Kruimeldief.

Expressions:
– "Zichzelf op de borst kloppen": to congratulate oneself, to boast (lit. to pat oneself on the chest).

– "Uit volle borst zingen": to sing lustily / on the top of one’s chest (lit. to sing out of full chest).

– "Maak je borst maar nat": you better get ready / roll your sleeves up! (lit. you got to wet your chest.)

– "Dat stuit mij tegen de borst": "that is repugnant to me / that
goes against the grain with me." (lit. that bounces against my chest.)

2. (female) breast [noun] [de borst, de borsten]

The plural ‘borsten’ also translates to ‘bosom’.

Examples:
– "De jonge moeder gaf haar kind de borst."
("The young mother gave her child the breast / nursed her child / breast-fed her child.")

– "Een jaarlijks mammogram is een belangrijk wapen tegen borstkanker."
("An annual mammogram is an important weapon against breast cancer.")

– "Ben je een borstenman of meer een billenman?"
("Are you a boobs-man or more of an ass-man?")

Related words:
– "Buste": bosom (formal).
– "BH": <pronounce: ‘bee-haa’> bra (commonly used abbreviation for ‘bustehouder’ ("bosom keeper/supporter") ).
– "Boezem": bosom.
– "Tiet": tit, boob.
– "Tepel": nipple.
– "Borstvergroting": breast augmentation/enlargement.

Expressions:
You might overhear men say the following, implying a woman has big breasts:

– "Zij heeft een flinke bos hout voor de deur.": literally, "she has quite a big bundle of wood in front of her door".
– "Zij heeft een flinke voorgevel.": literally, "she has quite a big façade".

buttock [noun] [de bil, de billen]

"Bil" is mainly used in relation to the human body, though animals can also have "billen". The latter would be translated with "hams" in relation to a cow for example. In general, the plural "billen" is more often used than the singular "bil". The "billen" cover more than just the buttocks area, but also a part of the upper thighs. In daily practise however, it is a synonym for the bottom/buttocks/behind.

It is quite acceptable to use the word "billen", but if you want to be on the safe side, use the word "achterwerk" which is the formal Dutch equivalent of "behind".

Examples:
– "De baby zat met zijn blote billetjes in het zand."
("The baby sat with his bare (little) buttocks/bottom in the sand.")

– "Frank klaagt altijd over de dikke billen van zijn vrouw."
("Frank is always complaining about his wife’s fat bottom.")

– "De moeder gaf het stoute kind een flink pak voor zijn billen."
("The mother gave the misbehaving child a good smack on the bottom.")

Expressions:
– "Een blotebillengezicht": a round, smooth face (babyface).

– "Van bil gaan": <slang> to have sex, to get it on (sex involved), to go at it.

– "Wie zijn billen brandt, moet op de blaren zitten": as you sow, so
shall you reap / as you make your bed, so you must lie on it.
Literally: one who burns his buttocks, must sit on the blisters.

– "Met de billen bloot gaan": to come clean (lit. to go bare/naked with the buttocks).

Related words:
– "Reet": <derogatory slang> ass. "Reet" is actually an old-fashioned word for "crack".
– "Hol": <derogatory slang> ass. Literally the noun "hol" translates to "hole" (like a fox’s hole).
– "Kont": ass, bottom. This word and the two previous examples have no plural.

Here a common informal expression is: "Lekker kontje!", which you can use for either a male or female butt that you think looks good 😉

– "Achterwerk": <formal> behind [noun].
– "Kikkerbillen": frog’s legs (French delicacy).

Extra:
"1 april, kikker in je bil!" is an expression that is often heard on April Fool’s day. The expression has no special meaning (other than the literal frog in your behind), I guess it just has a good rhyme to it 🙂

to dance [verb] [danste, gedanst; ‘dan-sun’]

The verb ‘dansen’ is used for any kind of dancing if clear from context. See ‘Related words’ for specific styles of dancing.

Examples:
– "Zullen we morgenavond gaan dansen?"
("Shall we go dancing tomorrow night?")

– "Ik dans het liefst de salsa."
("I prefer to dance the salsa.")

– "Weet jij een goede dansgelegenheid?"
("Do you know a good place to dance?" The word ‘gelegenheid’ is an opportunity to do something or a location where this opportunity can take place. ‘Dansgelegenheid’ is a bit formal, see next example for another common sentence.)

– "Weet jij een leuke plek om te gaan dansen?"
("Do you know a nice/good spot to go dancing?")

Expressions:
– "Een dansje wagen.": lit. "to dare a dance" this is informally used to say that someone is going to the dancefloor. It does not necessarily imply that the person is reluctant to do so.

Example:
– "Kijk! Opa waagt een dansje!"
("Look! Grandpa is going to dance!")

– "Als de kat van huis is dansen de muizen (op tafel).": when the cat’s away, the mice will play (lit. "when the cat is away from home, the mice dance (on the table).")

Related words:
– "Dansplek": spot/place to go dancing.

– "Danstent": spot/place to go dancing. It is common to use the word ‘tent’ (which translates to ‘tent’) informally for clubs or venues.

– "Dansles": dancing class/lessons.

Example:
– "Ik zit al jaren op dansles."
("I have been taking dancing lessons for years now.")

– "Volksdansen": folk dancing, country dancing.
– "Stijldansen": ballroom dancing.
– "Discodansen": disco dancing.