Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

363. Vogelvrij

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outlawed [adjective] [‘voo-gul-vrij’]

"Vogelvrij"
is composed of "vogel" ("bird") and "vrij" ("free"). Although it sounds
like being free as a bird, the real meaning of "vogelvrij" is that you
are not protected by law.

Today in the Netherlands this word is mainly used in its figurative
sense, most often in the expression "iemand vogelvrij verklaren": to
outlaw somebody.

Examples:
– "Velen vrezen dat Geert Wilders zichzelf vogelvrij verklaart als hij zijn film over de Koran uitbrengt."
("Many
fear that Geert Wilders outlaws himself if he releases his film about
the Koran." Here we refer to the Dutch politician Geert Wilders who plans
to release a critical film about the Koran titled ‘Fitna’. There are
already protests against this film (in the Netherlands but also abroad)
even though it has not been released yet.)

– "In het wilde Westen was het niet ongebruikelijk dat iemand vogelvrij werd verklaard."
("In the Wild West it was not uncommon for somebody to be outlawed.")

– "Er is onlangs een document gevonden uit de negentiende eeuw
waarin de onschuldige wetenschapper Giordano vogelvrij werd verklaard."
("A document from the nineteenth century has recently been found in which the innocent scientist Giordano was outlawed.")

Related words:
– "Rechteloos": lawless.
– "Straffeloos": unpunished.

362. Misdaadverslaggever

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crime reporter [noun] [de misdaadverslaggever, de misdaadverslaggevers] [‘mis-daad-ver-slag-gee-vur’]

"Misdaadverslaggever" is composed of "misdaad" and "verslaggever". The first translates to
"crime", the latter to "reporter" (literally to "somebody who gives report").

Peter_r The Netherlands have a famous "misdaadverslaggever": Peter R. de Vries. He used to be just a BN’er, but after – as he put it in his tv show about two weeks ago – "having solved the Natalee Holloway" case, he is now also a bit known in the USA. He appeared in Larry King’s show and a few other shows.

By the way, Peter R. de Vries is a very serious crime reporter and he has
solved a few big cases in the Netherlands, in one of them setting two men free from jail.

Examples:
– "Mijn vrouw is misdaadverslaggeefster en de laatste tijd is zij steeds minder vaak thuis ‘s avonds."
("My wife is a crime reporter and lately she is away in the evenings more and more." Lit. "and lately she is at home in the evenings less and less often".)

– "Ik vraag me af of misdaadverslaggever een populair beroep geworden is na het succes van Peter R. de Vries…"
("I wonder if the profession of crime reporter has become popular after the success of Peter R. de Vries…")

– "Weet jij nog meer misdaadverslaggevers dan Peter R. de Vries?"
("Do you know of more crime reporters than Peter R. de Vries?")

 Related words:
– "Journalist": journalist.
– "Crimineel": criminal [noun, adjective].
– "Verslag": report.
– "Verslaggeven": to report.

Extra:
Peter R. de Vries announced having solved the Natalee Holloway case a few days
before his television show on the Dutch tv channel SBS6. In the days prior to the broadcast, the hype grew and as a result more than 7 million Dutch watched his show: a new record for a
non-sports television programme.

So what was all the fuss about? The main suspect in the case, Joran
van der Sloot, basically didn’t open his mouth during interrogation by
the police. Peter R. de Vries got somebody to go undercover and pretend to be his friend
and this new ‘friend’ managed to get Joran to talk. One of the things
that was mocked a lot after the show was the funny Dutch Joran and his
‘friend’ spoke: a mix of Dutch, Papimiento (the spoken language of the
Netherlands Antilles) and local (Aruban) slang. Check out this youtube video to see a part of Joran’s confession.

And as is the usual case in the Netherlands, we talked about it for
a week and now we just ride our bicycles again. Joran van der Sloot has
not been arrested, because his ‘confession on tape’ was deemed inadmissible as evidence.

361. Kibbelen

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to bicker, to argue [verb] [kibbelde, gekibbeld] [‘ki-bu-lun’]

"Kibbelen" has an informal connotation: the subject of arguing is mostly trivial. The noun related to "kibbelen" is "gekibbel": bickering. Not be confused with "kibbeling", which are deepfried pieces of fish (cod): a popular hearty snack which can be obtained at the many Dutch fish shops and stands.

Examples:
– "Sander en Marc kibbelen vaak over de opmaak van de DWOTD website."
("Sander and Marc often bicker about the DWOTD website’s layout.")

– "Kinderen, stop met kibbelen, of jullie krijgen geen toetje."
("Children, stop bickering, or there will be no dessert." Lit.: "…or you’ll get no dessert.")

– "Iedere keer als ik Frank met zijn vriendin zie, zitten ze te kibbelen."
("Everytime I see Frank with his girlfriend, they’re arguing." Note that "kibbelen" is a continuous activity, and the typical
Dutch construction for continuous activities is used here: [subject]  + [conjugation
of verbs suchs as "lopen" / "zitten" / "staan" / "hangen"]  + [te] +
[infinitive].)

Related words:
– "Ruzie": quarrel, argument, row.
– "Onenigheid": disagreement.
– "Vechten": to fight.
– "Schuttingtaal": foul/obscene language.
– "Twisten": to argue.

Expression:
– "Over smaak valt niet te twisten": you can’t argue about taste.

Daar heb ik geen kaas van gegeten

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I don’t know how that works [Dutch phrase of the week]

This phrase has a really Dutch taste to it, because the literal translation would be: “I didn’t eat any cheese of that.” The phrase can be used in all persons, singular and plural. It says that you are far from knowledgeable or proficient in a certain subject area, or simply do not know how things work. The word “daar” can also be replaced with the matter that is not understood, see the examples.

Examples:
– “Hoe kan ik in Windows Vista de tijd instellen? – Sorry, van computers heb ik geen kaas gegeten.”
(“How can I set the time in Windows Vista? – Sorry, I don’t know how computers work / anything about computers.”)

– “Frank heeft duidelijk geen kaas gegeten van Powerpoint…zijn presentatie was verschrikkelijk vanochtend…”
(“Frank clearly doesn’t how Powerpoint works…his presentation was terrible this morning…”)

– “Heb jij kaas gegeten van het strafrechtelijk systeem in Iran?” – “Helaas nee, daarvoor moet je bij Rosalie zijn.”
(“Do you know how the judicial system in Iran works?” – “Unfortunately no, you should see Rosalie for that.” Lit.: “…you must be at/with Rosalie for that.”)

Related words:
– “Snappen”: to get, to understand.
– “Begrijpen”: to understand.

Bakker

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baker [noun] [de bakker, de bakkers] [‘bak-kur’]

Bakkers in de bakkerijBesides the person who bakes bread, in Dutch “bakker” is also used to refer to the bakery (shop), see the Examples. Note that a “bakery” is a “bakkerij” in Dutch. The ending in “ij” is common and you will see it in other words like “makelaardij”, “schoenmakerij”, “slagerij” etc. (it is comparable to the Spanish “ía”).

We use “warme bakker” to refer to a bakery where the bread is actually baked, instead of a shop where the bread is just sold but not baked.

Examples:
– “Liefie, ik ga even brood halen bij de warme bakker op de hoek.”
(“Sweetie, I’m going to get some bread at the (fresh) bakery at the corner.”)

– “Bakker zijn is een zwaar beroep, iedere dag om vier uur ‘s ochtends op…”
(“Being a baker is a tough profession, (one has to) get up at 4 o’clock in the morning every day …”)

– “Raad eens wie ik bij de bakker tegenkwam? Frank….met z’n nieuwe vriendin….”
(“Guess who I ran into at the bakery shop? Frank…with his new girlfriend…” Note that “eens” is not translated here, it means something like “one time” or “just”.)

Expressions:
– “Dat komt voor de bakker!”: “(Consider it) done!” Lit.: “That comes for the baker!”

Example:
– “Op een ochtend werd ik wakker, toen was alles voor de bakker.”
(“One morning I woke up, and everything was taken care of.”)

– “Zoete broodjes bakken”: to eat humble pie, to butter someone up, to suck up.
– “Er niks/niets van bakken”: to mess up.

Example:
– “De nieuwe spits van PSV bakt er niets van!”
(“PSV’s new forward stinks!”)

Related words:
– “Bakkerij”: bakery.
– “Bakken”: to bake.
– “Oven”: oven.
– “Slager(ij)”: butcher(‘s shop).