Author Archives: Marc

Buitenspel

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offside [adverb] [‘bui-tun-spel‘] Iconspeaker_klein_2Buitenspel_2

Euro 2008 has begun, and how! A 3-0 victory for Holland against Italy yesterday evening!!! Let’s do a soccer-related word 🙂

"Buitenspel" is the Dutch word for "offside". It is composed of "buiten" and "spel", which translate to "outside" and "game" respectively. As we all know, a soccer player is in offside position when he is in front of the opponent’s  defender at the moment the ball is played by one of his team (provided that the goalkeeper is still in his goal). The idiom "buitenspel staan" (lit.: "to stand offside") is frequently used for "to be (in) offside (position)".

"Buitenspel" can also be used figuratively, often in combination with the verb "zetten" ("to put"), in the context of sidelining someone or shunting someone off. See the last of the Examples.

Examples:
– "Die eerste goal van Van Nistelrooy was buitenspel, toch?" 
("That first goal by Van Nistelrooy was offside, right?")

– "Die speler stond buitenspel!" – "Echt niet! Hij stond gelijk met de laatste man!"
("That player was offside!" – "No way! He was level with the sweeper!")

– "Frank vindt dat hij vaak buitenspel wordt gezet door zijn manager."
("Frank feels he’s being sidelined a lot by his manager.")

Related words:
– "Buiten": outside, out, out of.
– "Spel": game. See also "spelletje".

Extra:
Since you will probably hear a lot of people talk about soccer these days, we’ll provide you with some basic soccer vocabulary 🙂

– "Voetbal": soccer, football (the sports).
– "Voetbal": (foot)ball (the ball).
– "Scheidsrechter": referee. Often abbreviated to "scheids" (: "ref").
– "Speler": player.
– "Keeper": (goal)keeper.
– "Verdedigen": to play defense, to defend.
– "Aanvallen": to attack.
– "Middenveld": midfield.
– "Aftrap": kickoff.
– "Vrije trap": free kick.
– "Hoekschop": corner.
– "Strafschop": penalty. Often the English "penalty" is used, pronounced with Dutch accent and emphasis 🙂
– "Hands": hands, handball.
– "Overtreding": foul, offense.
– "Uit": out.
– "Inwerpen/ingooien": to throw in.

Hooikoorts

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hay fever [noun] [de hooikoorts, de hooikoortsen] [‘hooi-koorts’] 
Iconspeaker_klein_3

"Hooikoorts" is composed of "hooi" and "koorts", which respectively translate to "hay" and "fever", hence "hay fever".

The idiom "last hebben van" (lit.: "to have (a) burden of) is perfectly suited to use when you want to express that you’re suffering from something or when you’re bothered by something unpleasant…hay fever, for example. See the Examples.Paardebloem_2

Examples:

– "Het is weer hooikoortstijd."
("It’s hay fever season again." Lit.: "It’s hay fever time again.")

– "Ha-a-a-a-a-a….tsjie!." – "Gezondheid." – "Dank je, ik word gek van die hooikoorts!"
("A-a-a-a-a-a…..choo!." – "Bless you." – "Thanks, this hay fever is driving me nuts!" Lit.: "Health." – "Thanks, I’m becoming crazy because of that hay fever!")

– "Archi, ben je verkouden?" – "Nee, ik heb last van hooikoorts…"
("Archi, do you have a cold?" – "I’m suffering from hay fever…")

– "Het geeft niet schat dat je huilt." – "Zo kan-ie wel weer, ik heb gewoon last van hooikoorts."
("Don’t worry about you crying honey." – "That’s enough now, I’m just suffering from hay fever."

Related words:
– "Hooi": hay.
– "Koorts": fever.
– "Verkoudheid": cold.
– "Snuiten": to blow one’s nose.
– "Jeuk": itch.

Het moet maar

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(oh well alright,) I guess it just has to be done [Dutch phrase of the week]  Iconspeaker_klein

The translation above is just one of many possibilities, depending on context. We’ll cover a few in the Examples.

Examples:
– "Ik heb helemaal geen zin om vandaag weer naar het werk te gaan…het moet maar…"
("I really don’t feel like going to work again today…I guess I’ll just have to do it…")Het_moet_maar_2

– "Ga jij ook naar de afscheidsborrel van Frank?" – "Het moet maar…"
("Are you going to the Frank’s farewell drink too?" – "I guess I have no choice…")

– "Spring, spring!" – "Het moet maar…"
("Jump, jump!" – "Here goes nothing…")

– "Sander, weet jij een andere vertaling voor ‘het moet maar’ ?" – "Nee makker, het moet maar zo…bij gebrek aan betere alternatieven…"
("Sander, do you know another translation for ‘het moet maar’ ?"- "No dude, I guess we’ll have to do this one…for lack of better alternatives…")

Related words:
– "Moeten": [verb] to must, to have to.
– "Maar": [adverb] but, only, just.

Toedeledoki

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toodle-oo, bye(-bye), cheers, cheerio [interjection] [‘toe-du-lu-doo-kie’] Iconspeaker_klein_2

“Toedeledoki” is a very informal way to say (good)bye.

The use of “toedeledoki” in the Dutch language was strongly boosted by the comedy series Jiskefet, which aired from from 1990 to 2005 on Dutch
television. It was a show with various humorous and absurdist
sketches. One of the recurring sketches had three men in it with a southern Dutch accent (from the province of Brabant), sitting in the office, talking about various trivial everyday topics. One of these characters would always dump his sandwiches – made by his wife – in the trash bin while exclaiming “Toedeledoki!”

Sometimes, Dutch ‘goodbye words’ – such as “dag”, “doei” or “toedeledoki” – are used to express one’s disapproval of a certain activity or situation. See the last example.Achterzwaai

Examples:
– “Ik ga naar huis, toedeledoki!”
(“I’m going home, bye-bye!”)

– “Mensen, het was erg gezellig, maar nu moet ik echt gaan…Toedeledoki!”
(“People, I had a great time, but I really have to go now…Cheerio!”)

– “Schat, kun jij de afwas doen?” – “Toedeledoki, daar heb ik nu echt geen zin in!”
(“Honey, can you do the dishes?” – “Forget it, I really don’t feel like doing that now!”)

Related words:
– “Doei“: bye bye, so long, ta ta, see you.
– “Tot ziens”: goodbye, bye.
– “Afscheid”: [noun] parting, leaving.
– “Iemand gedag zwaaien”: to wave hello/goodbye to someone.
– “Vaarwel”: farewell.

Extra:
Another brilliant joke from the same Jiskefet episode (at 2min09sec): “Wat is de verleden tijd van komkommersla?” – “Kwamkwammersloeg!” 😀 Ask you local Dutch Guru for an explanation…

Extra 2:
Let’s do some alternatives for “toedeledoki. Here are a few ways to say goodbye in (spoken) Dutch:

Informal
– “Groetjes!”: bye-bye!
– “(De) groeten”: bye.
– “Doei/doedoei/doeidoei/doeg”: bye, cheers.
– “(De) mazzel”: see you.
– “Toedels/toedeloe”: toodle-oo, cheerio, bye-bye.
– “Later/lator/laters”: (see you) later.
– “De ballen!”: cheers! bye!
– “(Ik) zie je”: see you.
– “Tot sinas”: (a pun for “tot ziens”) (good)bye.
– “Hoihe”: [used in the province of Limburg] bye-bye.
– “Houdoe”: [used in the province of Brabant] bye-bye.
– “Tabee”: so long.

(Semi-)formal
– “Tot ziens”: goodbye.
– “Tot horens”: [on the phone] bye (lit.: until we hear each other again).
– “Dag”: bye.
– “Tot de volgende keer”: until next time.
– “Tot snel”: see you soon (lit.: till soon).
– “Tot binnenkort”: see you shortly (lit.: till shortly).
– “Vaarwel”: farewell.

Dimmen

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1. to dim [verb] [dimde, gedimd] [‘dim-mun’] Iconspeaker_klein

The literal translation "dimmen" is not very exciting: to dim… However, in Dutch, "dimmen" is not only used to describe lowering the intensity of light(s), but also to describe lowering the intensity of certain (human) behaviour, see 2.

Dimmed_light

Examples:
– "Lezen bij gedimd licht is slecht voor je ogen."
("Reading with dimmed light is bad for the eyes.")

– "Frank, kun jij het licht dimmen, zodat we de presentatie beter kunnen zien?"
("Frank, can you dim the lights so we can have a better view of the presentation?")

– "Liefie, wil jij het licht even dimmen?" – "Vanavond niet schat, ik heb hoofdpijn."
("Sweetie, could you just dim the lights?" – "Not tonight honey, I’ve got a headache.")

Related words:
– "Dimmer": dimmer(-switch).
– "Donker": dark, gloomy.
– "Verduisteren": to darken, to obscure, to embezzle.

2. to cool it [verb] [dimde, gedimd] [‘dim-mun’] Iconspeaker_klein

In this context, "dimmen" is used to describe lowering the intensity of certain (human) behaviour, hence the translation: "to cool it".

You may see the following phrase a lot: "Effe dimmen!" ("Cool it!"). "Effe" is informal spoken language for the Dutch word "even", written phonetically. "Even" is used a lot in Dutch! It translates to "for a moment" or "just", but cannot always be translated like that literally. Sometimes "even" is omitted in the translation, as is the case in the first example.

Examples:
– "Effe dimmen, makker! Dit is niet leuk meer."
("Cool it, pal! This is not funny anymore.")

– "Die gast moet nu dimmen, anders sla ik hem op zijn bek!"
("That dude should cool it right now, or I’ll punch him in the face!")

– "Die topmannen moeten gewoon effe dimmen met die bonussen." – "Ik weet niet of ik dat met je eens ben."
("These captains of industry should just cool it on the bonuses." – "I don’t know if I agree with you on that.")

Related words:
– "Kalmeren": to calm (down).
– "Rustig": calm, peaceful, quiet.
– "Ontspannen": to relax.