Category Archives: Dutch word of the day

Smoking

Posted on by

dinner jacket, tuxedo, black tie [noun] [de smoking, de smokings] [‘smoo-king’]

Smoking of tuxedo?“Smoking” is one of those rare Dutch words that seem to originate from the English language but don’t… 🙂 The Dutch “smoking” has nothing to do with the English verb “smoking / to smoke”, which is “roken” in Dutch.

Examples:
– “Ik heb morgen een galadiner…smoking verplicht…”
(“I’m have a state banquet tomorrow…dinner jacket required…”)

– “Frank, jij gaat toch ook naar die bruiloft? Ga jij in smoking?”
(“Frank, you’re going to that wedding too, right? Will you wear a tuxedo?” Lit.: “…Are you going in (a) smoking?”)

– “Het kledingadvies voor de heren op het feest van vanavond is smoking of rokkostuum.”
(“The clothing advice for the gentlemen at tonight’s party is black tie or white tie.”)

Related words:
– “Strikje”: bow tie. Lit.: “little bow”.
– “Pak”: suit.
– “Rokkostuum”: white tie. Lit. “skirt costume”.
– “Jacquet”: morning coat, tails.

Baas

Posted on by

boss, manager, employer [noun] [de baas, de bazen] [‘baas‘]

In recent years the word “baas” has been mostly replaced by the more fashionable “manager”, but you can still hear it in small businesses and in the more production like environments. There are also a number of frequently used expressions with “baas”, some of which we listed below.

Sinterklaas_is_de_baas
In the days leading up to the Dutch tradition of “Sinterklaas” on December 5th, the Albert Heijn supermarket is using the slogan “Sinterklaas is de baas”: “Sinterklaas is in charge / is the boss”, as part of the Sinterklaas theme and activities in the supermarket (such as “de schoen zetten” for children). Read last year’s DWOTD on “Pakjesavond” for more background information.

Examples:
– “Reeds na twee dagen werd de stagair door zijn baas weggebonjourd.”
(“Already after two days, the intern was sent packing by his boss.”)

– “Sinterklaas is de baas bij Albert Heijn!”
(“Sinterklaas is in charge at Albert Heijn!”)

– “Sinds ik een eigen zaak ben begonnen, ben ik blij eindelijk mijn eigen baas te zijn.”
(“Since I started my own business, I’m glad to finally be my own boss.”)

Expressions:
– “De baas spelen”: to act the boss, to boss someone.
– “De baas in huis zijn”: to be in charge at home, to be the boss at home.
– “Iemand de baas blijven”: to keep someone under control.
– “De baas zijn over”: to be in charge of.
– “De situatie de baas zijn”: to have the situation under control.

Related words:
– “Chef”: boss, manager, usually in production environments.
– “Leidinggevende”: line management, supervisor. Literally “lead/guidance giver”.
– “Bazig”: bossy.
– “Baasje”: little man/fellow, youngster, laddie. Used informally for very young boys.

315. Pico bello

Posted on by

splendid, outstanding [adjective] [‘pie-koo-bel-loo’]

And who said the Dutch language doesn’t have frivolities? Even Italian frivolities… 😉

"Pico bello" is used to express some state of excellence. It’s very positive and its use is mostly in speech. Sometimes you may also see "picobello."

Examples:
– "Antoinette ziet er iedere dag picobello uit, vind je ook niet?"
("Antoinette looks sharp every day, don’t you think (too)?" Note that "ziet er…uit" comes from "eruit zien", a typical Dutch construction using (the infamous) "er" in combination with the preposition "uit" and the verb "zien".)

– "Hoe zie ik eruit? – Pico bello, schat."
("How do I look? – Very sharp, dear.")

– "De catering op het feestje gisteren was pico bello verzorgd."
("The catering at yesterday’s party was outstanding." Lit.: "…outstandingly taken care off.")

– "Jouw presentatie voor de raad van bestuur was pico bello, niemand had vragen na afloop."
("Your presentation for the board of directors was splendid, nobody had questions afterwards.")

314. Na-apen

Posted on by

to imitate, to mimic, to ape [verb] [aapte na, nageaapt] ['naa-aa-pun']

An ape in Dutch is an "aap". The Dutch word "aap" translates as "monkey". The similar English "ape" translates to "mensaap" (a "mens" is a "human"). The preposition "na" usually means "after" but also indicates behaviour or movement of "following something/somebody". Even though the non-existent verb "apen" could already mean "to imitate" – based on the behaviour of apes – we still put "na" in front of it: "na-apen".

The hyphen in "na-apen" is necessary to avoid ambiguity in pronunciation since "aa" is also a Dutch vowel combination. However, the advanced readers might say that if a long "aa" was meant in the first place, then one should have written "napen". This is correct, but the rule is still as applied 🙂 .
You might also see "naäpen" – this used to be the spelling until 1995 (when a big change in spelling occurred).

"Na-apen" is mostly used informally and can sometimes have a stronger meaning than just imitation, see the Examples.

Examples:
– "Toen ik klein was, aapte mijn zus mij altijd na."
("When I was little, my sister always imitated me.")

– "Een rage kan ontstaan als mensen elkaar gaan na-apen."
("A craze/mania can happen when people start to imitate each other.")

– "Mijn presentatie leek op die van Frank, en nu beweert de leraar dat ik hem heb nageaapt!"
("My presentation was similar to Frank's, and now the teacher claims that I stole his ideas!")

Related words:
– "Na-aper": an imitator.
– "Imiteren": to imitate.
– "Nadoen": to imitate.

313. Beker

Posted on by

mug, cup, beaker [noun] [de beker, de bekers] [‘bee-kur’]

"Beker" is most common in the translation of "mug". In case of "cup of coffee" people will use "kop" or even better "kopje". In sports we do use "beker" for the trophy that you’ll take home if you are lucky.

Mind that a plastic cup is always denoted by the diminutive "bekertje".

Examples:
– "Ik gebruik geen bekertjes, maar een gewone beker. Dat is beter voor het milieu."
("I do not use plastic cups, but a normal mug instead. That’s better for the environment.")

– "Vroeger nam ik altijd een beker mee naar school, want ik moest voldoende drinken van mijn moeder."
("I used to bring a mug to school, because my mother told me to drink enough." Here "van mijn moeder" is not "from/of my mom", but in combination with the verb "moeten" translates to "my mother wants me to…" or "my mother tells me / says…".)

Uefacup2002 – "Het wordt weer eens tijd dat Feyenoord de beker wint."
("It is about time for Feyenoord to win the cup again.")

Related words:
– "Kopje": cup (for coffee/tea).
– "Bekertje": plastic cup.
– "Bekeren": the act of competing for the national cup in football/soccer.