Category Archives: Dutch word of the day

Afblazen

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to call off (a plan) to blow off/away Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[af-bla-zen, blies af, af-ge-bla-zen]

Afgeblazen Yesterday I read in a Dutch newspaper that president Obama “afblies” a plan by George W. Bush. Regardless of the plan I concluded that “afblazen” would make a good DWOTD 🙂 Literally “to blow off”, a common translation of “afblazen” is “to call off a plan”. Usually the plan that is “afgeblazen” is already close to execution or in an advanced state.

The adjective/adverb “af” can mean “off, away, finished, out” and verbs that are composed of “af” + “some other verb” usually indicate ending or moving away from something. An example is when a referee “afblaast”: blowing the whistle in order to end the match.

Examples:
– “En zijn jullie klaar voor morgen? Ik heb echt een heel goede presentatie, al zeg ik het zelf.” – “Heb je het nog niet gehoord? De voorlichtingsdag is afgeblazen!” 
(“Are you (guys) ready for tomorrow? My presentation is (going to be) excellent, if I say so myself.” – “Haven’t you heard yet? The information day has been cancelled!”)

– “De scheidsrechter negeerde de extra tijd en blies vroegtijdig af.” 
(“The referee ignored the extra time and ended the match early.” A common alternative to ‘afblazen’ in this context is ‘affluiten’.)

– “Weet je wat, het lijkt mij het beste als we het afblazen, zeg nu zelf, we hebben echt te weinig voorbereidingstijd.” 
(“You know what, I think it’s best if we call it off, let’s be honest, we definitely do not have enough preparation time.”)

– “Ruim een jaar geleden blies president Obama een omstreden plan van George W. Bush voor een raketschild juist af.” (in NRC Handelsblad, 18 November 2010)
(“While over a year ago president Obama called off a controversial plan by George W. Bush for a missile shield.” The use of the word ‘juist’ in the sentence indicates that the described (past) action is contrary to or in contrast with what is done at the moment; I tried to capture this with the word “while” at the beginning of the sentence.)

– ” ‘Het wordt weer vroeger donker en somberheid maakt zich van mij meester’, sprak Richard terwijl de wind de bladeren van het dak blies.” 
(” ‘The days are becoming shorter again and gloominess is taking control of me’, Richard said while the wind blew the leaves off the roof.” Literally “It is getting darker earlier again…”)

Expressions:
– “Stoom afblazen”: to let off steam.

Example:
– “Laat hem maar even stoom afblazen, hij is boos dat het toernooi is afgeblazen.”
(“Just leave him, he needs to let off some steam, he is angry about the tournament having been cancelled.”)

Related words:
– Blazen: to blow [verb] [blies, geblazen].
– Beëindigen: to end, to terminate [verb] [beëindigde, beëindigd].
– Annuleren: to cancel [verb] [annuleerde, geannuleerd].
– Affluiten: blowing the whistle to end the match (by referee) [verb] [floot af, afgefloten].
– Aflasten/afgelasten: to cancel, to call off [verb] [(ge)lastte af, afgelast].

Puf

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energy, drive, push, oomph Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de fut, <no plural>]

Trap_oplopen When you don't have any "puf" for something, it means you have no energy to do something or that you do not feel up to something. There can also be 'no "puf" in you', meaning there is no push/drive left in you.

You wouldn't talk about a machine consuming too much "puf", in that case we'd say "energie" (energy).

Examples:
– "Had je nog puf om na het werk te gaan sporten?" 
("Did you have any energy left to exercise after work?" Literally "to go and exercise / play sports?")

– "Ik heb bijna alles kunnen kopen vandaag, maar ik had geen puf meer om nog naar de drogist te gaan, dat komt dan morgen wel." 
("I was able to buy almost everything today, but didn't have the energy left to go to the chemist's / drugstore, I'll have to do that tomomorrow." Lit.: "…, that will come tomorrow." Note that you will also hear "drogisterij" (the ending -ij indicates the place/shop). The 'drogist' can also be the person "chemist/druggist".)

– "Wat is er met Frank aan de hand? Hij heeft nergens meer puf voor en klaagt steen en been!" 
("What's wrong with Frank? He doesn't feel up to anything and complains all the time!" The expression 'steen en been klagen' literally translates as 'to complain stone and leg'.)

– "Wandelvakantie? Daar heb ik geen puf meer voor hoor op mijn leeftijd…" 
("Hiking trip/holidays/vacation? At my age I don't have the energy left for such a thing." The verb 'wandelen' can both mean 'to hike' or 'to stroll, to go for a walk'.)

– "Wat zit je te puffen?! Heb je nu al geen puf meer?" 
("What are you panting for?! Are you already out of energy?")

Related words:
– Energie: energy [noun] [de energie, <no plural>].
– Fut: energy, strength, drive [noun] [de fut, <no plural>]. Used very much the same way as 'puf'.

Example:
– "Natuurlijk kunt u nog op wandelvakantie, er zit nog genoeg fut in u!"
("Of course you can still go on a hiking trip, there is still enough energy left in you!")

– Fit: fit, healthy [adjective].
– Puffen: to pant, puff [verb] [pufte, gepuft].

Nageslacht

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offspring, future generations Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het na-ge-slacht, de na-ge-slach-ten]

images“Nageslacht” is related to the word “nakomeling”. The latter translates as “descendant” (literally “the one coming after”). All “nakomelingen” of a parent together form the “nageslacht”.

“Nageslacht” is also the term for the people who will live after us: “future generations”.

Examples:
– “Het is de taak van de man te zorgen voor voldoende nageslacht.” – “Bah, wat een paternalistische opmerking!” 
(“It is the duty of the man to ensure that there will be enough offspring.” – “Ugh, what a paternalistic remark!”)    

– “Het nageslacht kan niet beoordeeld worden op de daden van hun ouders.” 
(“Offspring cannot be judged (based) on the actions of their parents.”)

– “Het nageslacht van je moeder is niet noodzakelijkerwijs gelijk aan het nageslacht van je vader.” 
(“Your mother’s offspring is not necessarily identical to your father’s offspring.”)

– “We moeten goed zorgen voor het milieu. Doen we het niet voor onszelf, dan doen we het voor het nageslacht.” 
(“We have to take proper care of the environment. If we don’t do it for ourselves, then we (should) do it for future generations.”)

Related words:
– Nakomeling: descendant [noun] [de nakomeling, de nakomelingen].
– Nazaat: descendant [noun] [de nazaat, de nazaten].
– Geslacht: gender, (the male or female) sex, genitals, family, race [noun] [het geslacht, de geslachten].
– Slachten: to butcher, to slaughter [verb] [slachtte, geslacht].

Example:
– “Het paard werd geslacht zonder dat het voor nageslacht had kunnen zorgen.”
(“The horse was slaughtered without it having been able to produce offspring.”)

– Geslachtsgemeenschap: sexual intercourse [noun] [de geslachtsgemeenschap, <no plural>].
– Voortplanting: reproduction, procreation [noun] [de voortplanting, <no plural>].

Strategie

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strategy, strategics Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de stra-te-gie, de stra-te-gie-ën]

300px-Stratego_Board "Strategie" is pretty much used the same way as in English; when it regards the military you can emphasize that by saying 'militaire strategie'. Note the diaeresis ("trema") in the plural form of 'strategie'. As the stress is on the last syllable you have to add an 'e', as opposed to sticking the diaeresis on the already present 'e'.

When coming up with this word I had to think of the board game 'Stratego', read more in the Extra below.

Examples:
– "Ok jongen, wat is de strategie, laden we eerst de grote dingen in of eerst de kleine?" 
("Ok man, what is the strategy, do we load the big things first, or the small things?" Note that in the example the noun is not repeated after 'kleine'; you can do this in case you have already mentioned the noun before.)

– "Eerst de grote! Het is wiskundig bewezen dat dat de beste strategie is." 
("First the big things! It is mathematically proven that that is the best strategy.")

– "Wat is het doel wat je wil bereiken? Je moet eerst een doel hebben voordat je de strategie kunt gaan bepalen!" 
("What is the goal that you want to achieve? You need to have a goal first before you can start determining the strategy!")

– "Het is allemaal leuk en aardig zo'n 'managementstrategie', maar volgens mij heeft de directie niet eens een visie!" 
("It's all well and good, a 'management strategy', but I think the board (of directors) does not even have a vision!")

– "Ik geef toe dat onze strategie niet tot de gewenste resultaten heeft geleid. Derhalve dien ik mijn ontslag in." 
("I admit that our strategy has not led to the desired results. Therefore I resign." Another way to say 'derhalve' is 'om die reden' ('for that reason').)

– "Waarom moet jij voor alles altijd een strategie hebben?" 
("Why do you always want to have a strategy for everything?")

Expressions:
– "Een plan uitstippelen": to outline a plan.

Related words:
– Tactiek: tactics [noun] [de taktiek, de taktieken].
– Strategisch: strategic [adjective].
– Plan: plan [noun] [het plan, de plannen].

Example:
– "Ik vind het geweldig als een plan klopt!"
("I love it when a plan comes together!" I admit this is a bit of a 'forced' example but you don't always get the chance to quote Hannibal 😉 )

– Slagen: to succeed [verb] [slaagde, geslaagd].
– Falen: to fail [verb] [faalde, gefaald].

Extra:
'Stratego' is an, originally Dutch, old-school 'capture-the-flag' board game. I don't remember much of the game other than being jealous of school friends who had it 🙂 Looking at the wikipedia page it is still going strong with annual international tournaments!

Aardappel

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potato Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de aard-ap-pel, de aard-ap-pel-en/aard-ap-pels]

potatoes-411975_640“Aardappel” literally translates to “earth apple”. It’s actually a potato 🙂

“Aardappels” play an important role in Dutch cuisine, which is not too ambitious, but quite nutritious by intention. It is inspired by the Dutch fishing and farming history. Nowadays, Dutch cuisine has incorporated many foreign cuisines. For more info, check this article on Wikipedia.

“Aardappel” can also be used when you call somebody names. It’s a mild form of abusive language though 🙂

Examples:
– “Vanavond een lekker Hollands maal: aardappelen en bloemkool met een papje, heerlijk!” 
(“Tonight a good Dutch dinner: potatoes and cauliflower with sauce, delicious!”)

– “Ik vind gekookte aardappels niet bijzonder lekker.” 
(“I don’t find boiled potatoes particularly tasty.”)

– “Frank is een saaie aardappel, vind je niet?” 
(“Frank is a bore head, don’t you think?” Lit.: “…a boring potato…”)

Expressions:
– “Met een hete aardappel in de mond praten / praten alsof je een hete aardappel in de mond hebt”: to speak/talk like a “kakker“: a stuck-up pompous, posh person. Also called “bekakt praten” in Dutch.

Related words:
– Aardappelmesje: little knife for peeling potatoes [noun] [het aardappelmesje, de aardappelmesjes].
– Aarde: earth, ground [noun] [de aarde, de aardes].
– Appel: apple [noun] [de appel, de appels/appelen].

Example:
– “Snoep verstandig, eet een appel!”
(Lit.: “Eat candy wisely, eat an apple!” Used to be a well-known Dutch slogan to promote the consumption of fruit. The verb “snoepen” is the act of eating sweets/candy or other sweet unhealthy food.)

– Dunschiller: (lit.: thin peeler) potato peeler [noun] [de dunschiller, de dunschillers]. Like in the picture!
– Keuken: kitchen [noun] [de keuken, de keukens].
– Koken: to cook, to boil, to prepare dinner [verb] [koken, kookte, h./i. gekookt].
– Schillen: to peel [verb] [schillen, schilde, h./i. geschild].