Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Meer

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1. more Iconspeaker_3
[adverb/indefinite numeral] Meer

The use of “meer” is quite versatile. It is used in a comparative context, and usually translates to “more”, although many other translations may apply too, see the Examples.

Examples:
– “Ik heb meer ruimte nodig…en meer geld!” 
(“I need more space…and more money!”)

– “Ik heb veel rimpels, maar Frank heeft er meer.” 
(“I have a lot of wrinkes, but Frank has more.”)

– “Sophie heeft in een week meer bereikt dan Frank in een heel jaar.” 
(“Sophie has achieved more in a week than Frank in a whole year.”)

– “Wie waren er nog meer op het feest?” 
(“Who else was there at the party?” (Lit.: “Who were there more yet at the party?”))

– “Door al deze ellende voel ik me meer dood dan levend…” 
(“Because of all this misery, I feel rather dead than alive.”)

– “Ik heb echt geen puf meer, ik ben helemaal uitgeput.” 
(“I really don’t have the energy any more, I’m completely exhausted.”)

– “Sorry, ik kan je niet meer volgen.”
(“Sorry, I can’t follow you any more.”)

– “Sarah is niet meer vrij, ze is vorig jaar getrouwd…”
(“Sarah is no longer available, she got married last year…”)

Expressions:
– “Min of meer”: more or less (lit.: less or more).
– “Onder meer”: among others, among other things.

Example:
– “Ik heb onder meer ontdekt dat er op het werk door bepaalde mensen gefraudeerd wordt, maar er is hier nog zoveel meer mis…”
(“Among other things, I have discovered that some people commit fraud at work, but there’s so much more wrong here…”)

– “Des te meer”: all the more.

Related words:
– Minder: less [adverb/indefinite numeral].
– Veel: many [adverb/indefinite numeral].
– Weinig: little [adjective/adverb/indefinite cardinal].

2. lake Iconspeaker_3
[noun] Lake gunn
[het meer, de me-ren]

As a noun, “meer” translates to “lake”. The Netherlands have a lot of (very) small lakes, although they are usually called “plassen” (lit.: pools/lakes).

The biggest lake in the Netherlands is the IJsselmeer, which used to be a sea (the Zuiderzee), until it was closed by a 32 km dam, the Afsluitdijk, in 1932.

Examples:
– “Hoe laat vertrekt het veer naar de overkant van het meer?” 
(“At what time does the ferry leave for the other side of the lake?”)

– “Ik ga vandaag zeilen op het Naardermeer.” – “Kun jij wel zeilen?” – “Ik ga met een instructeur, dus dat zit wel snor.”
(“I’m going sailing today on Lake Naarden.” – “Do you even know how to sail?” – “I’m going with a instructor, so that will be all right.”)

Related words:
– Oceaan: ocean [noun] [de oceaan, de oceanen].
– Strand: beach [noun] [het strand, de stranden].

Example:
– “Heeft dit meer ook een zandstrand, of zijn het alleen maar rotsen?”
(“Does this lake also have a sandy beach, or is it just rocks?”)

– Zee: sea [noun] [de zee, de zeeën].

Dat zit wel snor

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that's all right, that will be all right Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week] Snor

There isn't really a literal translation for "dat zit wel snor". In Dutch, verbs like "zitten" (to sit), "staan" (to stand) and "liggen" are sometimes used in case of an ongoing activity, usually translated in English with a conjugation of "to be" + gerund, for example: "hij zit te liegen" (he's lying). In this particular phrase, "zit" is also translated with "is"/"will be", although it's not an ongoing activity that is referred to.

"Dat zit wel snor" is synonymous to "dat zit wel goed".

"Snor" translates to moustache, by the way 🙂

Examples:
– "Heb jij je surprise nog niet gemaakt? Morgen is surprise-avond!" – "Maak je niet druk, dat zit wel snor." 
("You haven't made your Sinterklaas surprise yet? Tomorrow is Sinterklaas surprise night! "Don't worry, that will be all right.")

– "Nederlands leren is een kwestie van veel oefenen." – "Dat zit wel snor, ik volg de DWOTD op Twitter." 
("Learning Dutch is a matter of practising a lot." – "That's all right, I follow the DWOTD on Twitter.")

– "Wat is je strategie om de koploper te verslaan?" – "Dat zit wel snor, we hebben een geheim wapen…" 
("What's your strategy to beat the number one team?" – "It will be all right, we've got a secret weapon…")

Expressions:
– "In orde": in order, okay, all right.
– "Dat zit wel goed": that's all right, that will be all right.

Example:
– "Alstublieft meneer, uw wisselgeld." – "Dat zit wel goed, dat muntje van 5 cent mag je houden."
("There you go sir, your change." – "That's all right, you can keep the 5 cents (coin).")

Related words:
– Snor: moustache [noun] [de snor, de snorren].

Example:
– "Mannen met een snor bereiken meer in het leven." – "Wat een onzin!"
("Men with a moustache achieve more in life." – "That's nonsense!")

Surprise

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surprise Iconspeaker_3
[noun] Surprise
[de sur-pri-se, de sur-pri-ses]

The Dutch "surprise" (pronounced "sur-pree-zuh") is nearly only used in the context of Sinterklaas. Unless you're a "kakker" and speak with a hot "aardappel" in your mouth…then you may want to use "surprise" as a synonym for the far more common "verrassing" (surprise)…and if you really want to overdo it, you can use the French "quelle surprise" 🙂

See Extra for more info on the Dutch tradition of "surprises".

Examples:
– "Heb jij je surprise al klaar? Zondag is het pakjesavond!" 
("Do you have your Sinterklaas surprise ready yet? It's Sinterklaas' evening of presents on Sunday!")

– "Ik heb echt een onnozele surprise gemaakt voor Frank…dat zal hij echt niet leuk vinden :-)" 
("I really made a silly Sinterklaas surprise for Frank…he's really not going to like it :-)")

– "Mijn beste kerel! Mieters jou hier te treffen, wat een surprise!" 
("Old chap! How swell to meet you here, what a surprise!" Lit.: "My best man!…")

Expressions:
– "Grote ogen opzetten": to be surprised, to be dazed. Lit.: "to put on big eyes".
– "Nou breekt mijn klomp!": I'll be damned! Lit.: "Now my wooden shoe breaks!"

Example:
– "Heb jij deze surprise gemaakt?? Nou breekt mijn klomp! Hij is geweldig!!"
("Did you make this Sinterklaas surprise?? I'll be damned! It's great!!")

Related words:
– Pakjesavond: Sinterklaas' evening of presents [noun] [de pakjesavond, de pakjesavonden].
– Stomverbaasd: dumbfounded, flabbergasted [adjective].
– Verrassing: surprise [noun] [de verrassing, de verrassingen].

Example:
– "Met die stevige wind is het geen verrassing dat de gevoelstemperatuur erg laag ligt."
("With that strong wind, it's no surprise that it feels like temperatures are very low.")

Extra:
During Sinterklaas time, it's kind of a tradition to have a "surprise-avond" (lit.: surprise night). The "surprise-avond" may coincide with "pakjesavond", but this is not mandatory. A few weeks (sometimes months) before "surprise-avond" there's the crucial part of "lootjes trekken", where all participants draw the name of another participant. It is of the utmost importance not to reveal the name you have drawn, although many try to find out the names that others have drawn. The objective is then to create a "surprise" for the person you've drawn, which consists of three elements: 1. a hand-made object (constructed by using materials like paper, cardboard boxes, toilet paper roles, etc.) 2. a Sinterklaas poem, and 3. a small, funny present. During "lootjes trekken" often a maximum amount is agreed upon, which may be spent on the "surprise". The created object, poem and/or present must preferably apply to a characteristic feature of the recipient. Finally, at the "surprise-avond" everybody opens/unpacks/dismantles the "surprise" that has been created for him/her, reads the poem out loud, and guesses the name of the creator. Because the quality of the "surprises" may vary, a "surprise-avond" may include feelings of both pleasant surprise and serious disappointment, as well as the consumption of alcoholic beverages 🙂

Gevoelstemperatuur

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wind chill, chill factor Iconspeaker_3
[noun] Gevoelstemperatuur
[de ge-voels-tem-pe-ra-tuur, de ge-voels-tem-pe-ra-tu-ren]

"Gevoelstemperatuur" is composed of "gevoel" and "temperatuur" (connected by an 's'), which respectively translate to "feeling" and "temperature". The "gevoelstemperatuur" is the (outside) temperature that is perceived by people under influence of the wind. The "gevoelstemperatuur" is lower than the actual temperature. In English, this phenomenon is called 'wind chill'.

Sometimes, "gevoelstemperatuur" is used to qualify the atmosphere in a room or among people, see the Examples.

Examples:
– "Door de wind kan de gevoelstemperatuur het vriespunt bereiken." 
("Because of wind chill, it may feel like the temperature reaches freezing point.")

– "Het vriest dat het kraakt!" – "Dat valt wel mee, de gevoelstemperatuur is gewoon heel laag door de wind." 
("It freezes really hard!" – "It's not so bad, there's just a high chill factor because of the wind.")

– "Frank is vorige week vreemdgegaan, de gevoelstemperatuur thuis is nu tot onder het vriespunt gedaald…" 
("Frank cheated on his wife last week, the temperature at home has dropped below zero now…")

Expressions:
– "Het vriest dat het kraakt": it freezes really hard / there is a sharp frost, very cold (while frosty). Lit.: "it freezes that it cracks".

Related words:
– Gevoel: feeling(s) [noun] [het gevoel, de gevoelens].

Example:
– "Mijn gevoel voor jou is alleen maar sterker geworden…ik hou van jou!"
("My feelings for you have only become stronger…I love you!")

– Temperatuur: temperature [noun] [de temperatuur, de temperaturen].

Extra:
The Dutch measure temperature in degrees Celsius. The "vriespunt" lies at 0 (zero) degrees Celsius (that's 32 degrees Fahrenheit). The "kookpunt" lies at 100 degrees Celsius (that's 212 degrees Fahrenheit). Click here to go to the website of the The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), where you can convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit, or even better: convert from 'normal' temperature to "gevoelstemperatuur"!

Bereiken

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to reach, to achieve Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[be-rei-ken, be-reik-te, be-reikt]

Finish 'Bereiken' is pretty much used the same way as the English 'to reach' (a destination, a goal, old age, a person on the phone).

Examples:
– "We hebben de afgelopen twee weken veel bereikt. We mogen trots zijn!" 
("We have achieved a lot the past two weeks. We can be proud (of ourselves)!")

– "Ik heb je de hele avond geprobeerd te bereiken; waar was je nou?" 
("I have tried to reach you all evening; where were you?")

– "Over 50 meter rechtsaf slaan. U hebt uw bestemming bereikt." 
("Turn right in 50 metres. You have reached your destination.")

– "Toen hij de leeftijd van 90 jaar bereikte, vond hij het welletjes." 
("When he reached the age of 90 (years), he had had enough." Note the informal expression 'het welletjes vinden': to have had enough, to call it a day.)

Related words:
– Bereik: reach, range, signal reception [noun] [het bereik, <no plural>].

Example:
-"Ja sorry, m'n telefoon stond gewoon aan, maar waarschijnlijk had ik geen bereik."
("Apologies, my phone was turned on as always, but probably I had no (signal) reception.")

– Bereikbaar: within reach, accessible, reachable [adjective].
– Onbereikbaar: out of reach, unreachable, inaccessible, unachievable [adjective].

Example:
– "Hoe kan ik objectief worden beoordeeld als mijn targets bij voorbaat onbereikbaar zijn?"
("How can I be appraised objectively when my targets are unachievable from the start / by definition?" You can use 'bij voorbaat' to indicate that the outcome is already known and is unlikely to change.)

– Reiken (naar): to reach (for), to stretch/extend [verb] [reikte, gereikt].