Category Archives: Dutch word of the day

Kwakkelen

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to be sickly, to be sick/ill/under the weather on and off [verb] [kwakkelde, gekwakkeld]

This verb is a bit difficult to translate but it is used when somebody is sick/ill on and off, not really recovering and falling ill again for a continuous period of time. However, it is only used in the context off flu, having a cold, feeling under the weather etc.

Examples:
– "Sander kwakkelt al de hele maand maart."
("Sander has been feeling under the weather on and off for the whole month March.")

– "Als ik moet kiezen tussen een keer goed ziek zijn, of continu kwakkelen, dan kies ik voor het eerste."
("If I had to choose between being really sick for once, or be sickly all the time, then I would choose the first.")

– "Man, al dat gekwakkel van jou; wat jij moet doen is een keer goed uitzieken!"
("Man, that continuous feeling under the weather of yours; what you should do is fully recover for once!" When you create a noun from a verb in English by adding "-ing", in Dutch you leave out the ‘-en’ and add ‘ge’ to the front, like "gekwakkel".)

Related words:
These words look similar but are actually unrelated in meaning:Kwik_kwek_kwak_1
– "Kwak": onomatopoeia for the "quacking" sound a duck makes. You will also hear "kwek" and the
verb "kwekken". Similarly "Donald Duck’s" three nephews are called "Kwik, Kwek en Kwak" in Dutch.
– "Kwakken": to bump, crash (flat on the floor/ground). Or: to dump, chuck or slap something onto something else.

Examples:
– "Marc was een beetje dronken en kwakte met fiets en al tegen de straat."
("Marc was a bit drunk and crashed with his bike flat on the street". Literally: "… with bike and all…")

– "Tea kwakte haar tas op het bureau."
("Tea smacked her bag down on the desk.")

– "Kwakje": very informal synonym for the noun "ejaculate".

Bocht

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1. bend, curve, turn [noun] [de bocht, de bochten]

Examples:
– "Pas op voor de scherpe bocht!"
("Watch out for the sharp turn/bend!")

– "Volg de weg met de bocht mee naar links."
("Follow the road bending to the left." Literally: "…along with the bend to the left.")

– "Als je daar te hard rijdt, vlieg je uit de bocht."
("If you drive too fast there, you will go off the road." Literally: "…you will fly out of the bend (in the road).")

– "Er zit een rare bocht in die waterleiding."
("There’s a strange curve in that water conduit.")

Expressions:
– "Zich in allerlei bochten wringen":
1. <uncomfortable:> to wriggle.
2. <from pain:> to writhe.
3. <metaphorical:> to squirm.

Example:
"Frank heeft zich in allerlei bochten moeten wringen om de projectleider tevreden te stellen."
(<something like:> "Frank had to go through all sorts of trouble to make the project leader happy.")

– "Kort door de bocht": over-simplified. Literally: "Short through the bend".

– "De bocht afsnijden": to cut off the corner.

Example: for some reason the Dutch like to joke about the Belgians. A common – and bad – joke is:
"Waarom heeft een Belg altijd een mes in zijn auto?" – "Om de bocht af te snijden!"
("Why does a Belgian always keep a knife in his car?" – "To cut the corner!")

Related words:
– "Buigen": to bend, to bow.
– "Hoek": corner.

2. rubbish, cheap drink [noun] [het/de bocht, <no plural>]

In this context the word "bocht" is only used for bad (alcoholic) drinks, especially wine.

Example:
– "Die wijn is bocht! Het lijkt wel azijn…Bah!"
("That wine is god-awful! It tastes like vinegar…Yuck!" Literally: "…It seems like vinegar (all right)…")

Viaduct

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viaduct, fly-over, overpass [noun] [het viaduct, de viaducten]

There is not much to elaborate on here, a viaduct is just a viaduct and a fly-over is just a fly-over 🙂 However, in the past 3 years or so there has been quite some discussion in the Netherlands on how to prevent people from throwing objects down on the motor ways; a few people were killed by bricks flying through the wind screen of their cars. Plan is to put up some cameras that are able to detect ‘abnormal’ activity.

Examples:
– "De politie houdt vaak stiekem snelheidscontroles onder een viaduct."
("The police often secretly perform speed checks underneath a fly-over.")

– "Blijf de A4 volgen. Neem na het viaduct de eerste afslag richting Amsterdam."
("Keep on the A4. Take the first exit to Amsterdam after the viaduct." Literally: "Keep following the A4.")

– "Afgelopen weekend zijn twee jongeren gearresteerd na het gooien van bakstenen vanaf een viaduct."
("The past weekend, two adolescents have been arrested after they threw bricks off a viaduct." Literally: "… after the throwing of bricks…")

– "Om het gooien van stoeptegels te bemoeilijken, heeft het rijk besloten hekken te plaatsen op viaducten."
("In order to hinder the throwing of paving stones, the government has decided to erect fences at viaducts." Literally: "… to place fences…". When it concerns the authority "government" and not specifically the group of people in the government, the term "rijk" is used (a bit like "state"); quite often in the case of infrastructure. Mind that the adjective "rijk" translates to "rich".)

Spoorwegovergang

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railway / railroad crossing [noun] [de spoorwegovergang, de spoorwegovergangen]

"Spoorwegovergang" is a good word for Scrabble 😉 It is built from several other words:
– "spoor": (t)rail;
– "weg": way/road;
– "overgang": transition, crossing, passage.

In the Netherlands there are two types of "spoorwegovergangen": the "onbewaakte spoorwegovergang" (ungated railroad crossing) and the "bewaakte spoorwegovergang" (gated railroad crossing). There are different road signs for an ungated and a gated railway crossing to alert traffic that a railroad crossing is ahead.

Examples:
– "Vannacht is er een auto door een trein aangereden bij een onbewaakte spoorwegovergang."
("Last night, a car has been hit by a train at an ungated railway crossing." Literally: "…a car has been ridden into by a train…")

Bewspoorwegovergang–  "Bij een bewaakte spoorwegovergang zie je op een bord altijd de melding: ‘Wacht tot lichten gedoofd zijn, er kan nog een trein komen’."
("At a gated railway crossing, one always sees the following message on a road sign: ‘Wait until lights are out, another train may come’." Literally: "…’Wait until lights have been extinguished’…")
Note:
This road sign is referring to the red lights that will blink as long as the gates are not fully up. The blinking red lights are accompanied by the sound of a clinging bell. No one ever really waits until the gates are fully up again…
Extra:
The word "overgang" (transition) is also used as a synonym for a woman’s menopause.
Example:
– "Tijdens de overgang hebben vrouwen vaak last van opvliegers."
("During menopause, women often have (hot) flushes/flashes." Literally: "…women are bothered/burdened with…")

Hoek

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1. corner [noun] [de hoek, de hoeken]

Examples:
– "In New York kun je op bijna iedere hoek van de straat een hotdog kopen."
("In New York City one can buy a hotdog at the corner of almost every street." Literally: "…at almost every corner of the street…")

– "Toen de drugsdealer merkte dat hij gevolgd werd, sloeg hij snel de hoek van de straat om."
("When the drug dealer noticed that he was being followed, he quickly turned around the corner of the street." The verb "omslaan" is also used to turn a page: "een pagina omslaan".)

– "Het brutale kind moest in de hoek van de klas staan."
("The insolent child had to stand in the corner of the classroom.")

Expression:
– "Iemand alle hoeken van de kamer laten zien."
("To beat the living daylights out of someone." Literally: "to show somebody all corners of the room".)

2. angle [noun] [de hoek, de hoeken]

Examples:
– "Hoeveel graden is deze hoek?"
("How many degrees is this angle?")

– "Vrouwen bekijken dingen vaak vanuit een andere hoek dan mannen."
("Women often look at things from a different angle than men do.")

– "Vrachtwagens moeten nu verplicht een dode hoek sensor hebben."
("It is mandatory for trucks to have a blind spot sensor now." Lit.: "Trucks must have… mandatorily now.")

3. hook [noun] [de hoek, de hoeken]

Examples:
Hoek– "Hoek van Holland is een bekende plaats aan zee."
("Hook of Holland is a well-known town at the sea." Actually "Hoek van Holland" is officially treated as a district of the city of Rotterdam.)

– "De bokser werd met één directe rechtse hoek gevloerd."
("The boxer was floored with one direct right hook.")

Related word:
– "Iemand neerhoeken": <informal:> to knock somebody out.

Extra:
Although "hook" is translated with "hoek" in the context of boxing, "hook" is usually translated with "haak" in Dutch. "Haak" is used in the context of a bent (sharp) metal object, for example a fishing hook: "vishaak". Peter Pan’s most feared opponent Captain Hook would be "Kapitein Haak" 🙂