heaven(s), sky [noun] [de hemel, de hemelen]

"Hemel" is used for the place where the good people (supposedly) go after they die, as well as for the sky that covers the earth.

Examples:
– "Onze Vader die in de hemel zijt." 
("Our Father who art in heaven.")

– "Zijn ze niet mooi, al die sterren aan de hemel?" 
("Aren’t they beautiful, all those stars in the sky?")

– "Ken je ‘De ontdekking van de hemel’ van Harry Mulish?" 
("Do you know ‘Discovery of heaven’ by Harry Mulish?")

– "In hemelsnaam, ga niet!" 
("For heaven’s sake, don’t go!")

– "De zon staat hoog aan de hemel." 
("The sun is high in the sky.")

Expressions:
– "Mijn/lieve hemel": good heavens. Lit.: My/dear heaven.
– "Hemeltjelief": good heavens. Lit.: Little heaven’s dear.
– "In de zevende hemel": in a state of total bliss, in heaven. Lit.: in the seventh sky/heaven.

Example:
– "Grace is in de zevende hemel. Ze is helemaal verliefd op Will."
("Grace is in a state of total bliss. She’s completely in love with Will.")

– "Hemel en aarde bewegen": to move heaven and earth, to leave no stone unturned.

Related words:
– Engel: angel [noun] [de engel, de engelen].
– Hel: hell [noun] [de hel, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Goede mensen gaan naar de hemel, slechte mensen naar de hel…"
("Good people go to heaven, bad people to hell…")

– Lucht: air, sky [noun] [de lucht, de luchten].
– Ster: star [noun] [de ster, de sterren].
– Aarde: earth [noun] [de aarde, de aardes].
– Hemelvaart: ascension [noun] [de hemelvaart, <no plural>].

(poor) excuse, pretext, fib [noun] [de smoes,de smoezen]

A "smoes" is an informal synonym for "excuus", which translates to "excuse". It is usually a (small) story that is used to twist or cover up the truth. Although "smoes" has a negative connotation in this sense, it is not as ‘bad’ as a straight lie (which translates to "leugen" in Dutch).

Besides "smoes" you will often see its diminutive "smoesje" which makes it even less bad than a "smoes":-)

The related verb is "smoezen", which translates to "to whisper (secretly)".

Examples:
– "Ik verzin geen smoes, dit is echt de waarheid!" 
("I’m not making up an excuse, this is really the truth!")

– "Frank is weer laat vanochtend." – "Wat is nu zijn smoes?"
("Frank is late again this morning." – "What’s his excuse now?")

– "Geen smoesjes, jongedame! Niet smoezen in de klas!" 
("No excuses, young lady! No secret whispering during class!")

Expressions:
– "Een leugentje om bestwil": a white lie.
– "(Ja ja,) smoesjes!": yeah right, that’s just making poor excuses!

Related words:
– Excuus: excuse [noun] [het excuus, de excuses].
– Uitvlucht: pretext, escape, excuse [noun] [de uitvlucht, de uitvluchten].
– Leugen: lie [noun] [de leugen, de leugens].
– Liegen: to lie [verb] [loog, gelogen].

1. history [noun] [de geschiedenis, de geschiedenissen]

Every Dutch newspaper will probably use this word today when referring to the Barack Obama’s presidential election victory. For more words related to elections, check DWOTD’s "verkiezing" or "peiling".

Examples:
– "Obama wordt de eerste Afro-Amerikaanse president in de geschiedenis van de Verenigde Staten." 
("Obama will become the first Afro-American president in the history of the United States." Please note that the United States of America ("Verenigde Staten van Amerika") are often abbreviated to "VS" in Dutch. Also the term "Afro-Amerikaans" is more commonly used than ‘Afrikaans-Amerikaans’.)

– "De geschiedenis van China begint 6.000 jaar geleden." 
("The history of China starts 6,000 years ago".)

– "Hij heeft geschiedenis gestudeerd aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam." 
("He has studies history at the University of Amsterdam".)

– "Onze vaderlandse geschiedenis leert ons over het heden en de toekomst van Nederland." 
("Our country’s history teaches us about the present and the future of the Netherlands." Please note that the literal translation for the slightly outdated "vaderland" is "fatherland".)

Expressions:
– Geschiedenis schrijven: to write history.

Example:
– "Obama schrijft geschiedenis door de eerste Afro-Amerikaanse president van de Verenigde Staten te worden." 
("Obama writes history by becoming the first Afro-American president of the United States.")

– De geschiedenis herhaalt zich: history repeates itself.

Example:
– "De geschiedenis herhaalt zich keer op keer." 
("History repeats itself again and again.")

Related words:
– Verleden: the past [noun] [het verleden, no plural].
– Heden: the present [noun] [het heden, no plural].
– Toekomst: the future [noun] [de toekomst, no plural].

2. story, tale [noun] [de geschiedenis, de geschiedenissen]

"Geschiedenis" can also be used when referring to a story of tale. This translation is much more uncommon than the one explained above and is rather old-fashioned.

Examples:
– "Hij vertelde me dat hij wakker werd en niet meer wist hoe hij aan het geld kwam. Wat een vreemde geschiedenis."
("He told me that he woke up and he didn’t remember how he got the money. What a strange story".A more common way to say "Wat een vreemde geschiedenis" would be "Wat een raar verhaal".)

Related words:
– Verhaal: the story [noun] [het verhaal, de verhalen].