Author Archives: Sander

Er is geen doorkomen aan

Posted on by

there is no way to get through/to finish, there is no end to it Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Rijen_dik The verb "doorkomen" translates as "to come/get/pass through" and can also be used figuratively, for example in this week's Dutch phrase.

Examples:
– "Heb je al een afspraak gemaakt met de huisarts?" – "Nog niet, ik probeer (ze) te bellen, maar er is geen doorkomen aan!" 
("Have you made an appointment yet with the family doctor?" – "Not yet, I'm trying to call (them), but I can't get through at all!")

– "Misschien is het een goed idee om dit jaar wat eerder kerstinkopen te doen. Want straks is er in de winkels geen doorkomen meer aan!" 
("Perhaps it is a good idea to start the Christmas shopping a little earlier this year. Later on there will be no way to get through (the crowd of people) in the shops!")

– "Het is jouw beurt om bier te halen!" – "Als je het goed vindt wacht ik liever, want er is op het moment aan de bar geen doorkomen aan…" 
("It's your turn to get some beer!" – "If it's okay with you I'd rather wait as there is at the moment no way to get through at the bar…")

– "Gaat het je lukken om het rapport om twee uur af te hebben?" – "Zeg, heb je die stapel gezien? Er is geen doorkomen aan!" 
("Will you succeed in finishing the report by two o'clock?" – "Hey, have you seen that stack? There is no way to finish!")

Expressions:
– Rijen dik: rows of people, a big crowd of people (lit. 'rows thick').

Example:
– "Het publiek staat rijen dik te wachten om een glimp op te vangen van de popster."
("Rows of spectators were waiting to catch a glimpse of the pop star.")

Related words:
– Druk: busy, crowded [adjective/adverb].
– Drukte: busyness, commotion, pressure [noun] [de drukte, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Wat een drukte! Kom, we komen straks wel terug!"
("What a crowd! Come on, we'll come back later!")

Afblazen

Posted on by

to call off (a plan) to blow off/away Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[af-bla-zen, blies af, af-ge-bla-zen]

Afgeblazen Yesterday I read in a Dutch newspaper that president Obama “afblies” a plan by George W. Bush. Regardless of the plan I concluded that “afblazen” would make a good DWOTD 🙂 Literally “to blow off”, a common translation of “afblazen” is “to call off a plan”. Usually the plan that is “afgeblazen” is already close to execution or in an advanced state.

The adjective/adverb “af” can mean “off, away, finished, out” and verbs that are composed of “af” + “some other verb” usually indicate ending or moving away from something. An example is when a referee “afblaast”: blowing the whistle in order to end the match.

Examples:
– “En zijn jullie klaar voor morgen? Ik heb echt een heel goede presentatie, al zeg ik het zelf.” – “Heb je het nog niet gehoord? De voorlichtingsdag is afgeblazen!” 
(“Are you (guys) ready for tomorrow? My presentation is (going to be) excellent, if I say so myself.” – “Haven’t you heard yet? The information day has been cancelled!”)

– “De scheidsrechter negeerde de extra tijd en blies vroegtijdig af.” 
(“The referee ignored the extra time and ended the match early.” A common alternative to ‘afblazen’ in this context is ‘affluiten’.)

– “Weet je wat, het lijkt mij het beste als we het afblazen, zeg nu zelf, we hebben echt te weinig voorbereidingstijd.” 
(“You know what, I think it’s best if we call it off, let’s be honest, we definitely do not have enough preparation time.”)

– “Ruim een jaar geleden blies president Obama een omstreden plan van George W. Bush voor een raketschild juist af.” (in NRC Handelsblad, 18 November 2010)
(“While over a year ago president Obama called off a controversial plan by George W. Bush for a missile shield.” The use of the word ‘juist’ in the sentence indicates that the described (past) action is contrary to or in contrast with what is done at the moment; I tried to capture this with the word “while” at the beginning of the sentence.)

– ” ‘Het wordt weer vroeger donker en somberheid maakt zich van mij meester’, sprak Richard terwijl de wind de bladeren van het dak blies.” 
(” ‘The days are becoming shorter again and gloominess is taking control of me’, Richard said while the wind blew the leaves off the roof.” Literally “It is getting darker earlier again…”)

Expressions:
– “Stoom afblazen”: to let off steam.

Example:
– “Laat hem maar even stoom afblazen, hij is boos dat het toernooi is afgeblazen.”
(“Just leave him, he needs to let off some steam, he is angry about the tournament having been cancelled.”)

Related words:
– Blazen: to blow [verb] [blies, geblazen].
– Beëindigen: to end, to terminate [verb] [beëindigde, beëindigd].
– Annuleren: to cancel [verb] [annuleerde, geannuleerd].
– Affluiten: blowing the whistle to end the match (by referee) [verb] [floot af, afgefloten].
– Aflasten/afgelasten: to cancel, to call off [verb] [(ge)lastte af, afgelast].

Puf

Posted on by

energy, drive, push, oomph Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de fut, <no plural>]

Trap_oplopen When you don't have any "puf" for something, it means you have no energy to do something or that you do not feel up to something. There can also be 'no "puf" in you', meaning there is no push/drive left in you.

You wouldn't talk about a machine consuming too much "puf", in that case we'd say "energie" (energy).

Examples:
– "Had je nog puf om na het werk te gaan sporten?" 
("Did you have any energy left to exercise after work?" Literally "to go and exercise / play sports?")

– "Ik heb bijna alles kunnen kopen vandaag, maar ik had geen puf meer om nog naar de drogist te gaan, dat komt dan morgen wel." 
("I was able to buy almost everything today, but didn't have the energy left to go to the chemist's / drugstore, I'll have to do that tomomorrow." Lit.: "…, that will come tomorrow." Note that you will also hear "drogisterij" (the ending -ij indicates the place/shop). The 'drogist' can also be the person "chemist/druggist".)

– "Wat is er met Frank aan de hand? Hij heeft nergens meer puf voor en klaagt steen en been!" 
("What's wrong with Frank? He doesn't feel up to anything and complains all the time!" The expression 'steen en been klagen' literally translates as 'to complain stone and leg'.)

– "Wandelvakantie? Daar heb ik geen puf meer voor hoor op mijn leeftijd…" 
("Hiking trip/holidays/vacation? At my age I don't have the energy left for such a thing." The verb 'wandelen' can both mean 'to hike' or 'to stroll, to go for a walk'.)

– "Wat zit je te puffen?! Heb je nu al geen puf meer?" 
("What are you panting for?! Are you already out of energy?")

Related words:
– Energie: energy [noun] [de energie, <no plural>].
– Fut: energy, strength, drive [noun] [de fut, <no plural>]. Used very much the same way as 'puf'.

Example:
– "Natuurlijk kunt u nog op wandelvakantie, er zit nog genoeg fut in u!"
("Of course you can still go on a hiking trip, there is still enough energy left in you!")

– Fit: fit, healthy [adjective].
– Puffen: to pant, puff [verb] [pufte, gepuft].

Nageslacht

Posted on by

offspring, future generations Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het na-ge-slacht, de na-ge-slach-ten]

images“Nageslacht” is related to the word “nakomeling”. The latter translates as “descendant” (literally “the one coming after”). All “nakomelingen” of a parent together form the “nageslacht”.

“Nageslacht” is also the term for the people who will live after us: “future generations”.

Examples:
– “Het is de taak van de man te zorgen voor voldoende nageslacht.” – “Bah, wat een paternalistische opmerking!” 
(“It is the duty of the man to ensure that there will be enough offspring.” – “Ugh, what a paternalistic remark!”)    

– “Het nageslacht kan niet beoordeeld worden op de daden van hun ouders.” 
(“Offspring cannot be judged (based) on the actions of their parents.”)

– “Het nageslacht van je moeder is niet noodzakelijkerwijs gelijk aan het nageslacht van je vader.” 
(“Your mother’s offspring is not necessarily identical to your father’s offspring.”)

– “We moeten goed zorgen voor het milieu. Doen we het niet voor onszelf, dan doen we het voor het nageslacht.” 
(“We have to take proper care of the environment. If we don’t do it for ourselves, then we (should) do it for future generations.”)

Related words:
– Nakomeling: descendant [noun] [de nakomeling, de nakomelingen].
– Nazaat: descendant [noun] [de nazaat, de nazaten].
– Geslacht: gender, (the male or female) sex, genitals, family, race [noun] [het geslacht, de geslachten].
– Slachten: to butcher, to slaughter [verb] [slachtte, geslacht].

Example:
– “Het paard werd geslacht zonder dat het voor nageslacht had kunnen zorgen.”
(“The horse was slaughtered without it having been able to produce offspring.”)

– Geslachtsgemeenschap: sexual intercourse [noun] [de geslachtsgemeenschap, <no plural>].
– Voortplanting: reproduction, procreation [noun] [de voortplanting, <no plural>].

Wat dan nog?

Posted on by

so what, what if it is? Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[Wat dan nog?]
person-802090_640“Wat dan nog?” is an alternative to “nou en?” You can use it when you are annoyed, or when you want to say that you think something will not have that much of an influence.

Examples:
– “Hé, ik zat hier, dit is mijn plek!” – “Ja wat dan nog, ga daar maar zitten!”
(“Hey, I was sitting here, this is my spot!” – “Yeah, so what, go sit over there!”)

– “En wat dan nog? Jij hebt geen (enkel) recht van spreken, jij bent zelf blijven zitten!” 
(“So what? You have no right to speak (at all), you were kept down a class/grade held back / you had to repeat the year yourself!” Note that ‘jij bent blijven zitten’ literally means ‘you remained sitting’. Which could also be a cause for arguing, you never know 🙂 )

– “En wat dan nog joh, zelfs als ze je een onvoldoende geven, ga je nog over!” 
(“And what if it is, even if you fail the test/exam you will still move up to the next grade!” An ‘onvoldoende’ literally translates as an ‘insufficient one’.)

– “Ga je met die jas naar buiten? Het gaat straks enorm regenen!” – “Wat dan nog, ik ben toch niet van suiker!” 
(“Are you going outside with that coat? It will rain heavily in a while!” – “So what, I’m not made of sugar am I?” Note that ‘zijn van’ can mean ‘to be made of’ and hence you can leave out the ‘gemaakt’ if you want.)

Expressions:
– “Nou en?!”: so what!
– “Wat kan mij het schelen?“: what do I care?

Example:
– “Wat kan mij het schelen, ik neem nog een biertje!”
(“What do I care, I’ll have another beer!”)

Related words:
– De schouders ophalen: to shrug [verb] [haalde de schouders op, de schouders opgehaald]. Literally: “to lift up the shoulders”.
– Wat: what [indefinite pronoun].
– Dan: then [adverb].

Example:
– “Ja en wat dan?”- “Nou, en dan niks!”
(“Yes and then what?” – “Well, and then nothing!”)