Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Tenenkrommend

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cringeworthy, toe-curling, cringe-making, cringingly
[adjective/adverb]
[te-nen-krom-mend] 

When something is very bad, and perhaps even to the point that it is embarrassing, you may bend your toes in response to what you witness. ‘Bending one’s toes’ in Dutch is ‘je tenen krommen’ and when something makes you bend your toes, we call it ‘tenenkrommend’ (‘toe bending’). It can be used both as an adjective and adverb. Obviously it has a negative connotation 🙂

I could only found ‘cringing(ly)’ as a translation, so am happy to receive suggestions!

Examples:
– “Heb je gisteravond naar ‘the voice of Holland‘ gekeken?” – “Ja, dat tweede optreden was echt tenenkrommend slecht!” 
(“Did you watch ‘the voice of Holland’ yesterday evening?” – “Yes, the second performance was so bad, it was embarrassing!”)

– “En, hoe was de kersttoespraak van de directeur? Ik had geen tijd om te gaan…” – “Nou, je hebt niks gemist hoor. En zijn grapjes waren ook dit jaar weer tenenkrommend!” 
(“So, how was the (managing) director’s Christmas speech? I didn’t have time to go…” – “Well, you haven’t missed a thing… And also this year again his jokes were terribly bad.”)

– “Onze bedrijfsfeestjes zijn altijd tenenkrommend; dan moeten we met de baas karaoke doen, of één of ander suf rollenspel.” 
(“Our office/company parties are always embarrassingly bad; we have to participate in karaoke with the boss, or do some stupid role playing game.”)

– “Was je bij de presentatie van Frank?!” – “Ja! Tenenkrommend gewoon!! Die gast moet echt weggepromoveerd worden!” 
(“Where you there at Frank’s presentation?” – “Yes! It was terrible! Embarrassing! This guy needs to be promoted so that we get rid of him!” Note the verb ‘wegpromoveren’: the act of promoting somebody with the mere objective to get rid of the person (if firing is not possible).)

Expressions:
– “Plaatsvervangende schaamte (voelen)”: (be) ashamed/embarrased for someone else.

Related words:
– Teen: toe [noun] [de teen, de tenen].
– Krommen: to bend, to curve [verb] [kromde, gekromd].
– Gênant: embarrassing [adjective].
– Schaamte: shame [noun] [de schaamte, <no plural>].
– Slecht: bad [adjective].

Het einde is in zicht

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the end is in sight, we’re almost there
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[het ein-de is in zicht] 

The phrase ‘het einde is in zicht’ is used when a long-lasting activity, or task of relatively long duration, is finally coming to an end. The phrase can also be used literally, where the ‘end’ is physically represented (e.g. a finish line, an empty van), but I think one would still be emphasizing the end of the corresponding activity (e.g. running, unloading a van).

Examples:
– “Jongens, het einde is in zicht, nog twee uurtjes rijden en dan zijn we in Marseille.” 
(“Guys, the end is in sight, two more hours to go and then we’ll be in Marseille.”)

– “Het einde is in zicht: het huis is leeggeruimd en aanstaande woensdag wordt de koopakte getekend. Hè hè, ik dacht dat er geen einde aan zou komen!” 
(“The end is in sight: the house has been cleared out and this Wednesday the deed of purchase is signed. Pff, I thought it would never end!” Note the typical Dutch ‘hè hè’ to express that something has taken too long.)

– “Wanneer kom je naar huis, het is al laat!” – “Ja sorry, de vergadering loopt uit, maar het einde is in zicht dus ik denk dat ik met een uurtje wel thuis ben!” 
(“When are you coming home, it’s already late!” – “Yeah I apologize, the meeting is running late, but we’re almost finished so I think I’ll be home in an hour!”  Note the use of ‘met’ in ‘met een uurtje [end result] ‘: it will take approximately an hour (before [end result] is achieved).”)

– “Is het nog ver lopen naar de stad?” –  “Ik denk dat het einde zo in zicht is, als het goed is kunnen we dadelijk de kerktoren al zien!” 
(“Do we still have to walk far before we have reached the city centre?” – “I think we’re almost getting there, if I’m not mistaken we will soon be able to see the church tower.”)

Expressions:
– “De laatste loodjes”: the home stretch, the last few tasks to complete.

Example:
– “De laatste loodjes zeker?” – “Nou… was het maar waar! Ik moet nog zeker een jaar studeren voordat ik mijn diploma krijg!”
(“You have reached the home stretch I presume?” – “Well… if only that were true! I have at least one year of college left before I’ll get my diploma!”)

Related words:
– Eind(e): end [noun] [het eind(e), de einden].
– Zicht: sight, view [noun] [het zicht, <no plural>].
– Af: finished, completed [adjective].
– Klaar: ready, finished, completed [adjective/adverb].

Example:
– “Hebben jullie het al af?” – “Nee, we zijn nog lang niet klaar!”
(“Have you completed it yet?” – “No, we are nowhere near completion!”)

Goedgemutst

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good-humoured/tempered, in a good mood
[adjective]
[goed-ge-mutst] 

The origin of this adjective goes back to the days when the type of headgear people were wearing (and how they were wearing it) could be indicative of their mood. Literally it meant: wearing the hat well. Note that the Dutch noun ‘muts’ no longer is a general word for headgear; it typically refers to the kind of hat that you can pull over your ears and is made of wool, or a wool like fabric, see DWOTD Muts.

‘Goedgemutst’ is slightly colloquial; a common more formal synonym is ‘goedgehumeurd’.

Examples:
– “Zo, wat ben jij goedgemutst vandaag!” – “Klopt, vandaag is de eerste dag van mijn vakantie!” 
(“You are in quite a good mood today!” – “That’s right, today is the first day of my holiday!” Note that ‘vakantie’ is typically used for a longer period of time-off.)

– “Zij is echt prettig gezelschap, altijd goedgemutst en daar word je zelf ook heel vrolijk van!” 
(“She is really pleasant company, always good-tempered and that really cheers you up as well!”)

– “Ik geef toe, ik ben niet echt het goedgemutste type bij uitstek, maar om nu te doen alsof ik altijd depressief ben, dat vind ik ook weer zo wat!” 
(“I admit, I’m not really an outstanding example of the good-humoured kind of guy, but to act as if I’m always depressed, that’s a bit too much to my liking.”)

– “Wat is er aan de hand? Vanochtend was je nog zo goedgemutst!” – “Ach houd toch op met dat goedgemutst, het is pokkenweer en het is koud! Daar word ik chagrijnig van! Laat me met rust!” 
(“What’s the matter? This morning you were in such a good mood!” – “Ah stop the ‘in such a good mood’ will you, it’s lousy weather and it’s cold! That makes miserable! Leave me alone!”)

Related words:
– Muts: hat, cap [noun] [de muts, de mutsen].
– Goedgehumeurd: good-humoured [adjective].
– Humeur: temper, mood [noun] [het humeur, <no plural>].
– Stemming: mood [noun] [de stemming, de stemmingen].
– Bui: mood [noun] [de bui, de buien].
– Vrolijk: cheerful, merry [adjective/adverb].
– Blij: happy, glad [adjective].
– Opgewekt: cheerful, lighthearted [adjective].

Chaos

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chaos, disorder, havoc
[noun]
[de cha-os] 

It helps to learn a language when one of its properties is order as opposed to chaos. It helps even more when the translation is exactly the same as the original! But I guess we have to thank the Greeks for that 🙂 .

Examples:
– “Hai met Max – ik ben wat later want ik sta vast op de N14; de sneeuw zorgt voor een verkeerschaos!” 
(“Hi it’s Max – I’ll be a bit later because I’m stuck on the N14; the snow is causing a traffic havoc!”)

– “Het feit dat ik wiskunde gestudeerd heb, impliceert niet dat ik een expert ben op het gebied van de chaostheorie.” 
(“The fact that I have a degree in mathematics does not imply I’m an expert in the area of chaos theory.” Lit.: “The fact that I have studied mathematics…”)

– “Kom binnen, welkom in mijn huis; sorry voor de troep, ik heb gisteren de kinderen over de vloer gehad en daarna is het altijd een beetje een chaos…” 
(“Come in, welcome (in to my home); I apologize for the mess, yesterday I had the kids over and it’s always a bit of a chaos after that…” Lit.: “I’ve had the kids over the floor yesterday…”)

– “Voordat we kunnen beginnen met het probleem te analyseren, moeten we eerst orde in de chaos brengen.” 
(“Before we can start analysing the problem, we first have to sort out the chaos.” Lit.: “…, we first have to bring order in the chaos.”)

– “U wilt aangifte doen van inbraak? Dat kan, wat is er gestolen?” – “Nou ziet u, de inbrekers hebben een enorme chaos achtergelaten waardoor het nog niet duidelijk is wat er precies gestolen is, maar er is in ieder geval ingebroken!” 
(“You wish to report a burglary? That’s possible, what has been stolen?” – “Well, you see, the burglars left behind a huge chaos and because of that it’s not yet clear what exactly has been stolen, but there was a burglary, that’s for sure!” Lit.: “… but in any case there has been broken into.”)

– “De stroom is uitgevallen op Utrecht Centraal Station waardoor er in zeer korte tijd totale chaos is ontstaan.” 
(“There’s a power failure at Utrecht Central Station and it has caused total chaos in a very short time.” Lit. “The power has dropped out … because of which in a very short time…)

Related words:
– Warboel: mess, tangle, mix-up [noun] [de warboel, <no plural>].
– Wanorde: disorder, confusion [noun] [de wanorde, <no plural>].
– Ongeordend: disorganized, unordered, disordered [adjective/adverb].

Example:
– “Ik geef toe dat hij een beetje een ongeordend type is, maar chaotisch zou ik hem niet willen noemen…”
(“I admit he is somewhat of a disorganized character, but I wouldn’t want to call him chaotic.”)

– Chaotisch: chaotic [adjective/adverb].

Met man en macht

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with great/maximum effort, with might and main, massively
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[met man en macht] 

This expression can only be used in case of a group effort. It is used to emphasize that everybody helped out and gave all they had in order to achieve something.

The expression seems to make sense given the literal translation of ‘with man and power/force’, however its original form dates back to the middle ages and reads: met ‘man en maech’ (with man and his relatives) emphasizing the group aspect more than the effort.

Examples:
– “Met man en macht probeerde de brandweer de brand te blussen maar het mocht niet baten; het pand is volledig afgebrand.” 
(“The fire brigade tried with great effort to extinguish the fire, but it was of no avail; the property burnt down completely.”)

– “Met man en macht is gisteren de hele dag gezocht naar het vermiste meisje.” 
(“Yesterday a huge search party searched all day long for the missing girl.”)

– “De laatste aanhangers van de dictator verdedigden met man en macht hun bolwerk in het midden van de stad.” 
(“The dictator’s last followers massively defended their stronghold in the centre of the city.”)

Related words:
– Man: man (male or person/human) [noun] [de man, de mannen].
– Macht: power [noun] [de macht, <no plural>].

Example:
– “De rebellen hebben de macht overgenomen in het zuiden van het land.”
(“The rebels have assumed power in the southern regions of the country.” Lit.: “.. in the south of the country.”)

– Massaal: massive [adjective/adverb].
– Inzet: effort, dedication [noun] [de inzet, <no plural>]. In case of the translation of ‘stake, wager’, the plural form is ‘de inzetten’.