Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Lekkage

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leak, leakage Click to listen
Lekkage
[noun]
[de lek-ka-ge, de lek-ka-ges]

A "lekkage" is a leakage. "Lekkage" is typically used in case of a pipe, tube or other container leaking water.

The related "lek" translates as a noun also to "leak" in general, or as an adjective to "leaky/punctured".

Examples:
– "Marcs kantoor is dit weekend getroffen door een flinke waterlekkage." – "Daar is hij mooi klaar mee!" 
("Marc's office has been struck by quite a water leakage this weekend." – "A fine state of affairs!")

– "De bovenburen hebben lekkage en nu loopt het water bij ons langs de muur naar beneden…" – "Jeetje, het is bij jullie altijd kommer en kwel…" 
("The upper neighbours have a leak and now the water is running down our wall…" – "Oh my, you guys are always in a miserable situation…" Note the use of 'jeetje'; this is a variant of 'jee' which is in its turn derived from 'Jezus'.)

Expressions:
– "Het loopt de spuigaten uit": it's getting out of hand.
– "In het water vallen": to fall through, to be cancelled. Lit.: to fall into the water

Example:
–
"Het is mijn verwachting dat Franks plannen vrij snel in het water zullen vallen."
("I expect Frank's plans to fall through quite quickly." Lit.: "It is my expectation that Frank's plans will fall through quite quickly.")

Related words:
– Lek: 1. leak [noun] [het lek, de lekken]. 2. leaky, punctured [adjective].

Example:
– "Eerst had ik wind tegen, daarna kreeg ik een lekke band, en toen begon het te regenen." –
"Jongen, wat een ellende!"
("First I had the wind against me, then I got a flat tyre, and then it
started to rain…" – "Dude, what a distress!")

– Lekken: to leak [verb] [lekken, lekte, h. gelekt].
– Loodgieter: plumber [noun] [de loodgieter, de loodgieters].

Kommer en kwel

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all sorrow and misery
Click to listen
[Dutch phrase
of the week]

Sloppenwijk Although 'kommer' and 'kwel' both exist as independent nouns, it is highly likely that you will never encounter them outside this expression. You can use "kommer en kwel" to describe a situation or state that is bad or miserable. How bad or miserable depends a bit on the context 🙂

Examples:
– "Het Engelse team ligt uit het toernooi, maar het was heus niet alleen kommer en kwel." 
("The English team is out of the tournament, but really it wasn't all that bad." Note the use of "eruit liggen"; to be out of a competition after losing.)

– "Hoe was je vakantie, Zuid-Frankrijk toch?" – "Het was verschrikkelijk met die regen, echt kommer en kwel!" 
("How was your holiday, the south of France wasn't it?" – "It was terrible with all that rain, truly sorrow and misery!")

– "Overal is het kommer en kwel, mensen worden ontslagen, ze kunnen de hypotheek niet meer opbrengen en hun spaargeld wordt minder waard!" 
("The situation is really really bad everywhere, people are being fired, they can't afford the mortgage any longer and their savings decrease in value!" Note that "opbrengen" is more like "to raise" than "to afford" which is mostly translated as "zich veroorloven".)   

– "Na de aardbeving in Haïti was het niets dan kommer en kwel." 
("After the earthquake in Haiti it was sorrow and misery all over the place.")

Related words:
– Kommer: sorrow, distress [noun] [de kommer, <no plural>]
– Kwel: seepage [noun] [de/het kwel, <no plural>]   
– Ellende: misery, miserable situation [noun] [de ellende, de ellenden]. The plural is never used though.
– Verdriet: sorrow [noun] [het verdriet, <no plural>].
– Uitzichtloos: hopeless, futureless [adjective].

Verwachting

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expectation, anticipation Click to listen
Verwachting
[noun]
[de ver-wach-ting, de ver-wach-ting-en]

"Verwachting" contains "-wacht-" from "wachten": to wait. Related verb is "verwachten": to expect. When a woman is "in verwachting", she's expecting (a baby), lit.: in expectation/anticipation…

Examples:
– "De verwachtingen ten aanzien van het Nederlandse elftal zijn erg gespannen: de oranjekoorts is weer toegeslagen…" 
("The expectations regarding the Dutch soccer team are very tense: the 'orange fever' has struck again…")

– "Ik had niet zo'n hoge verwachting van mijn nieuwe chef, maar hij valt erg mee." 
("I didn't think much of my new chef, but he's pretty all right." Lit.: "I didn't have such a high expectation of my new chef, …")

Expressions:
– "In (blijde) verwachting zijn": to be expecting. Lit.: to be in (happy) expectation.
– "Boven/buiten verwachting": beyond expectation(s). Lit.: above/outside expectation.

Example:
– "Franks presentatie is buiten verwachting interessant! Normaal is hij heel saai…"
("Frank's presentation is interesting, which is beyond my expectation! Normally he's really boring…")

– "Beneden de verwachtingen blijven": to fall short of one's expectations. Lit.: to stay below the expectations.
– "Tegen alle verwachtingen (in): against all odds.

Related words:
– Gespannen: tense [adjective].
– Hoop: hope [noun] [de hoop, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Geef mij nu je angst, ik geef je er hoop voor terug."
("Hand over your fear to me now, I'll give you back hope.")

– Wachten: to wait [verb] [wachten, wachtte, h. gewacht].
– Weersverwachting: weather forecast [noun] [de weersverwachting, de weersverwachtingen].
– Zenuwachtig: nervous [adjective].

Slachtoffer

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victim Click to listen
Slachtoffer
[noun]
[het slacht-of-fer, de slacht-of-fers]

"Slachtoffer" is composed of "slacht" and "offer", which respectively translate to "slaughter" and "sacrifice"…a "slachtoffer" is not doing very well…

Examples:
– "Ten minste twaalf doden door treinongeval Spanje." 
("At least twelve victims dead in train accident Spain.")

– "Sally is het slachtoffer geworden van een billenknijper." 
("Sally has fallen victim to a bottom squeezer.")

– "De verdediger werd het slachtoffer van de schwalbe van de aanvaller: de scheidsrechter gaf hem onterecht een rode kaart." 
("The defender became the victim of the striker's fake dive: the referee gave him an undeserved red card.")

Expressions:
– "Het kind van de rekening zijn": to be the victim, to suffer, to pay the piper, to carry the can.

Example:
– "Polici kletsen veel, en doen niks. De gewone man is het kind van de rekening."
("Politicians talk a lot of nonsense, and do nothing. The man in the street is suffering." Lit.: …the common man…".)

Related words:
– Offer: sacrifice [noun] [het offer, de offers].
– Slager/slachter: butcher [noun] [de slager, de slagers].
– Slachten: to kill, to slaugther [verb] [slachten, slachtte, h. geslacht].

Example:
– "Argentinië – Noord-Korea 7-0…een slachtpartij…"
("Argentina – North-Korea 7-0…a massacre…" Lit.: "…a slaughter party…")

Schwalbe

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fake dive, diving, simulation Click to listen Schwalbe
[noun]
[de schwal-be, de schwal-bes] 

"Schwalbe" is one of those few German words that are used in the Dutch language. A "schwalbe" is the act, performed by a soccer player, of deliberately taking a dive with the objective of obtaining a free kick or penalty. We do have also a Dutch equivalent – "fopduik" (lit.: fake dive) – but "schwalbe" is far more popular…

Difference with the German Schwalbe is that it's not written with a capital (like all German nouns), except when it's the first word of the sentence, and that its plural form is "schwalbes", and not "Schwalben", like in German.

Examples:
– "Dat was echt een schwalbe!" – "Valt mee dat de scheids het gezien heeft…" 
("That was really a fake dive!" – "Luckily the ref's seen it…")

– "Dat was geen schwalbe!" – "Wedden van wel?!" 
("That wasn't a fake dive!" – "You wanna bet?!")

Related words:
– Aanstellen: 1. to appoint [verb] [aanstellen, stelde aan, h. aangesteld]. 2. to put up a drama act, to put on an air [verb] [aanstellen, stelde aan, h. aangesteld].
– Aansteller: drama queen [noun] [de aansteller, de aanstellers].
– Overtreding: foul [noun] [de overtreding, de overtredingen].

Example:
– "Wat een verschrikkelijke overtreding! Dat moet een rode kaart zijn."
("What a terrible foul! That has to be a red card.")

Extra:
For an overview of German words used in the Dutch language, check out Wikipedia.