1. striker [noun] [de spits, de spitsen] [‘spits‘]

"Spits" has several meanings in Dutch. During the 2008 European Football Championship, the meaning most often heard is "striker".

Examples:
– "Bondscoach Marco van Basten heeft Ruud van Nistelrooy geselecteerd als spits."
("National coach Marco van Basten has selected Ruud van Nistelrooy as striker".)

– "Een paar maanden geleden werd de Real-spits geopereerd aan zijn enkel."
("A few months ago, the Real striker was operated on his ankle.")

– "Wie speelt er bij Nederland in de spits?"
("Who in the Dutch team plays forward?")

2. peak, peak/rush hour [noun] [de spits, de spitsen] [‘spits‘]

Another meaning of "spits" that you can hear every hour on the radio news, is "peak/rush hour". One of the free daily newspapers is also named "Spits" for this reason (see picture). Related to this meaning is the translation "peak (of a mountain or tower)".

Examples:
– <Nieuwslezer> "We hebben een drukke ochtendspits zoals gebruikelijk op maandag: 160 kilometer file."
(<Newsreader> "We have a busy morning rush hour as usual on Monday: 160 kilometres traffic jam.")

– "Er komen steeds meer gratis dagbladen zoals ‘Metro’, ‘Spits’, ‘Pers’ en ‘Dag’."
("The number of free daily newspapers such as ‘Metro’, ‘Spits’, ‘Pers’ and ‘Dag’ is growing." Note that "metro" means "metro" or "subway"; "pers" means "press" and "dag" means "day".)

– "De spits van de toren was ernstig beschadigd door de blikseminslag."
("The spire of the tower was badly damaged by the thunderbolt.")

Expressions:
– "De spits afbijten": to go first, be the first (to).

Example:
– "Joris beet de spits af met zijn presentatie over HRM."
("Joris was the first to give a presentation on HRM ".)

– "Iets op de spits drijven": make an issue of something.

Example:
– "Ze overdrijft; het was toch nergens voor nodig om het zo op de spits te drijven!"
(" She’s overexaggerating; it wasn’t necessary to make such an issue of it, was it!")

3. sharp, pointy [adjective/adverb] [‘spits‘]

A third meaning of "spits" is pointy, sharp or pointed.

Examples:
– "Zij heeft een spits gezicht met scherpe trekken."
("She has a pointed face with sharp features".)

– "De klompen hebben een spitse neus."
("The wooden shoes have a sharp point." Lit.: ".. have a sharp nose.")

– "De meeste daken lopen spits toe."
("Most roofs end in a point.")

1. cotton pad, wad of cotton wool [noun] [het watje, de watjes] [‘wa-tju’]

A “watje” is the pad that you remove your make-up with or clean your ears with, or what you use when cleaning a wound or stemming the blood flow when one of your wisdomtooth has just been removed. “Watje” is the singular diminutive of the plural “watten”, which can be translated as “cotton wadding” or “batting”.

Examples:
– “Ik vind het heerlijk om elke avond mijn make-up te verwijderen met een watje!”
(“I love removing my make-up every night with a cotton pad”.)

– “De wattenstaafjes zijn weer op; haal je even nieuwe bij Etos?”
(“We ran out of cotton buds / Q-tips again; will you get new ones at Etos?” Lit.: “The cotton-buds are finished again,.. “)

– “We hebben het matras opgevuld met watten.”
(“We’ve stuffed the mattress with batting.”)

-“De dokter op de spoedeisende hulp stopte het bloeden van haar knie met bloedstelpende watten.”
(“The doctor at the emergency room stopped the bleeding of her knee with styptic cotton.” Note that the emergency ward was previously called “Eerste Hulp” (“First Aid”). The name was changed to “spoedeisende hulp” (lit.: speed demanding help) . Since the Dutch health system includes general practitioners (“huisartsen“), people should only go to the “spoedeisende hulp” when there is an emergency. If not, they should visit their general practitioner. Many hospitals have a general practitioner’s ward (“huisartsenpost”) and a emergency ward (“spoedeisende hulp post”) to prevent people with non-emergency complaints to get in the way of patients that need emergency aid.)

Expressions:
– “Als haar vriend jarig is, legt ze hem in de watten.”
(“She pampers her boyfriend on his birthday.”)

2. sissy, wimp [noun] [het watje, de watjes] [‘wa-tju’]

Another meaning of “watje” – maybe because of its nice soft fluffiness – is “sissy” or “wimp”. Friends can use it amongst each other without being too offended.

Example:
– “Hij steunt zijn eigen collega’s nooit; hij is zo’n watje!”
(“He never backs his own colleagues; he’s such a wimp!”)

Related words:
Now that we’re talking terms of abuse, let me give you some more – I’ll stick to the acceptable ones (starting with the least harmful one):
– “Doetje”:  an outdated word for “softy”, no-one will be really offended when called a “doetje”, but rather laugh at you.
– “Sukkel”: is still used for an idiot or clumsy person (mostly boys). The related verb is “sukkelen” which is often used when referring to someone who’s suffering from diseases (“hij sukkelt met zijn gezondheid” means “he’s in ill-health”).
– “Trut”: is only used for girls and means something like “cow”, “goat”. It is often accompanied by “stom” (“stupid”), as in “stomme trut!” (“stupid cow”).
– “Mietje”: is used to offend boys or men by calling them a “sissy”. The following dubious expression exists in Dutch: “Laten we elkaar geen mietje noemen” which means “Let’s call a spade a spade”.
– “Loser”: no explanation needed.
– “Eikel”: (here’s where the genitals come in) “idiot” or “oaf”.
– “(Kloot)zak”: (another genital) “sucker”.