Author Archives: Dutch Gurus

Rukwind

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squall, gust [noun] [de rukwind, de rukwinden]

The past week two storms have passed over the Netherlands, leading to very strong winds primarily at the coast. In general, storms in the Netherlands are not very serious, but cyclists and motorists can definitely get in trouble due to "rukwinden": sudden sharp increases in wind speed.
The word "rukwind" consists of "ruk" and "wind". The noun "ruk" comes from the verb "rukken" which translates to "to jerk/tug/pull"; quick consecutive strong pulls. And yes, it can be used in a sexual context (see ‘Related words’).

Examples:
– "Door hevige rukwinden kwamen diverse automobilisten in de problemen op de A4 in de richting van Amsterdam."
("Due to strong squalls/gusts several motorists got into trouble on the A4 in the direction of Amsterdam.")

– "Het Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut (KNMI) waarschuwt fietsers morgen niet de weg op te gaan in verband met mogelijke rukwinden."
("The Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute for Meteorology warns cyclists not to go on the roads tomorrow because of possible squalls/gusts.")

Related words:
1. "Windstoot": synonym for "rukwind".
2. "Storm": storm.
3. "Wind": wind.
4. "Waaien": to blow (by the wind, see DWOTD "72. Waaien").
5. "Rukken": to jerk/tug/pull.
6. "(Af)rukken": (informal) to jerk off, to masturbate (by a man).

Winter

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winter [de winter, de winters]

Winters in the Netherlands are not what they used to be. Biking to work during winter poses no difficulties anymore: the joys of fingers freezing off, sore lips and the slipping away due to snowy and icy roads are gone…
Of course this is not regretted by everyone, but what is remarkable is that we are entering an era in which typical Dutch "winter words" are not used anymore, hence disappearing from, or even never entering, the vocabulary of today’s youth (see ‘Extra’).

Examples:
1. "Alhoewel je het niet zou zeggen, is het toch echt winter!"
("Even though you wouldn’t say so, it is really winter!")

2. "Het huidige Nederlandse winterweer stelt niets meer voor!"
("The current Dutch winter weather is nothing like it anymore!")

3. "Vroeger konden we in de winter nog schaatsen, maar nu sneeuwt het zelfs niet eens meer!"
("In the past we were able to skate in the winter, but now it does not even snow anymore!")

Related words:
1. "Sneeuw": snow.
2. "IJs": ice.
3. "Erwtensoep met worst": peasoup with saucage (traditionally served in winter time, or at food stalls near the ice).
4. "Wak": hole in the ice.
5. "IJsje piepen": the act of walking on the ice while it is not safe enough yet.
6. "Sleeën": to sled(ge).

Extra:
A Dutch columnist recently wrote a column about how he foresees typical winter related words to disappear from common Dutch vocabulary. Although words like "schaatsen" ("to skate" or "skates") and "sneeuw" ("snow") will obviously never disappear, a word like "wak" ("hole in the ice") might. Generations of Dutch mothers have warned their children for "wakken" when the children went skating, or not to go on the ice at all if it hadn’t been freezing enough. Of course "ijsje piepen" was strictly forbidden! Since there seems to be no reason anymore to include these words in daily conversation, they might as well just disappear…

The word "winter" appeared earlier in DWOTD "106. Kort".

Tandarts

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dentist [noun] [de <tand><arts>, de tandartsen]

The Dutch word "arts" translates to "doctor" or "physician" hence "tandarts" literally translates to "tooth doctor".

Examples:
– "Ik moet vrijdag naar de tandarts, maar ik heb helemaal geen zin."
("I have to go to the dentist on Friday, but I really don’t feel like going." See also DWOTD "80. Zin".)

– "Heeft de tandarts je voor het boren een lokale verdoving gegeven?"
("Has the dentist given you a local anaesthetic before drilling?")

– "Ik moet de tandarts nog bellen voor een afspraak."
("I still have to call the dentist for an appointment.")

– "Het is altijd lente in de ogen van de tandartsassistente."
("It is always spring in the eyes of the dental nurse." See ‘Extra’.)

Related words:
– "Gaatje": cavity, literally "little hole" (diminutive of "gat").
– "Vulling": filling, inlay.

The word "tandarts" appeared earlier in DWOTD "24. Tandpasta" and "4. Afspraakje".

Extra:
There’s a well known Dutch song called: " ‘t Is altijd lente" which contains the oneliner " ‘t Is altijd lente in de ogen van de tandartsassistente". The song is about a guy who fancies this dental nurse, and to get an appointment fast, he stops brushing his teeth and starts eating lots of candy… Ask any random Dutch person to complete the sentence " ‘t Is altijd lente…" and he or she will say: "…in de ogen van de tandartsassistente!" 🙂
See http://www.lyricsvault.net/songs/13993.html for the complete lyrics.

Auto

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1. car [noun] [de auto, de auto’s]

The word "auto" is short for "automobiel", which translates to "automobile" or "motorcar".

Phonetically, "auto" ends in a long "o" and in order to keep this sound the plural form is formed by adding ‘s (apostrophe s) instead of just a single s (which would turn the long "o" into a short "o").

Examples:
– "Het aantal auto’s in Nederland groeit."
("The number of cars in the Netherlands is growing.")

– "Nederlanders rijden meestal in handgeschakelde auto’s."
("The Dutch usually drive manual transmission cars" or "The Dutch usually drive stick". Literally: "…ride in hand-shifted cars.")

– "Frank zit in een midlife crisis en wil daarom een snellere en grotere auto."
("Frank is having midlife crisis and therefore wants a faster and bigger car." There is no real Dutch equivalent for "midlife crisis" so we use the same terminology used with "zitten in" (literally "to sit in").)

2. self- [in a compound]

Examples:
– "Automutilatie duidt vaak op ernstige psychische problemen."
("Self-mutilation often indicates serious psychological problems.")

– "Frank is autodidact op de gitaar."
("On the guitar, Frank is self-taught.")

Related words:
– "Wagen": wagon (often used as slang for "car").
– "Auto(snel)weg": motorway, highway.
– "Automaat": either an automatic car, or a vending/slot machine.

Gek

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1. fool, lunatic, nutcase, loony [noun] [de gek, de gekken]

You can often hear the noun "gek" being used informally between friends to address eachother when expressing disbelief about the other person’s actions or comments.

Examples:
– "Ga je dit jaar kamperen?" – "Nee gek, dat is toch niks voor mij!"
("Are you going camping this year?" – <informally:> "No fool, that is not my thing!" Literally: "…, surely that is nothing for me!")

– "Je moet uitkijken gek!"
(<in traffic:> "You have to watch out you fool!")

Expressions:
a) "Gekkenhuis!": literally meaning "madhouse", this word is often informally used to express disbelief about a situation, a bit like the word "bizar".

Examples:
– "… en toen hebben we nog tot 11 uur ‘s ochtends doorgefeest!" – "Echt? Gekkenhuis!!"
("… and then we partied on until 11 o’clock in the morning!" – "Really? Bizar!!")

– "Het was echt een gekkenhuis in de stad!"
("It was really insane downtown!", implying it was really crowded etc.)

b) "Dat is gekkenwerk!": literally "that is work for lunatics", this is used to describe that something is impossible to realize or just crazy to try to begin with.

Related words:
– "Mafkees": lunatic.
– "Dwaas": fool.
– "Mongool": moron. Although politically incorrect you will often hear this word used as a term of abuse.

2. crazy, mad, weird, strange, insane [adjective]

Examples:
– "Ben je soms gek?"
("Are you crazy or what?")

– "Ben je gek ofzo?"
("Are you crazy or what?")

– "Ik ben toch niet gek!"
("I’m not crazy, am I?" This is often used in arguments to emphasize that you must be right (unless when you are really crazy of course 😉 )

– "Ik ben gek op jou!!"
("I’m crazy about you!!)

– "Wat gek, ik kan mijn sleutels nergens vinden!"
("Strange, I can’t find my keys anywhere!")

– "Vind je ook niet dat jouw broer gekke vrienden heeft?"
("Don’t you also think your brother has weird friends?")

– "Let maar niet op hem, hij is gek!"
("Don’t pay attention to him, he is mad!")

Expression:
A well-known expression in Dutch is: "Doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg!"

It literally translates to: "Just act normally, then you act crazily enough!" and basically says to keep your posture and be normal and definitely do not let yourself go. This mentality is a result of the influence of Calvanism on the Dutch culture.

Related words:
– "Gestoord": insane (mental state).
– "Maf": weird, strange.