Author Archives: Sander

Storing

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disturbance, interruption, failure, technical malfunction Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
Storing_2[de sto-ring, de sto-ring-en]

The verb "storen" translates to "to disturb/intrude/interrupt/interfere" and is used in both a technical and non-technical context. The noun "storing" however is mostly used in its translation of "technical failure/malfunction".

Examples:
– "Wereldwijde storing treft Gmail." 
("Gmail hit by worldwide breakdown.")

– "Vanwege een seinstoring is er geen treinverkeer mogelijk tussen Amsterdam en Den Haag." 
("Due to signal failure there are no trains between Amsterdam and The Hague." Lit.: "there is no train traffic between …")

– "Er is een storing op Schiphol, je kunt op dit moment niet inchecken." 
("There is a service interruption at Schiphol airport, you cannot check in at the moment.")

Related words:
– Onderbreking: disruption [noun] [de onderbreking, de onderbrekingen].
– Buiten dienst/werking: out of service/order.
– Storen: to interrupt/interfere/disturb [verb] [stoorde, gestoord].
– Gestoord: defective, mentaly disturbed [adjective].

Bonje

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row, fight, quarrel Iconspeaker_3
Vette_bonje
[noun]
[de bon-je, <no plural>]

You can say that there is "bonje" somewhere, that people are having "bonje" or that there is "bonje" between people. It is not necessarily a row or fight, it can also be the state of people being heavily in disagreement, not talking to each other etc. It is in fact quite similar to "ruzie" but its usage is more informal.

Examples:
– "Hoor je dat lawaai hiernaast? Volgens mij hebben de buren bonje." 
("Do you hear that noise next door? I think the neighbours are fighting.")

– "Het begon als een discussie, maar aan het eind van de middag was het toch echt bonje." 
("It started out as a debate, but at the end of the afternoon it became a real fight after all." Note that quite often a "discussie" in Dutch is more a debate/argument than a conversation.)

– "Kunnen Robert en Erica beter niet uit elkaar gaan; het is altijd bonje tussen die twee." 
("Shouldn’t Robert and Erica break up; they are always fighting / having arguments.")

– "Wat is er? Hebben jullie bonje?" 
("What’s wrong? Are you (guys) fighting?")

Related word:
– Ruzie: quarrel, row, argument, fight [noun] [de ruzie, de ruzies].

Het zal wel aan mij liggen

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It’s probably (just) me Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

The verb "liggen" usually translates to "to lie" (position of the body), or "to be" (location of an object). "Liggen aan" can therefore mean "to be located at", but it can also take on the meaning of "to depend on", "to be caused by" or "to be due to". When you say "het zal wel aan mij liggen", you mean to say that it is probably because of the way you are, or the way that you interpret something, that you are somewhat bothered (by something).Zal_wel

Other examples of the use of "liggen aan" are: "het ligt altijd aan een ander" (it is always somebody else’s fault) or the classic "het ligt niet aan jou, maar aan mij" (it’s not you, it’s me).

Examples:
– "Het zal wel aan mij liggen, maar ik vind 2,40 voor een biertje behoorlijk duur!" 
("I think 2,40 for a beer is quite expensive, but that’s probably just me!")

– "Ik dacht eerst, het zal wel aan mij liggen, maar later gaf zij zelf toe dat ze fout zat." 
("At first I thought it was because of me, but later she admitted that she was wrong.")

– "Ik vind het asociaal als mensen afval op straat gooien, maar goed, het zal wel weer aan mij liggen." 
("I think it is antisocial when people litter, but hey, it is probably just me again." Literally we say: "throw rubbish on the street.")

Related word:
– Oorzaak: cause, origin [noun] [de oorzaak, de oorzaken].

Haar

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"Haar" is a common or a neuter noun, depending on the meaning. Note that "haar" can also be a possessive or personal pronoun, see 3. and 4. below.

1. hair Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het haar, <no plural>]

Haar
You say "het haar" when talking about hair in general (such as body hair) or your haircut/style/do.

Examples:
– "Mijn haar ziet er niet uit, sorry, maar zo kan ik echt niet uit." 
("My hair looks really bad, I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly go out like this.")

– "Wat zit je haar leuk!" – "Nou, dankjewel!" 
("Your hair looks really nice!" – "Well, thank you!")

– "Sander heeft gisteravond zijn haar gemillimeterd." 
("Sander trimmed/cropped his hair last night." Here the verb "millimeteren" is obviously derived from the length of the hairs left after trimming.)

– "Haar haar zit leuk, vind je ook niet?" 
("Her hairstyle is really nice, don’t you think?")

– "Is jouw haar geverfd, of is dat je echte haarkleur?" 
("Is your hair dyed, or is that your real hair colour?")

Expressions:
– "Als je haar maar goed zit…": literally "as long as your hair looks fine…" this says something like "why worry over something…"

Related words:
– Kapsel: hairstyle/do [noun] [het kapsel, de kapsels].
– Haarstijl: hairstyle [noun] [de stijl, de stijlen].
– Borst/been/schaam/okselhaar: chest/leg/pubic/armpit hair [noun] [het haar, <no plural>].
– Kaal: bald [adjective].

2. hair
[noun]
[de haar, de ha-ren]

You say "de haar" when talking about a single hair, or "de haren" in case you mean a collection of single hairs as opposed to a hairdo.

Examples:
– "Van al dat harde werken krijg je grijze haren als je niet oppast." 
("All that hard work may cause grey hairs (to appear) if you don’t watch out.")

– "Van wie zijn die blonde haren?" – "Ik heb geen idee, echt waar schat…" 
("Whose blonde hairs are those?" – "I haven’t got a clue, honestly darling.")


– "Er zit een haar in mijn salade." – "Bah, wat vies!"
("There is a hair in my salad." – "Yuck, how disgusting!")

Expressions:
– "Daar krijg je grijze haren van": that will turn your hair grey.
– "Op een haar na": very nearly.

Example:
– "De auto raakte de voetganger op een haar na."
("The car very nearly hit the pedestrian.")

– "Geen haar op mijn hoofd die daar aan denkt": I would not dream of it. Lit.: "Not a single hair on my head that will think of that".

Related words:
– Behaard: hairy [adjective].

3. her
[possessive pronoun]

Example:
– "Ik zweer het, dat is mijn haar, niet haar haar!" 
("I swear, that is my hair, not her hair!")

4. her
[personal pronoun]

Example:
– "Ok, ik zal het haar zeggen." 
("OK, I will tell her.")

Dat gaat je niets aan!

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That’s none of your business! Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

cat-717394_640The verb “aangaan” is mostly used in the translation of “to be switched/turned on” or “to be activated”. But as always there is a completely different meaning, in this case “to concern”. “Dat gaat je niets/niks aan” can therefore also be translated with “that does not concern you”. Of course you can create your own variation of the phrase, see the Examples.

Examples:
– “Is Dave gisteravond nog mee naar binnen geweest?” – “Wat?! Dat gaat je niets aan!” 
(“Did Dave go inside with you last night?” – “What?! That is none of your business!”)

– “Ik weet dat het mij eigenlijk niets aangaat, maar hoeveel verdien jij eigenlijk?” – “Je hebt gelijk, dat gaat je inderdaad niets aan!”
(“I know it is not really my business, but how much do you earn anyway?” – “You are right, it is  none of your business for sure!”)

– “Wat ben je aan het doen?” – “Dat gaat je niets aan, oprotten!”
(“What are you doing / up to?” -“That’s none of your business, beat it / bugger off!”)

– “Dit is iets tussen mij en Esther en het gaat je niets aan!” – “Ho eens even, Esther is mijn vriendin, dus het gaat mij wel aan!”
(“This is something between me and Esther and it does not concern you!” – “Hold it right there, Esther is my girlfriend, so it does concern me!”)

Expressions:
– “Dat ga ik jou niet aan je neus hangen”: that is none of your business, I am not telling you that, as if I would tell you, etc. (Lit.: “I am not going to hang that on your nose.”)

Related word:
– Nieuwsgierig: nosy, curious [adjective/adverb]