Author Archives: Laura

Je gooit er met de pet naar

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you don’t make an effort, you don’t really try Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

"Ergens met de pet naar gooien" is "to make a half-hearted attempt" to finish a job or task because you Pet don’t feel like doing it. When someone’s not committed to something, and therefore only finishes half of the job or does a very poor job, you can say: "Hij/zij gooit er met de pet naar", which literally translated to : "He/she is throwing the hat at it". Phrases with a similar meaning as "ergens met de pet naar gooien" are "niet je best doen" ("not try your best") or "ergens lak aan hebben" ("not care about something").

Examples:
– "Ze heeft haar studie nooit afgemaakt; vanaf het begin gooide ze er met de pet naar." 
("She never finished her studies; from the start she was not really committed to it.")

– "Ik denk dat zijn contract niet wordt verlengd want hij gooit er met de pet naar." 
("I don’t think that his contract will be renewed because he’s not really committed [to the job].")

– "Zodra de voetballers wisten dat ze de wedstrijd niet meer konden winnen, gooiden ze er met de pet naar." 
("As soon as the soccer players knew that they couldn’t win the match anymore, they didn’t make an effort.")

– "Elk klusje dat je aan haar geeft moet je zelf overdoen – ze gooit er echt met de pet naar." 
("Every task that you give to her you’ll have redo yourself – she really does a poor job.")

Expressions:
– "Ergens lak aan hebben": to not care about something.
– "Je best doen": to do one’s best.

Related words:
– Pet: hat [noun] [de pet, de petten].

Veilig

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safe, secure Iconspeaker_3
[adverb/adjective]
[vei-lig]

"Veilig" denotes a situation that is free from danger. It’s the opposite of "gevaarlijk" ("dangerous"), or the more informal word with the same meaning "link". The corresponding noun is "veiligheid" ("safety"). As in English, you especially come across the word when people refer to traffic, travel advice to certain countries, or sex.

Examples:
– "Hij voelde zich niet veilig op dat verlaten treinstation."  Veilig
("He didn’t feel safe at that abandoned train station.")

– "De soldaten zijn weer veilig (en wel) thuisgekomen." 
("The soldiers have returned home safe (and sound).")

– "Het is niet heel veilig om door Yemen te reizen, omdat er geregeld mensen worden ontvoerd." 
("It’s not so safe to travel through Yemen, since people are kidnapped there frequently.")

– "Veiligheid boven alles! Maak alstublieft uw veiligheidsriem vast." 
("Safety first! Please fasten your seat belt.")

– "Hij heeft zijn hele werkend leven geld opzij gezet om zijn pensioen veilig te stellen." 
("He has put aside money his entire working life to secure his pension.")

– "Veilig Verkeer Nederland is een organisatie die zich richt op veiligheid op de weg." 
("Safe Traffic Netherlands is an organisation that aims for road safety.")

– "Je kunt vervelende SOA’s oplopen door onveilige seks." 
("You can get nasty STD’s through unsafe sex." Note that SOA abbreviates ‘Seksueel Overdraagbare Aandoeningen’, corresponding to ‘Sexually Transmittable Diseases’.)

Related words:
– Onveilig: unsafe, dangerous [adverb/adjective].
– Gevaarlijk: dangerous [adverb/adjective].
– Veiligheid: safety [noun] [de veiligheid, <no plural>].
– Veilig stellen: to secure [verb] [stelde veilig, heeft veilig gesteld].

Dom

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dumb, stupid, silly, ignorant Iconspeaker_3
[adverb/adjective]
[dom]

"Dom" can be used for the opposite of smart or intelligent ("slim" or "intelligent" in Dutch) and to describe naive or foolish people or behaviour. The comparative of "dom" is "dommer", its superlative is "domst". Dom2

Examples:
– "Hij is geen genie, maar ik zou ook niet willen zeggen dat hij dom is ." 
("He’s not a genius, but I wouldn’t want to say he’s stupid either.")

– "Hij heeft uit woede zijn computer uit het raam gegooid; wat een domme actie!" 
("Out of anger he has thrown his computer out of the window; what a stupid thing to do!")

– "Wat is de domste opmerking die je ooit hebt gemaakt?" 
("What’s the stupidest remark you’ve ever made?")

– "Hij is niet zo dom als hij eruit ziet." 
("He’s not as silly as he looks.")

Expressions:
– "Dom blondje": dumb blonde.

Example:
– "Zij is echt geen dom blondje hoor, ze is cum laude afgestudeerd."
("She’s not a dumb blonde you know, she graduated cum laude.")

Related words:
– Slim: smart [adverb/adjective].Fotodom1_3
– Intelligent: intelligent [adverb/adjective].
– Naïef: naive [adverb/adjective].

Extra:
"Dom" with a capital d has a totally different meaning; it refers to a cathedral. When Dutch people mention "De Dom" or "De Domtoren" ("the cathedral tower"), they are talking about the tower of the cathedral in Utrecht, located on Dom Square ("Domplein"). The immense nave of this cathedral was destroyed by a tornado in 1674 and never rebuilt; the Dom tower remains one of the main characteristics of the city of Utrecht, which is called the "Domstad" ("Cathedral city") for this reason. Check the (English) website www.domkerk.nl for more information on the church. Every inhabitant of Utrecht knows the fifties’ classic "Als ik boven op de Dom sta.." ("If I’m standing on top of the Dom church.."). Check the Utrecht dialect lyrics here.

Geniaal

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brilliant, highly-gifted Iconspeaker_3
[adverb/adjective]
[ge-ni-aal]

albert-einstein-370563_640“Geniaal” is linked to “genius” (“genie” in Dutch) and has always been used in the sense of “highly-gifted” people. A synonym of “geniaal” is “hoogbegaafd” (literally: “highgifted”). You can also use the word to describe ingenious ideas, events, people, jokes, food, places etc..

Examples:
– “De nieuwe show van die cabaretier is geniaal, je moet hem zien!” 
(“The new show by that cabaret performer is brilliant, you have to see it!”)

– “Mensen met een IQ van boven de 148 worden beschouwd als geniaal.”
(“People with an IQ of over 148 are considered to be highly-gifted.” Note that in this sentence, you can replace “geniaal” by “hoogbegaafd”.)

– “Heb je de laatste tijd nog iets leuks gelezen?” “-Ja, ‘Saturday’ van Ian McEwan, echt een geniaal boek!”
(-“Have you read anything fun lately?” “-Yes, ‘Saturday’ by Ian McEwan, a truly brilliant book!”)

– “Clifton is een geniaal strand in Kaapstad.”
(“Clifton is a fantastic beach in Cape Town.”)

– “De Graaf van Monte Christo bedacht een geniaal ontsnappingsplan.”
(“The Count of Monte Christo came up with a brilliant plan of escape.”)

Related words:
– Hoogbegaafd: highly gifted [adjective, adverb].
– Genie: genius [noun] [het genie, de genieën].

Example:
– “Vind je Bill Gates een genie van onze tijd?”
(“Do you think Bill Gates is a genius of our time?”)

– Briljant: 1. brilliant [adverb/adjective]; 2. diamond [noun] [de briljant, de briljanten].

Extra:
Note that the plural of “genie” gets an extra “e” in the plural “de genieën”. This is due to the fact that the emphasis of the singular “genie” is on the last syllable. The same goes for instance for “idee” (“idea”) which becomes “ideeën” but not for “kolonie” (“colony”) where emphasis is not put on the last syllable but on the middle one: “ko-lo-nie”. Therefore, the plural of “kolonie” is “koloniën”.

Lijf

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body Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het lijf, de lij-ven]

When referring to their "body", most people will use the word "lichaam" and not "lijf". "Lijf" is a slightly more old-fashioned version of "lichaam". However, the word can still be heard very often since it is used in an abundance of expressions.Lijf_2

Examples:
– "Hij heeft een gespierd lijf dankzij al die krachttrainingen." 
("He has a muscular body thanks to all those power trainings.")

– "Heb je het tijdschrift "Lijf en Leven" (zie plaatje) wel eens gelezen?" 
("Have you ever read the magazine "Body and Life" (see picture)?")

Expressions:
– "Op het lijf geschreven zijn": to be just right, to be made for.

Example:
– "Deze baan is haar op het lijf geschreven."
("This job is cut out for her.")

– "Iemand tegen het lijf lopen": to bump into someone.

Example:
– "Tijdens de Amsterdam Fashion Week ben ik verschillende BN’ers tegen het lijf gelopen."
("I ran into several famous Dutch people during the Amsterdam Fashion Week.")

– "Iemand te lijf gaan": to fly at someone.

Example:
– "De voetbalfans gingen elkaar met stokken te lijf na de 1-1 gelijkspel."
("The soccer fans attacked each other with sticks after the 1-1 draw.")

– "Het heeft niets om het lijf": there’s nothing to it, it’s not important. Note that this phrase can also be used in a literal sense "to have nothing around the body", i.e. to be naked.

Example:
– "De speech van de politicus had niets om het lijf; het was een opeenhoping van chichés."
("The speech of the politician was useless; it was a pile-up of chlichés.")

– "In levenden lijve": in person, alive.

Example:
– "Op Koninginnedag kun je de Koninklijke familie in levenden lijve zien."
("On Queen’s Day you can see the Royal familiy in person.")

– "Iets aan den lijve ondervinden": to experience something personally, to live through something.

Example:
– "Hij heeft aan den lijve ondervonden wat het is om honger te hebben."
("He has (personally) experienced what it means to be hungry.")

Related words:
– Lichaam: body [noun] [het lichaam, de lichamen].

Extra:
The government provides temporary accomodation to victims of domestic violence ("huiselijk geweld") in so-called "Blijf van mijn lijf-huizen" ("Hands off my body-houses").  All houses are listed on the website http://www.huiselijkgeweld.nl/.