Author Archives: Marc

Het loopt de spuigaten uit

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Spuigaten
It’s going too far, it’s getting out of hand Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

This expression is applicable to a situation where a certain
negative development is going on for some time, and is getting out of
hand at some point.

A "spuigat" is a so-called scupper: an opening in the hull of a ship,
at deck level, for purposes of draining water. "Het loopt de spuigaten
uit" literally means: It (i.e. water) runs out of the scuppers. So when
water is draining from the scuppers, this means that the deck is
covered in a layer of water, which is an undesirable situation…

If you want to specify the thing or situation that is getting out of
hand, you say: "Het loopt de spuigaten uit met [thing/situation]", see
the Examples. A related word is "spui" which you might recognize if you live in The Hague or Amsterdam, see below.

Examples:
– "Het loopt de spuigaten uit met de criminaliteit in de grote steden." 
("Crime is getting out of hand in the big cities.")

– "Ga je vanavond weer naar een feest? Dat is belachelijk! Het loopt de spuigaten uit!" 
("Are you going to a party again tonight? That’s ridiculous! It’s getting out of hand!.")

– "Ik kan niet meer tegen het gedoe…het loopt de spuigaten uit!" 
("I can’t stand the fuss anymore…it’s going too far!")

Expressions:
– "Dit gaat te ver": this is going too far.
– "Dit loopt uit de hand": this is getting out of hand. Lit.: this walks out of the hand.

Spui
Related words:
– Spuien: to drain (off), to sluice surplus water [verb] [spuide, gespuid]. Note that "spuien" can also be used figuratively: to spout (knowledge/criticism etc.).
– Spui: the place in town where one would sluice surplus water in the old days. There is a Spui in at least Amsterdam and in The Hague.
– Gat: hole [noun] [het gat, de gaten].

Heksenketel

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chaos, pandemonium Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de hek-sen-ke-tel, de hek-sen-ke-tels]

"Heksenketel" is composed of "heks" and "ketel", which respectively translate to "witch" and Heksenketel
"cauldron/kettle". "Heksenketel" therefore literally translates to "witches’ cauldron". However…unless you’re reading a Harry Potter book, you will only hear "heksenketel" being used in its figurative meaning: a place or situation with (lots of) confusion and disorder: a chaos or pandemonium.

Examples:
– "Het was vanochtend een heksenketel op de Nederlandse wegen." 
("It was chaos on the Dutch roads this morning.")

– "Tijdens de Drie Dwaze Dagen is het altijd een heksenketel in de Bijenkorf." 
("During the Three Mad Days it’s always a pandemonium at the Bijenkorf department store.")

– "Na de wedstrijd Ajax-Feyenoord was het weer een enorme heksenketel rond het stadion." 
("After the Ajax-Feyenoord match it was a big chaos again around the stadium.")

Expressions:
– "Heksen": lit.: to perform witchcraft [verb] [hekste, gehekst]. Fig.: to do the impossible.

Example:
– "Je moet als de wiedeweerga je koffer in gaan pakken, anders halen we het vliegtuig niet" – "Rustig, rustig, ik kan niet heksen!"
("You have to pack your suitcase on the double, otherwise we’ll miss the plane" – "Slow down, slow down, I can’t do the impossible!")

Related words:
– Heks: witch [noun] [de heks, de heksen].
– Ketel: cauldron, kettle [noun] [de ketel, de ketels].
– Bezem: broom [noun] [de bezem, de bezems].

Example:
– "De bezem van Harry Potter is een Nimbus 2000…de snelste in zijn soort…"
("Harry Potter’s broom is a Nimbus 2000…the fastest of its kind…")

– Heksenjacht: witch hunt [noun] [de heksenjacht, de heksenjachten].
– Hekserij: witchcraft [noun] [de hekserij, <no plural>].

Extra:
The Harry Potter books are immensly popular in the Netherlands too. Except for Harry, Voldemort and Hagrid, the translated names of the characters (and other things) differ quite a lot from the original English names. Here’s a brief overview:
– Harry Potter : Harry Potter
– Ron Weasly : Ron Wemel
– Hermione Granger : Hermelien Griffel
– Hagrid : Hagrid.
– Albus Dumbledore : Albus Perkamentus
– Voldemort : Voldemort
– Severus Snape : Severus Sneep
– Draco Malfoy : Draco Malfidus
– Gryffindor : Griffoendor
– Slytherin : Zwadderich
For an extensive overview, check this link.

Tegenvallen

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to be disappointing Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[te-gen-val-len, viel te-gen, is te-gen-ge-val-len]

“Tegenvallen” is used  when something does not answer to one’s positive expectations. The related noun is “tegenvaller”: disappointment/setback. When something is very disappointing, you can add a number of adverbs, see Extra.

You may often see a construction in the third person with an objective pronoun, for example: “Het valt me tegen dat…”, which translates to “It’s disappointing to me that…/It disappoints me that…”.

The opposite is the verb “meevallen” and the noun “meevaller”, which is used when something does not meet one’s negative expectations.

Examples:
– “Het miezert weer vandaag…dat valt tegen.” 
(“It drizzles again today…that’s disappointing.”)

– “De beurskoersen vallen weer behoorlijk tegen deze week.”
(“The stock exchange indexes are pretty disappointing again this week.”)

– “Het valt me vies tegen dat ik een bekeuring heb gekregen voor 3 km te hard rijden.”
(“It really disappoints me that I’ve had a speeding ticket for driving 3 km/h too fast.”)

Related words:
– Teleurstellen: to disappoint [verb] [stelde teleur, teleurgesteld].
– Teleurstelling: disappointment [noun] [de teleurstelling, de teleurstellingen].

Extra:
When something is very disappointing, you can add a number of adverbs. We’ve given the literal translation:
– erg tegenvallen: to be very disappointing.
– echt tegenvallen: to be really disappointing.
– zwaar tegenvallen: to be heavily disappointing.
– bijzonder tegenvallen: to be especially disappointing.
– vies tegenvallen: to be dirty disappointing.
– behoorlijk tegenvallen: to be quite disappointing.

Olifant

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elephant Iconspeaker_3
[noun]Olifant
[de o-li-fant, de o-li-fan-ten]

Elephants do not belong to the domestic fauna of the Netherlands 🙂 You can only find them in the Dutch Zoos…

Examples:
– "Olifant Annabel is afgelopen zondag overleden nadat zij in een gracht gevallen was." 
("Elephant Annabel passed away last Sunday after falling into a ditch.")

– "Weet jij het verschil tussen een Afrikaanse en een Indiase olifant?" 
("Do you know the difference between an African and an Indian elephant?")

– "Een olifant heeft een lange slurf, slagtanden en grote oren." 
("An elephant has a long trunk, tusks and big ears.")

– "Ik ben zo high als een papegaai…ik zie allemaal roze olifantjes…" 
("I’m as high as a bird…I see pink little elephants everywhere…" Lit.: "I’m as high as a parrot…")

– "En toen kwam er een olifant met een lange snuit en die blies het verhaaltje uit…" 
("Then came an elephant with a long snout who blew out the story…" Line to finish a children’s bed time story with.)

Expressions:
– "Van een mug een olifant maken": to make a mountain (out) of a molehill, to exaggerate. Lit.: "to make an elephant out of a mosquito".

Related words:
– Slurf: trunk [noun] [de slurf, de slurven].
– Slagtand: tusk [noun] [de slagtand, de slagtanden].
– Mug: mosquito [noun] [de mug, de muggen].

Mijn naam is haas

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Haas
It’s nothing to do with me Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Literally, "mijn naam is haas" translates to "my name is hare"… It is a translation of the German expression "Mein Name ist Hase", see Extra. The expression is used  – often jestingly and apologetically – to say that you don’t know anything about something or that something has nothing to do with you.

Examples:
– "Welke prutser is verantwoordelijk voor deze flutpresentatie?" – "Mijn naam is haas." 
("Which screw-up is responsible for this rubbish presentation?" – "It’s nothing to do with me.")

– "Ik snap dat Frank bonje zoekt, maar mijn naam is haas." 
("I understand that Frank’s looking to pick a fight, but it’s nothing to do with me.")

– "Wie heeft de magnetron zo vies gemaakt?"  – "Mijn naam is haas."
("Who messed up the microwave like that?" – "It’s nothing to do with me.")

Expressions:
– "Als een haas er vandoor gaan": to be off like a shot.
– "Ik weet van niks": I don’t know anything about it. Lit.: I know of nothing.

Example:
– "Wie heeft er zo geroddeld over Lisa?" – "Ik weet van niks…"
("Who has spread such rumours about Lisa?" – "I don’t know anything about that…")

Related words:
– Naam: name [noun] [de naam, de namen].

Example:
– "Hoe is uw naam?" – "Sanders."
("What’s your name?" – "Sanders". Lit.: "How is your name?")

– Haas: hare [noun] [de haas, de hazen].
– Haasje-over: leap-frog (children’s game) [noun] [het haasje-over,<no plural>].

Extra:
"Mijn naam is haas" is translated from the German expression "Mein Name ist Hase" and dates back to a historical event. In 1855, a foreign student had shot his opponent at a duel. The student fled to France to escape prosecution. On his way, he met the German law student Victor Hase in Heidelberg. In order to pass the French-German border in Straßburg, the refugee needed identification papers. He asked Hase, who had a student ID, for help. Now, abusing a student ID was prohibited by the law, but Hase was willing to cooperate. He ‘lost’ is student ID, the refugee ‘found’ it, and was able to cross the border. Then things went wrong. After his arrival in France, the refugee lost the student ID, but unfortunately, it turned up again. Hase was called to account in the university’s court of law. To save himself, he used a juridical formula: Mein Name ist Hase, ich verneine die Generalfragen, ich weiss von nichts (My name is Hase, I deny the general questions, I know of nothing). The expression soon spread in the short version across the whole of Germany, and also reached the Netherlands.

<From: van Dale – Groot Uitdrukkingen woordenboek>