Author Archives: Sander

Aardig

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1. nice, friendly, pleasant, kind Iconspeaker_3
Glimlach
[adjective/adverb]
[aar-dig]

Examples:
– "Heb jij een aardige leidinggevende?" – "Niet echt, maar hij/zij is er toch nooit!" 
("Do you have a friendly supervisor/boss/manager?" – "Not really, but he/she is never there anyway!")

– "Ik vind haar niet zo aardig; ze maakt de hele tijd van die botte opmerkingen!" 
("I don’t like her/ I don’t think she is that nice; all the time she makes such blunt/curt remarks!")

– "Wat aardig van je dat je me wil helpen!" 
("How nice of you to offer help! / that you want to help me!")

– "Hij glimlacht heel aardig, maar toch vertrouw ik hem niet!"
("He has a charming smile, but still I do not trust him!" Lit. "He smiles friendly"…)

Related words:
– Vriendelijk: friendly, nice [adjective/adverb].

2. fair(ly), pretty, nice(ly) Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[aar-dig]

"Aardig" can also imply that something is substantial, of considerable size, volume, quality etc.

Examples:
– "Volgens mij heeft mijn neef een aardig inkomen, want hij heeft al weer een nieuwe auto gekocht!" 
("I believe my cousin must have a decent income, because he bought yet another car!")

– "Ik heb mijn aandelen verkocht en ondanks de crisis heb ik toch een aardig bedrag verdiend." 
("I sold my shares and despite the crisis, I still earned quite a good sum.")

– "Hij spreekt een aardig woordje over de grens." 
("He speaks quite a few foreign languages.")

– "Het heeft afgelopen nacht aardig hard geregend." 
("Last night it rained quite a bit.")

– "Wat vind je van mijn schilderij?" – "Eh… niet onaardig!" 
("What do you think of my painting?" – "Ehm… not bad!")

– "Mijn tante doet tegenwoordig aan Tae Bo en ze is al aardig wat kilo’s kwijt!" 
("My aunt practises Tae Bo these days and she has lost quite some weight already!" Literally "…lost quite a few kilos". Note the use of "aardig wat …": "quite a few / quite some …")

Verhullen

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to conceal (from), to mask, to cloak/veil Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[ver-hul-len, ver-hul-de, ver-huld]

Forensische_tent2_2
"Verhullen" can be used both literally and figuratively.

Examples:
– "Het kasteel was volledig verhuld door de mist." 
("The castle was completely concealed by the mist.")

– "Met niets verhullende foto’s choqueerde de krant haar lezers." 
("With revealing pictures, the newspaper shocked its readers.")

– "Het valt me op dat Frank zich vaak in verhullende termen uitdrukt." 
("I have noticed that Frank often expresses himself in masked terms.")

– "De werkzaamheden van de forensische experts werden verhuld voor het publiek door een afscheiding." 
("The
work done by the forensic experts was concealed from the audienc by a
fence." Contrary to what is practised in the popular tv series, Dutch
CSI experts usually put up a tent that covers the crime scene.)

– "Zolang ze maar niet de waarheid verhullen, vind ik het best!" 
("As long as they do not conceal the truth it’s fine with me!")

Related words:
– Verbergen: to hide, conceal, cover up [verb] [verborg, verborgen].
– Verhulling: concealment [noun] [de verhulling, de verhullingen].

Example:
– "Hoe noem je zo’n tent die ze gebruiken bij forensisch onderzoek?" – "Ik weet het niet, een verhullingstent??"
("What do you call one of those tents that they use when doing forensic research?" – "I don’t know, a concealment tent??")

– Verstoppen: to hide [verb] [verstopte, verstopt].

Ben je betoeterd?!

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Have you gone out of your mind?! Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Toeter_2
"Ben je betoeterd" is used informally and is a bit of a ‘friendly’ "have you gone out of your mind?!". As such it is often used to address children, as opposed to the stronger "ben je gestoord?!" or "ben je besodemieterd?!". It can also be used in the meaning of "don’t be daft/ridiculous".

A common variation is "ben je nu helemaal betoeterd" ("have you gone completely out of your mind").

Note that "toeteren" is the Dutch verb for "to honk/blast/toot".

Examples:
– "Mevrouw, bent u nu helemaal betoeterd, wij staan hier allemaal te wachten en ik ben aan de beurt!" 
("Madam, have you gone out of your mind, we are all waiting (in line) and it is my turn!")

– "Zal ik je thuis afzetten?"- "Ah joh, ben je betoeterd, ik loop wel." 
("Shall I drop you off at your house?" – "Oh don’t be ridiculous, I’ll walk.")

– "Ben je nu helemaal betoeterd?! Wat heeft mamma nou gezegd, hier met dat koekje!" 
("Are you out of your mind?! What did mummy tell you, now give me that cookie/biscuit!")

Expressions:
– "Ben je (nu helemaal) van de pot gerukt?!": a popular more vulgar alternative to "ben je betoeterd". Literally it says "have you been pulled off the pot(ty)?!" .
– "Ben je gek/gestoord?!": are you crazy/insane?!.

Related words:
– Toeter: horn, blower [noun] [de toeter, de toeters].
– Toeteren: to blast, to honk [verb] [toeterde, getoeterd].

Dubben

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to be in doubt, to have doubts Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[dub-ben, dub-de, ge-dubd]

Dubben
"Dubben" has nothing to do with "dubbing a movie", which would be "nasynchroniseren" in Dutch. ("Dubbing" is, by the way, never done in the Netherlands, except for some commercials and children’s movies, but in case of the latter you can still see the original if you want). "Dubben" is a bit informal and usually does not imply a strong doubt.

Examples:
– "Heeft Frank al een flatscreen gekocht?" – "Misschien, maar volgens mij dubt hij er nog over." 
("Has Frank already bought a flatscreen tv?" – "Maybe, but I think he is still in doubt.")

– "Sander is aan het dubben of hij wel of niet een auto moet huren in Engeland." 
("Sander has doubts whether or not to rent a car in England.")

– "Waar wacht je op?" – "Niks, ik dub nog een beetje, dat is alles." 
("What are you waiting for?" -"Nothing, I’m still a bit in doubt, that is all.")

– "Anne-Liesbeth heeft lang gedubd of ze verlof zou nemen, maar uiteindelijk heeft ze het gedaan." 
("For a long time Anne-Liesbeth was in doubt whether or not to take leave, but eventually she did it." Note the relationship between the Dutch word "verlof" and the English "furlough". Also note that Dutch people often say "eventually" when they mean "possibly" or "potentially" (which can translate to "eventueel" in Dutch).)

Related words:
– Twijfelen: to be in doubt [verb] [twijfelde, getwijfeld].
– Aarzelen: to hesitate [verb] [aarzelde, geaarzeld].
– Betwijfelen: to doubt (something) [verb] [betwijfeld, betwijfeld].

Example:
– "Zal Frank vandaag op tijd zijn?" – "Nou, ik betwijfel het ten zeerste!"
("Will Frank be on time today?" – "Well, I seriously doubt it!")

Hilarisch

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hilarious Iconspeaker_3
[adjective]
[hi-la-risch]

Lachen
"Hilarisch" is used the same way in Dutch as "hilarious" in English, yet it seems we only use it when something is really hilarious (as in "extremely funny"). When something is "very funny" it is more common to say "(heel) erg grappig" ("really very funny"), "ontzettend grappig" ("incredibly funny") etc.

Note that one pronounces the ending ‘-isch’ as ‘-ies’.

Examples:
– "Het is hilarisch om te zien hoe sommige mensen afgaan bij de Idols audities." 
("It’s hilarious to see how some people humiliate themselves at the Idols auditions.")

– "Hilarisch? Nee hilarisch zou ik het niet willen noemen, eerder zielig." 
("Hilarious? No, I wouldn’t call it hilarious, I’d rather call it pathetic.")

– "Hoe was de comedyshow in het Comedy Theater?"- "Erg goed, sommige van die gasten zijn echt hilarisch!" 
("How was the comedy show in ‘Comedy Theater’?" – "Very good, some of those guys are really hilarious!")

Expressions:
– "Lachen, gieren, brullen": literally "laughing, screaming, roaring" this is used to say you had a really good laugh. Often also used ironically.

Example:
– "Hoe was de nieuwe film met Mr. Bean?"- "Nou, het was weer lachen, gieren, brullen. Maar niet heus."
("How was the new Mr. Bean movie?" – "Well, once again it was really funny. Not…")

– "Buikpijn hebben van het lachen": literally "to have stomachache because of laughing" you say this when you really have or had to laugh hard because of something.

Related words:
– Grappig: funny, amusing [adjective/adverb].
– Komisch: comical, funny [adjective/adverb].