Author Archives: Sander

De hele reutemeteut

Posted on by

the whole lot, everything, the whole shebang 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[de he-le reu-te-me-teut]

De_hele_reutemeteut You can use this informal phrase to indicate that you mean 'the whole lot'. It can cover things and people. In case of things, it's usually 'rubbish' or 'junk'. "Reutemeteut" is derived from "reut" ('jumble', 'bunch') which in its turn is related to the old Dutch noun 'rot', meaning 'row of soldiers'. German readers may recognize the word 'Rotte'. The original phrase was 'de hele reut', but both this phrase and 'reut' are not used anymore.

Examples:
– "Met wie was jij op Koninginnedag?" – "O, met Marieke, Roel, Bart-Jan, je weet wel, de hele reutemeteut." 
("Who were you with on Queen's day?" – "Oh, with Marieke, Roel, Bart-Jan, you know, the whole lot.")

– "We gaan het restaurant verbouwen." – "Wat ga je doen dan?" – "We gaan alles vernieuwen; de keuken, de tafels, nieuw behang, de hele reutemeteut." 
("We are going to renovate the restaurant." – "Well, what are you going to do?" – "We are going to renew everything; the kitchen, the tables, new wallpaper, the whole shebang.")

– "We moesten ons allemaal melden bij de directeur. Het ondersteunend personeel, de hogere managementlagen, het kantinepersoneel, de hele reutemeteut!" 
("We all had to report to the director. The supporting personnel, the higher management layers, the cantine staff, everybody!")

– "Schiet het op met het leegruimen van het huis?" – "Niet echt, we moeten van alles uitzoeken, maar het liefst zou ik de hele reutemeteut het raam uitgooien!" 
("Are you making progress cleaning out the house?" – "Not really, we have a lot to go through, but I would really like to just throw everything out of the window!")

Expressions:
– "De hele mikmak": like 'de hele reutemeteut' but then for things.
– "Alles en iedereen": one and all, all and sundry. Lit. "everything and everybody".

Related words:
– Troep: mess, junk, rubbish [noun] [de troep, <no plural>].
– Rommel: junk, rubbish [noun] [de rommel, <no plural>].

Behandelen

Posted on by

to handle, to treat 
[verb]
[be-han-de-len, be-han-del-de, be-han-deld]

Behandelen In general “behandelen” can be used for handling objects, matters, and when treating topics, animals or people (the latter two also in the role of physisian/doctor).

Examples:
– “Die wond ziet er niet goed uit, die moet je echt laten behandelen!” 
(“That wound does not look good, you really have to get it treated / looked after!”)

– “Vandaag behandelen we de Riemann hypothese.” 
(“Today we treat/discuss/cover the Riemann hypothesis.”)

– “Ik neem aan dat mijn voorganger het gebruik van naamvallen heeft behandeld?” – “Alleen maar oppervlakkig, meneer.” 
(“I assume that my predecessor has covered the usage of cases?” – “Only superficially / we only scratched the surface, sir.”)

– “Voorzichtig behandelen! Breekbaar!” 
(“Handle with care! Fragile!” Lit. “Breakable!”)

– “Ik vind dat je iemand die van je houdt, en alles voor je doet, niet zo kan behandelen.” 
(“I think that you can’t treat somebody who loves you, and does everything for you, this way.”)

– “Sorry, maar alleen de manager kan uw klacht behandelen. En die is er vandaag niet!” 
(“I’m sorry but only the manager can handle your complaint. And he is not in today!”)

– “Het heeft geen zin om uw moeder nog langer te behandelen, de ziekte is te ver gevorderd.” 
(“It’s pointless to prolong your mother’s treatment / treat your mother any longer, the illness has progressed too far.”)

Related words:
– Behandeling: handling, treatment [noun] [de behandeling, de behandelingen].
– Behandelaar: the person in charge of your case, practitioner [noun] [de behandelaar, de behandelaars].

Bezet

Posted on by

occupied, engaged, busy 
[adjective]
[be-zet]

Bezet The adjective ‘bezet’ can have the meaning of ‘occupied’, ‘engaged’ or ‘busy’ depending on context. When you are in a relationship, you may be referred to as ‘bezet’ by others who discuss potential partners 🙂 These days, many of us lead a busy life: “een druk bezet leven leiden”. See the examples below for more.

The picture shows a common practice in the days leading up to ‘Koninginnedag‘ (Queen’s day): people claim their ‘flea-market spot’ by marking it ‘bezet’. How one then determines who claimed which spot when Koninginnedag arrives, I don’t know 🙂

Examples:
– “Pardon, is deze plaats/stoel bezet?” 
(“Excuse me, is this spot/seat taken?” A ‘stoel’ in general is a ‘chair’. The opposite of this sentence would be: “Is deze stoel vrij?” – “Is this seat/chair vacant?”)

– “Op 5 mei 1945 werd ons land volledig bevrijd. De zuidelijke provincies waren namelijk bezet tot eind ’44.” 
(“On May 5th 1945 our country was completely liberated. You see, the southern provinces were occupied until the end of ’44.”)

– “Helaas, alle kamers zijn bezet dit weekend. Ik kan u wel een ander hotel aanraden.” 
(“Unfortunately all rooms are occupied/taken this weekend. But what I can do is recommend another hotel.”)

– “Als ik jou was, zou ik niet te lang met haar praten; ze is bezet!” 
(“If I were you, I wouldn’t spend too much time talking to her; she’s attached/taken!”)

– “En, wat zei ze?”  – “Ik heb haar nog niet gesproken, de lijn is bezet.” 
(“And, what did she say?”  – “I haven’t spoken to her yet, the line is busy.”)

– “Sorry, ik ben bezet vanavond, maar morgen heb ik wel tijd. Zullen we dan een biertje drinken?” – “Nee, morgen kan ik niet. Goh, wat leiden we allebei toch een druk bezet leven!” 
(“I’m sorry, I’m otherwise engaged tonight, but tomorrow I have time. Shall we have a beer then?” – “No, tomorrow I can’t make it. My, how we both lead such busy lives!”).

Related words:
– Bezetten: to occupy [verb] [bezette, bezet].
– Bezet houden: to keep occupied [verb] [hield bezet, bezet gehouden].

Example:
– “Hou jij onze plaatsen even bezet, dan ga ik nog snel wat drinken halen!”
(“Keep our seat occupied will you, then I’ll go and quickly get some drinks!”)

– Bezetter: occupier(s), occupying force(s) [noun] [de bezetter, de bezetters].

Versterken

Posted on by

to strengthen, reinforce, fortify, amplify/boost 
[verb]
[ver-ster-ken, ver-sterk-te, ver-sterkt]

amplifier-768536_640“Versterken” is the general verb for “to strengthen”. It is often used in the translation of ‘to reinforce’ and ‘to amplify’. However when you are in a “Lord of the Rings” role-playing game, you may want to “versterken” your fortress. The noun is “versterking”. A related noun you may encounter is “versterker” (‘amplifier’ or ‘(signal) repeater’).

Examples:
– “Als ik naar dit soort zielige films kijk, versterkt dat mijn gevoel van neerslachtigheid alleen maar…” 
(“When I watch sad movies like these, it only reinfoces my feelings of dejection/depression.”)

– “Mijn tv-ontvangst is heel matig.” – “Heb je al geprobeerd het signaal te versterken?” 
(“My TV reception is very poor.” – “Have you tried to amplify the signal?”)

– “Het beroepsleger werd versterkt met huurlingen, maar de commandant slaagde er niet in een eenheid van soldaten te creëren.” 
(“The regular/professional army was reinforced with mercenaries, but the commander failed to create a tight group of soldiers.”)

– “Zijn getuigenis heeft bij mij de indruk versterkt dat het hele verhaal uit de duim is gezogen!” 
(“His testimony reinforced my impression that the whole story was made up!” Lit. “reinforces the impression with me that the whole story was sucked out of the thumb!”)

– “Ik heb mijn bagagedrager versterkt, maar ik denk niet dat ik iemand achterop kan nemen.” 
(“I’ve reinforced my bicycle’s (luggage) carrier, but I don’t think that I can transport somebody.” This is a typical Dutch bicycle sentence. Without context, a ‘bagagedrager’ is always the ‘luggage carrier’ of a bicycle. “Iemand achterop nemen” literally translates as ‘to take somebody on the back’ which sounds weird, I admit 🙂 . Riding a (city) bicycle with a second person sitting on the (luggage) carrier is customary in Dutch cities, however it is officially not allowed 🙂 Also, typically Dutch bicycle warranty does not cover defects that result from transporting another person.)

Related words:
– Versterking: reinforcement, fortification [noun] [de versterking, de versterkingen].
– Versterker: amplifier, repeater, intensifier [noun] [de versterker, de versterkers].

Example:
– “Sander heeft thuis een antenneversterker aangesloten, maar ‘interactieve TV’ van UPC werkt nog niet helaas!”
(“Sander has installed a signal repeater at home, but unfortunately ‘interactive TV’ by UPC still doesn’t work!”)

– Sterk: strong [adjective].
– Erger maken: to make worse, to exacerbate [verb] [maakte erger, erger gemaakt].

Oplossing

Posted on by

solution 
[noun]
[de op-los-sing, de op-los-sin-gen]

Wat is de oplossing voor deze puzzel?An “oplossing” can be solution to a given problem/riddle but also a settlement of a quarrel or disagreement. It is also often used as a ‘way out’. The answer to a simple question is ‘antwoord’ in Dutch. If you are into chemistry (‘scheikunde’ in Dutch) you will of course go wild with your ‘oplossingen’ just like you would in English 🙂

Examples:
– “Sander heeft nog geen goede oplossing voor het DWOTD-audioprobleem.” 
(“Sander still doesn’t have a good solution to the DWOTD audio problem.”)

– “IKEA heeft diverse oplossingen voor het opbergen van spullen in kleine ruimtes.” 
(“IKEA has several solutions for storing things in small spaces.”)

– “De abdotrainer is dé oplossing voor al uw problemen, bestel hem nu direct via telefoonnummer…” 
(“The abdotrainer is the solution to all your problems, order it now straight away through phone number…” To emphasize a vowel in Dutch you use the ‘accent aigu’ (we borrowed the term from French). )

– “Kijk, als tijdelijke oplossing kan ik dit goedkeuren, maar voor de lange termijn moet er een structurele oplossing gevonden worden.” 
(“Look, as a temporary solution I can accept/approve this, but for the long term a permanent solution has to be found.” Lit.: “structural solution”. When you mean ‘temporary solution’ as in ‘make-shift solution’, we use the word ‘noodoplossing’ (’emergency solution’).)

– “Zijn jullie nog tot een oplossing gekomen?” – “Nee, het is bij oeverloze discussies gebleven!” 
(“Have you reached (/come to) a solution?”  – “No, we didn’t get past the stage of endless discussions!”)

– “Ik kan u een oplossing bieden die past bij uw wensen en budget.” 
(“I can offer you a solution that meets your requirements and budget.”  Lit. “…that fits your wishes and budget.”)

Related words:
– Noodoplossing: temporary (make-shift) solution [noun] [de noodoplossing, de noodoplossingen].
– Oplossen: to solve, dissolve, resolve [verb] [loste op, opgelost].

Example:
– “Hoe heb je het uiteindelijk opgelost dan?” – “Ja, niet dus!”
(“So how did you solve it in the end?” – “Well, I didn’t!”)

– Probleem: problem [noun] [het probleem, de problemen].
– Antwoord: answer [noun] [het antwoord, de antwoorden].
– Raadsel: riddle [noun] [het raadsel, de raadsels].
– Oplossingsgericht: solution driven/minded [adjective].