Author Archives: Sander

Huisbaas

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landlord, landlady Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de huis-baas, de huis-ba-zen]

SandersOldApartment With owning a house being more or less a luxury for young professionals in “de Randstad“, many of us are stuck in a rented (studio) apartment for years. Apartments for rent are typically privately owned and often multiple apartments are created in what used to be just one “herenhuis”. When you sign a contract with the owner, he/she becomes your “huisbaas”: ‘house owner’ (literally ‘boss’).

As many of us have experienced, in order to have a good and working relationship with your landlord, you will need to demonstrate sufficient negotiation skills and be capable of exercising the right amount of diplomatic pressure that will avoid him getting annoyed, but will finally have him repair your window!!

When people have a landlady you will sometimes hear “huisbazin”, but in most cases “huisbaas” is understood to mean both.

Examples:
– “Mijn huisbaas klaagt altijd tegen mij over geluidsoverlast, maar ik zweer het je, het is de onderbuurvrouw die al die herrie maakt!” 
(“My landlord always complains to me about noise, but I swear, it’s the neighbour below who’s making all the noise!” Note that “onderbuurvrouw” is the “female neighbour living in the apartment below yours”. The word “overlast” is generally used for “inconvenience, nuisance, trouble”.)

– “Ik ga morgen het huurcontract tekenen met de huisbaas. Het leek me wel een aardige kerel, maar ja, dat zijn ze altijd in het begin.” 
(“Tomorrow I’ll sign the rental agreement with the landlord. He seemed like a nice guy, but you know, they always do in the beginning.”)

– “Marc heeft nog steeds zijn borg niet teruggekregen van zijn vorige huisbaas. Een schande, maar ja, wat doe je eraan?” 
(“Marc still has not received his deposit back from his previous landlord. A disgrace, but hey, what are you going to do about it?”)

– “Ik mag van mijn huisbaas geen huisdieren hebben, maar ik doe het stiekem lekker toch!” 
(“My landlord does not allow me to have pets, but I’m doing it secretly anyway, ha!”)

– “Mijn huisbaas zou dit weekend het raam komen maken, maar zoals te doen gebruikelijk is, gebeurt er weer helemaal niks tenzij ik hem continu achter de broek aan zit!”
(“My landlord was supposed to come over and repair the window this weekend, but as is usual, nothing happens at all unless I keep chasing him!”)

Related words:
– Baas: boss [noun] [de baas, de bazen].
– Huis: house [noun] [het huis, de huizen].
– Huurhuis: rented house, house you rent [noun] [het huurhuis, de huurhuizen].

Example:
– “Ik wil graag een huis kopen, maar nu de eisen voor een hypotheek zijn verzwaard, wordt het waarschijnlijk toch weer een huurhuis. En dan zit ik weer opgescheept met een huisbaas!”
(“I would like to buy a house, but now that the requirements for (getting) a mortgage have been increased, it will probably be a rented house again. And then I’m stuck with a landlord again!”)

– Huren: to rent [verb] [huurde, gehuurd].
– Verhuren: to let, to rent [verb] [verhuurde, verhuurd].
– Borg: deposit [noun] [de borg, de borgen].
– Conflict: conflict [noun] [het conflict, de conflicten].
– (Huur)contract: contract, (rental) agreement [noun] [het contract, de contracten].

Voor spek en bonen

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to count for nothing, to sit there for show, to be purely decorative Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[voor spek en bo-nen]

Bonen When you are participating in or joining an activity and your participation has no significant impact or you don’t care about the outcome, then you can say you are in it “voor spek en bonen” (literally ‘for the bacon and the beans’). This phrase is typically used in conjunction with the verb “meedoen”: to participate.

Spek I heard this phrase yesterday when I was watching the popular Dutch reality show “Boer zoekt vrouw” (‘Farmer wants a wife’). Farmer Richard was supposed to choose from three women after spending some time with them on the farm. However, he had secretly met with one of them before their stay, thereby sealing the deal beforehand. The other women then complained that they had been part of the show “voor spek en bonen” only!

You also frequently here “voor de show” (‘just for show’).

Examples:
– “We gaan zo poker spelen, doe je mee?” – “Nou vooruit, maar alleen voor spek en bonen.” 
(“We are about to play poker, will you join?” – “Hm. Ok! But I’m not playing for real…”)

– “Ga je me nu vertellen dat ik al die tijd voor spek en bonen meedoe? Daar ben ik mooi klaar mee!” 
(“Are you telling me that all this time my participation has count for nothing? A fine state of affairs, … not!”)

– “Mag ik met jullie mee voetballen?” – “Ok, je bent wel veel te klein, maar goed, dan doe je voor spek en bonen mee.” 
(“Can I play football/soccer with you guys?” – “Alright, you are in fact way too short, but ok, then you play just for show.”)

– “Ik waardeer het dat jullie me hebben uitgenodigd voor de vergadering, maar als ik niets mag zeggen, zit ik er dus gewoon voor spek en bonen bij! Dat lijkt me niet de bedoeling, of wel soms?!” 
(“I appreciate it that you have invited me for the meeting, but when I’m not allowed to say anything I’m basically here for decoration only! I don’t think that’s the way it is supposed to be, is it now?!”)

Expressions:
– “Voor de show”: just for show.

Related words:
– Spek: pork, bacon [noun] [het spek].
– Boon: bean [noun] [de boon, de bonen].
– Show: show [noun] [de show, de shows].

Geef mijn portie maar aan Fikkie!

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count me out, I'm out, I don't want any part of it Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[Geef mijn portie maar aan Fik-kie]

Achtbaan In this phrase "Fikkie" is a dog and it seems to be the name of choice when referring to a random dog 🙂 A "portie" is a "portion/dose/serving", so when you no longer want to participate or be a part of it, you give your share to… the dog.

Usually you use this phrase when talking to somebody else about whatever it is you quit.

Examples:
– "Ja dag! Mooi niet, geef mijn portie maar aan Fikkie!" 
("Forget it! No way, you can count me out!" In this case "dag" is pronounced with a prolonged "a".)

– "Ik heb echt alles geprobeerd, maar niets wat ik doe is goed. In haar ogen blijf ik een hufter. Nou weet je, als het zo moet, geef mijn portie dan maar aan Fikkie." 
("Really, I have tried everything, but everything I do is wrong. In her eyes I remain a bastard. Well you know, if this is the way it's going to be, then I don't want any part of it!" Lit.: "…, but nothing I do is good".)

– "…En nu doet hij alsof het allemaal zijn idee was! Nou ik kap er mee, geef mijn portie maar aan Fikkie!" 
("…And now he pretends it was all his idea! Well, I quit, he can count me out!")

– "Als jij in de achtbaan wil, prima, maar mij niet gezien; geef mijn portie maar aan Fikkie!" 
("If you want go for a roller coaster ride, fine, but rather you than me; you can definitely count me out!" Lit.: "If you want to go in the roller coaster…" "Achtbaan" ('eight track') is the general word used for roller coasters and the name refers to the "eight shape".)

Expressions:
– "Mij niet gezien": literally "not seen me" you can say this when you don't dare to do something and/or when you rather leave it to somebody else.

Related words:
– Portie: portion/serving/dose/share [noun] [de portie, de porties].
– Hond: dog [noun] [de hond, de honden].
– Geven: to give [verb] [gaf, gegeven].

Presentator

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presenter Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de pre-sen-ta-tor, de pre-sen-ta-tors / de pre-sen-ta-to-ren]

Willemruis In general a "presentator" (or "presentatrice" when female) is somebody who presents something. However, we mostly use it for radio or tv shows. When you give a lecture/presentation or are a speaker at a conference, we say "spreker". Somebody who introduces all speakers could be a "presentator" but can also be referred to as "gastheer" or "gastvrouw" ('host/hostess').

The related verb is "presenteren" ('to present'). A presentation is a "presentatie".

Examples:
– "Ik vind het een leuk programma, maar die presentator trek ik voor geen meter." 
("I like the show, but the presenter annoys me enormously." Lit.:"I think the show is nice, but…" Note the expressions "het niet trekken" (not being able to stand it, to not last long) and "voor geen meter" (not at all). )

– "De presentator van de middagsessie was bijna niet te verstaan. Gelukkig waren de sprekers wel goed." 
("The host of the afternoon session could hardly be heard. Luckily the speakers (themselves) were good." Here we use "wel" to emphasize that they were good as opposed to the host who was not.)

– "Een bekende Nederlandse tv-presentator uit de jaren tachtig is Willem Ruis." 
("A well-known Dutch TV host from the eighties is Willem Ruis.")

Related words:
– Presenteren: to present [verb] [presenteerde, gepresenteerd].
– Presentatie: presentation [noun] [de presentatie, de presentaties].

Example:
– "Sorry maar ik kan vanavond niet uit; ik moet morgenvroeg een belangrijke presentatie geven." – "Nou en, lekker belangrijk!"
("I'm sorry but I can't go out tonight; tomorrow morning I have to give an important presentation." – "So what, who cares?!")

– Gastheer/vrouw: host/hostess [noun] [de gastheer/vrouw, de gastheren/vrouwen].
– Spreken:to speak/talk [verb] [sprak, gesproken].

Example:
– "Volgende week ga ik naar een conferentie." – "Leuk, moet je ook spreken of ga je alleen luisteren?"
("Next week I'm going to a conference." – "Nice, do you also have to present or are just attending?" Lit. "… or are you only going to listen?")

– Spreker: speaker [noun] [de spreker, de sprekers]. 

 

Tegen beter weten in

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against (one’s) better judgement, while knowing better Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[te-gen be-ter we-ten in]

The implied verb in this phrase is “doen”. To do something against (one’s) better judgement, or while knowing better: “Tegen beter weten iets doen”. You can replace “doen” with other verbs of course, see the Examples.

Examples:
– “Tegen beter weten in haalde hij geen kaartje bij de parkeerautomaat.” 
(“Even though he knew better, he did not get a ticket at the (parking ticket) machine.” Note that it is common in Dutch to say “parkeerkaartje” for the ticket you get in order to pay for parking. The ticket machine is called “parkeerautomaat”. A “parking ticket” as in a “fine”, is “parkeerboete” in Dutch.)

– “Ik geef toe, ik heb het tegen beter weten in gedaan, maar ik vond het de gok waard. Achteraf gezien heeft het goed uitgepakt!” 
(“I admit, I did it against my better judgement, but I though it was worth the bet/shot. With hindsight it turned out well!”)

– “Tegen beter weten in bliezen de regeringsleiders de top af.” 
(“The heads of government cancelled the summit against their better judgement.”)

– “Ik dacht nog, zal ik mijn regenkleding meenemen… Maar helaas. Ach ja, ik doe wel vaker iets tegen beter weten in.” 
(“I thought to myself, shall I take my rain gear with me… But alas… Oh well, it’s not the first time I do something against better judgement.” Lit. “…, more often I do something against …”)

Related words:
– Weten: to know [verb] [wist, geweten].
– Waarschuwen: to warn [verb] [waarschuwde, gewaarschuwd].

Example:
– “Ik heb je nog zo gewaarschuwd! Je moet uitkijken bij het oversteken!”
(“Haven’t I warned you? You have to watch out when crossing (the road)!” Lit. “You have to watch out with the crossing.”)

– Beter: better [adjective/adverb].
– Achteraf: afterwards [adverb].
– Achteraf gezien: with hindsight.
– Dom/stom: stupid, silly, ignorant [adjective/adverb].
– Naïef: naive [adjective/adverb].