Category Archives: Dutch word of the day

Bed

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bed Iconspeaker_3 Bed

[noun]
[het bed, de bed-den]

A "bed" is a bed 🙂 Sometimes you may see the old-fashioned synonym "ledikant". Don’t confuse "bed" with "dekbed", which is the bed cover/blanket filled with fluff.

Beds come in various sizes:
– "eenpersoons": single (<110cm)
– "twijfelaar": (lit.: doubter) in between single and double (110-140cm)
– "tweepersoons": double/twin (>140cm)

A "tweepersoons bed" can be with one big mattress, or two single mattresses. There are no specific translations for "double" and "twin". There are also no specific translations for king and queen size.

Since the Dutch are the tallest people in the "wereld", Dutch beds are usually 200cm in length or more.

Examples:
– "Ben je vanochtend met het verkeerde been uit bed gestapt?" 
("Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?")

– "Wilt u een eenpersoons of een tweepersoons bed?" 
("Would you like a single or double bed?")

– "Ik kon vanochtend mijn bed niet uitkomen…"  "Natuurlijk, je hebt je de laatste tijd het apezuur gewerkt." 
("I couldn’t get out of bed this morning…" – "Of course, you’ve been working like hell lately.")

Expressions:
–
"Met het verkeerde been uit bed stappen": to get/wake up on the wrong side of the bed.
– "Het bed induiken met": (lit.: to dive into the bed with) to sleep with.

Example:
– "Ben je met hem het bed ingedoken?" – "Ben je soms gek? Hij heeft een blotebillengezicht!"
("Did you sleep with him?" – "Are you crazy? He has a pudding face!")

– "Een ver-van-mijn-bed-show": (lit.:a far from my bed show) something of little/no interest, far away, that doesn’t concern me.
– "Daar kom ik mijn bed niet voor uit": (lit.: I’m not coming out of my bed for that) that’s not worth the/my trouble/effort.

Related words:
– Deken: blanket [noun] [de deken, de dekens].
– Laken: sheet [noun] [het laken, de lakens].

Example:
– "Hij is een beest tussen de lakens…" – "Nou, ik vind hem een watje."
("He’s an animal between the sheets…" – "Well, I think he’s a wimp.")

– Hemelbed: four-poster (bed) [noun] [het hemelbed, de hemelbedden].
– Ledikant: bed [noun] [het ledikant, de ledikanten].
– Kussen: 1. pillow, cushion [noun] [het kussen, de kussens]. 2. to kiss [verb] [kussen, kuste, h. gekust].
– (Kussen)sloop: pillow cover, pillowcase [noun] [de (kussen)sloop, de (kussen)slopen].

Schijnheilig

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sanctimonious Iconspeaker_3
[adjective]Schijnheilig

[schijn-hei-lig]

“Schijnheilig” is composed of “schijn” and “heilig”, which respectively translate to “appearance” and “holy”. Hence people who are “schijnheilig” keep up the appearance to be holy, while they’re not 🙂

Related adjectives are “hypocriet” and “huichelachtig”. Both are translated with “hypocritical”.

Examples:
– “Er zijn veel schijnheilige mensen in de wereld.” 
(“There are a lot of sanctimonious people in the world.”)

– “De huldiging van de voormalige minister-president was een schijnheilige vertoning. Hij heeft het land in een ernstige crisis gebracht.” 
(“The honouring of the former prime-minister was a hypocritical show. He has brought the country into a serious crisis.”)

Expressions:
– “Mooi weer spelen”: to pretend nothing has happened/everything is fine, to put on a show of
friendliness.

Example:
– “Wat een schijnheilig optreden
van Frank vanochtend. Hij klaagt altijd, maar naar zijn baas speelt hij
mooi weer.”

(“What a sanctimonious
performance by Frank this morning. He’s always complaining, but towards
his boss he pretends everything is fine.”)

 – “Schone schijn”: keeping up appearances. (See also Extra)

Related words:
– Schijn: 1. appearance, semblance [noun] [de schijn, <no plural>]. 2. shine [noun] [de schijn, <no plural>].
– Heilig: holy [adjective].

Example:
– “De Heilige Maagd Maria.”
(“The Holy Virgin Mary.”)

– Hypocriet: 1. hypocrite [noun] [de hypocriet, de hypocrieten]. 2. hypocritical [adjective].
– Huichelen: to simulate, to feign [verb] [huichelen, huichelde, h. gehuicheld].
– Huichelachtig: hyporcritical [adjective].
– Veinzen: to feign [verb] [veinzen, veinsde, h. geveinsd].

Wereld

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world Iconspeaker_3 Wereld
[noun]
[de we-reld, de we-rel-den]

“Wereld” may refer to our planet as a location in general (e.g. the countries of the world), all the people on our planet (e.g. the whole world knows), or the group of people indicated by a determination (e.g. the world of football)

“Wereld” can also be used as a prefix to a noun to express the fine quality of something: “een wereldbaan“(a great job), “een wereldgozer” (a great guy), etc.

Examples:
– “Hoeveel landen zijn er in de wereld?” – “Joost mag het weten…” 
(“How many countries in the world are there?” – “Heaven knows…”)

– “Ik ben verliefd, en de hele wereld mag het weten!” 
(“I’m in love, and the whole world can know!”)

– “De wereld van het internet kent geen grenzen.” 
(“The world of the internet knows no boundaries.”)

– “Geef de kinderen een wereld waar het goed is om te blijven.”  We_are_the_world
(“Give the children a world where it’s good to stay.”)

– “Genees de wereld, maak het een betere plek.” 
(“Heal the world, make it a better place.”)

– “Wij zijn de wereld, wij zijn de kinderen.” 
(“We are the world, we are the children.”)

Expressions:
– “Het is een kleine wereld”: it’s a small world after all.
– “Ter wereld”: in the world.

Example:
– “Het hoogste gebouw ter wereld.”
(“The highest building in the world.”)

– “Ter wereld brengen”: to give birth to (lit.: to bring into the world).
– “Naar de andere wereld helpen”: to launch into eternity, to kill (lit.: to help into the other world).
– “Een man/vrouw van de wereld”: a man/woman of the world.

Related words:
– Aarde: earth [noun] [de aarde, <no plural>].
– Wereldkundig: public, universally known, known to the world [adjective].

Example:
– “Frank heeft zijn beslissing om het bedrijf te verlaten nog niet wereldkundig gemaakt.”
(“Frank has not made his decision to leave the company public yet.”)

– Planeet: planet [noun] [de planeet, de planeten].
– Iedereen: everybody [pronoun].

Huldiging

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honouring, ceremony, homage Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de hul-di-ging, de hul-di-gin-gen]

Zilverenbrons
Although literally "huldiging" is an ‘honouring’, it is typically used for formal ceremonies where people get some kind of award or receive a title. The verb is "huldigen": to honour, to pay tribute to.

Read more about the traditional "huldiging" of Dutch Olympic medal winners at the Holland Heineken House in the ‘Extra’  below.

Examples:
– "Heb je gisteren de huldiging gezien van Annette Gerritsen en Laurine van Riessen?" – "Nee, ik heb het gemist, jammer maar helaas!" 
("Did you see the ceremony with Annette Gerritsen and Laurine van Riessen yesterday?" – "No, I missed it, that’s just too bad…" Annette and Laurine won silver and bronze medals for the 1000 meter women speed skating. )

– "Bekijk de beelden van de huldiging van Sven Kramer in het Holland Heineken House." 
("Watch the footage of the homage to Sven Kramer at the Holland Heineken House." Read more in the ‘Extra’ below.)

– "Winaars krijgen een huldiging, maar verliezaars krijgen doorgaans niks…" 
("Winners are honoured, but losers usually get nothing…")

Related words:
– Huldigen: to honour, to pay tribute to [verb] [huldigen, gehuldigd].
– Onderscheiden: to award with (a medal) [verb] [onderscheidde, onderscheiden].
– Uitreiken: to present a medal (or a prize) [verb] [reikte uit, uitgereikt].

Example:
– "De prijs werd uitgereikt door een lokale beroemdheid."
("The prize was presented by a local celebrity.")

– Uitreiking: presentation (of medals or a prize) [noun] [de uitreiking, de uitreikingen].

Extra:
Hhh
During the Olympic games there is a "huldiging" every day for medal
winners, but for Dutch medal winners there is the traditional additional "huldiging"
in the Holland Heineken House (HHH),
where Dutch fans celebrate the medals won. Of course there is a lot of
Heineken beer, oranjegekte ("orange madness"), performances by Dutch
singers and other BN’ers.

The first HHH-huldiging was for Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer. He won the gold
medal for the 5km men speed skating. This link shows a video made back
stage of Sven’s "huldiging" at the Holland Heineken House. It shows
‘oranjegekte’, a few BN’ers and an athlete who seems to be more nervous
to face the Dutch fans than he was before his race 🙂 . Check out the Holland Heineken House YouTube channel for more videos.

Jokkebrok

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fibber, storyteller Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de jok-ke-brok, de jok-ke-brok-ken]

Jokkebrok
"Jokkebrok" is typically only used for children, or jestingly for an adult. If you want to call somebody a liar, say "leugenaar". The related verb to "jokkebrok" is "jokken": to fib. Telling plain lies would be "liegen".

Examples:
– "Ohoh, jokkebrok! Jij hebt echt wel dat snoepje gestolen!" 
("Ooooh, (you) fibber! Surely you stole that piece of candy!")

– "Dat is helemaal niet waar, ik ga tegen de meester zeggen dat je een jokkebrok bent." 
("That is absolutely not true, I’m going to tell the teacher that you are a fibber." In Dutch primary schools a male teacher is called ‘meester’ ("master") and a female teacher is called ‘juf’, or ‘juffrouw’ ("miss").)

– "Jokkebrok? Dat zeg je toch niet tegen een volwassene? Hij is gewoon een regelrechte leugenaar!" 
("Fibber? You don’t call an adult that! He is nothing but a downright liar!")

Related words:
– Jokken: to fib [verb] [jokte, gejokt].
– Liegen: to lie [verb] [loog, gelogen].

Example:
– "Je loog tegen mij, alsof ik een kind was…"
("You lied to me, as if I was a kid…" Line from the popular Dutch 80s song "Je loog tegen mij" by the band "Drukwerk". The singer Harry Slinger was famous for his hat.)

– Leugenaar: liar [noun] [de leugenaar, de leugenaars].
– Leugen: lie [noun] [de leugen, de leugens].
– Smoes: poor excuse [noun] [de smoes, de smoezen].