Category Archives: Dutch word of the day

Verliefd

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in love, amorous, loving [adjective / adverb]

Examples:
– "Ik ben stiekum verliefd op mijn overbuurvrouw/man… Tegen niemand zeggen hè?!"
("I am secretly in love with my opposite neighbour… Don’t tell anyone ok?!" In Dutch there is a male and female version of "neighbour", see also DWOTD 9. Buurt.)

– "Mijn vader is na 30 jaar nog altijd erg verliefd op mijn moeder."
("After 30 years, my father is still very much in love with my mother.")

– "Frank is verliefd op zijn auto: een zwarte Porsche 924S."
("Frank is in love with his car: a black Porsche 924S.")

– "De tieners wisselden verliefde blikken uit in het klaslokaal."
("The teen-agers exchanged amorous looks in the classroom.")

– "Romeo keek Julia verliefd aan."
("Romeo gave Juliette a loving look." Literally: "…looked at Juliette amorously.")

Related words:
– "Liefde": love (noun).
– "Vlinders in de buik": butterflies in one’s stomach.

Expression:
– "Tot over je oren verliefd zijn": to be very much in love. Literally: to be in love till over one’s ears.

Extra:
In DWOTD 104. Misschien, the Dutch song genre "levenslied" was already mentioned and a famous Dutch singer in that genre: André Hazes. One of his greatest hits is called "Een beetje verliefd" ("A bit in love"). This song is particularly suited for wailing along together in a bar after taking in a significant amount of alcoholic units 😉
Another Dutch classic is the song "Sinds een dag of 2 (32 jaar)" by "Doe Maar", a popular 80s ska band with punk and reggae influences. The guy sings about being 32 years old and in love again. Check out their cool video at youtube. The first line he sings contains the expression "vlinders in mijn hoofd" ("butterflies in my head"), which is weird since usually they are in your stomach! Their music is still often played at Dutch home parties or during popular music club nights.

Drempel

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1. threshold, barrier, doorstep [noun] [de drempel, de drempels]

Examples:
– "We bevinden ons op de drempel van een nieuw tijdperk: het tijdperk van de mensen zal eindigen, de orks zullen heersen…"
("We find ourselves at the threshold of a new era: the era of man will end, the orcs will rule…")

– "Frank voelde een grote mentale drempel om op de mooie dame aan de bar af te stappen."
("Frank felt a great mental barrier to approach the beautiful lady at the bar." Literally: "… to step to the beautiful lady…")

– "Ik zet daar geen voet meer over de drempel!"
("I shall never set foot in that house again!" Literally: "…set foot across the doorstep there.")

2. speed bump/ramp [noun] [de drempel, de drempels]

Letopdrempels
In
this context, "drempel" is also referred to as "verkeersdrempel", which
literally translates to "traffic barrier". Speed bumps are abundant in
the Netherlands, especially in small streets in residential areas. They
can be quite nasty!

Example:
– "Ik ben te hard over een drempel gegaan. Nu ligt de uitlaat van m’n auto eraf!"
("I went over a speed ramp too fast. Now the exhaustion (pipe) of my car has come off!" Literally: "…lies off!")

Related word:
– "30 kilometer zone": 30 kilometer zone, a
zone in which a speedlimit of 30 km/h applies. These zones often have a lot
of "verkeersdrempels"….

Extra:
Dip_1Once
in the United States Sander encountered the opposite of a speed bump, the
"dip". "What the hell does D-I-P mean?" his co-worker asked after
spotting the big
D I P sign. Not much later they understood! At least you
can see a speed bump coming!

Verkeersbord

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road/traffic sign
[noun]
[het ver-keers-bord, de ver-keers-bor-den]

Traffic in the Netherlands is a bit overregulated. You can’t really go wrong 😉
However, while trying to interpret all these traffic signs, of which the density in the Netherlands is very high, one almost forgets to actually pay attention to traffic!

The Dutch word for traffic is "verkeer". A "bord" in general is some kind of flat shape for display. Most common usages are a "plate" for food, a "sign" of some sort, or a "black/white board" (the latter translating to "schoolbord" at school or just "white board" in the office).

Examples:
– "Neemt u mij niet kwalijk; dat verkeersbord heb ik niet gezien!"
(<to a police officer:>"I beg your pardon; I did not see that traffic sign!")

– "De dichtheid van verkeersborden in Nederland is zeer hoog."
("The density of traffic signs in the Netherlands is very high.")

– "Dit verkeersbord vind ik echt extreem onduidelijk!"
("I find this traffic sign really extremely unclear!")

– "Als de stoplichten buiten werking zijn, moet je goed op de verkeersborden letten."
("When traffic lights are out of order, one has to pay good attention to the traffic signs.")

– "Verkeersbord? Welk verkeersbord??"
("Traffic sign? What traffic sign??")

Related words:
– "Stoplicht": traffic light.
– "Voorrang": right of way.

Extra:
In the Netherlands traffic coming from the right has right of way. This is implicit unless otherwise indicated. The fact that you have to give way can be indicated by the common "upside down triangle" sign or by certain marks on the road. These marks are the same upside down triangles, facing you as you look down on the road. In Dutch these are called "haaientanden" ("shark teeth"). To be on the safe side the Dutch authorities usually include the "haaientanden" in addition to the traffic sign.

File

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traffic jam, queue [noun] [de file, de files]

Dutch traffic jams are a daily source of great annoyance. Every year the total amount of cars queueing up increases significantly.

Examples:
– "Er zijn vandaag veel files door het slechte weer."
("There are a lot of traffic jams today due to the bad weather.")

– "Er staat een ongebruikelijk file op de N44 door een ongeval."
("There’s an unusual traffic jam at the N44 road due to an accident." Literally: "There stands a traffic jam…")

– "Heb jij wel eens geflirt in de file met andere bestuurders?"
("Have you ever flirted in a traffic jam with other drivers?")

– "Bij de H&M staan er altijd enorme files bij de kassa’s, echt irritant!"
("At H&M, there are always huge queues in front of the cash desks, really annoying!" The use of the word "file" here is to exaggerate. The normal Dutch word for "queue" is "rij".)

Related words:
– "Bestuurder": driver.
– "Ongeval": accident.
– "Ongeluk": accident, bad luck.

Extra:
Reducing traffic and traffic jams is always a popular subject for political campaigning. Right wing parties typically favour a solution with more road surface, whereas left wing parties typically favour a solution with better means of public transportation and higher road taxes. In this context, the possible introduction of "rekeningrijden" (literally "bill driving") is a popular theme. Here the idea is to register road use in certain areas during certain times for which you are "billed" later. Contrary to toll roads where you usually pay to finance the road, this policy is to deter you from using the car at that time or place. It has not been introduced yet.

Check out the current traffic conditions at the ANWB site: the General Dutch Association for Automobile Drivers, since 1883.

The word "file" appeared earlier in DWOTD 99. Bijna.

Zebrapad

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zebra/pedestrian crossing [noun] [het <zebra><pad>, de zebrapaden]

"Zebrapad" literally translates to "zebra path", but is often abbreviated to "zebra". This is the place where you are supposed to cross the roads in the Netherlands. However, jaywalking is common practice. Unless you ignore a red light, the police will not bother with you.
Also, drivers are supposed to give way to you when you are waiting at a "zebra" and "have the intention" to cross the road. Nowadays, it is common for pedestrians to wave a thank you at drivers as it is by no means normal anymore that they will stop for pedestrians.

Examples:
– "Voetgangers behoren de weg over te steken bij een zebrapad."
("Pedestrians are required to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing.")

– "Automobilisten moeten voorrang verlenen aan voetgangers als deze de intentie hebben het zebrapad te betreden."
("Drivers have to give way to pedestrians when these intend to set foot onto the zebra crossing." Literally: "… when these have the intention to …")

Related words:
– "Voetganger": pedestrian.
– "Voetgangersoversteekplaats": crossing(-place), pedestrian crossing (literally: place for pedestrians to cross).