Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Vliegtuig

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(air)plane, aircraft, aeroplane Click to listen
Vliegtuig
[noun]
[het vlieg-tuig, de vlieg-tui-gen]

Today is Dutch Word Of The Day number 747. "Vliegtuig", translated aircraft, seemed appropriate 🙂

"Vliegtuig" is composed of "vlieg" and "tuig", which respectively translate to "fly" and "gear/craft".

Examples:
– "Een Boeing 747 is een groot vliegtuig." 
("A Boeing 747 is a big aeroplane.")

– "Vulkaanas kan schade veroorzaken aan de motoren van een vliegtuig." 
("Volcanic ash can cause damage to the engines of an airplane.")

– "Vliegtuigen mogen niet 's nachts vliegen, dat veroozaakt te veel lawaai." 
("Aircraft are not allowed to fly during the night, that causes too much noise.")

– "Vandaag in de krant: vliegtuig stort neer, 184 doden." 
("Today's headline: plane crashes: 184 dead." Lit.: "Today in the newspaper…")

Expressions:
– "Hij ziet ze vliegen": he's crazy (lit.: he sees 'em fly).

Related words:
– Vleugel: wing [noun] [de vleugel, de vleugels].
– Vlucht: 1. flight [noun] [de vlucht, de vluchten]. 2. escape [noun] [de vlucht, de vluchten].

Example:
– "Vlucht KL714 heeft een vertraging van twee en een half uur." – "Dat is vervelend."
("Flight KL714 has a two and a half hour delay." – "That's annoying.")

– Vliegen: to fly [verb] [vliegen, vloog, h. gevlogen].
– Opstijgen: to ascend, to take off [verb] [opstijgen, steeg op, i. opgestegen].
– Landen: to land [verb] [landen, landde, i. geland].
– Neerstorten: to crash [verb] [neerstorten, stortte neer, i. neergestort].
– Toestel: machine [noun] [het toestel, de toestellen].

Dat zal mij worst wezen

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I couldn't care less Click to listen
[Dutch phrase of the week]Worst

Literally "that would be sausage to me", this expression is used to say that you couldn't care less about something. Note that you cannot use it to say that you don't care about somebody. Often the "mij" becomes "me". You will also hear "dat zal me worst zijn".

Check out the comments to this post for a discussion on the use of 'wezen'.

Examples:
– "De Giro d'Italia start in Amsterdam dit jaar!" – "O ja? Dat zal me worst wezen, wielrennen boeit me niet." 
("The Giro d'Italia starts in Amsterdam this year!" – "Really? I couldn't care less, bicycle racing does not interest me at all.")

– "Dit kun je toch niet maken man? Asociaal!" – "Ik doe waar ik zin in heb, OK? Wat jij van mij vindt zal me worst wezen!" 
("You can't do this / be serious about this! That is so rude! – "I can do what I want, OK? I couldn't care less about what you think of me!")

– "Heb je je targets van dit jaar al met je manager besproken?" – "Targets? Dat zal me allemaal worst wezen, want iedereen wordt toch ontslagen door de crisis!" 
("Have you already discussed this year's targets with your manager?" – "Targets? I couldn't care less about my targets because due to the crisis everybody will get the sack anyway!" Note that when the Dutch use management terminology it is often in English.)

Expressions:
– "Wat kan mij het schelen!": what do I care!
– "Dat kan me niet rotten": I couldn't care less [informal].
– "Boeien!": Boring / not interesting at all / I so not care etc… The verb "boeien" translates as "to fascinate/captivate".

Related words:
– Worst: sausage [noun] [de worst, de worsten].
– Saucijzenbroodje: 'sausage roll' [noun] [het saucijzenbroodje, de saucijzenbroodjes]. Popular Dutch snack that you can often buy in department stores or at train stations.
– Slager: butcher [noun] [de slager, de slagers].

Extra:
Hema rookworst The "HEMA" is a popular department store in the Netherlands, where you can buy almost anything of reasonable quality at a reasonable price. This includes the famous "HEMA rookworst": HEMA smoked sausage. Although the Dutch are not really 'sausage minded' (as some people would say of the Germans) the HEMA rookworst is a popular snack amongst the old and young. After having successfully expanded to Belgium, HEMA tried its luck in Germany. Soon the number one selling item was… the rookworst!

Lawaai

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noise, tumult, uproar, racket Click to listen 
Lawaai
[noun]
[het la-waai, <no plural>]

"Lawaai" is just loud and annoying noise. Related adjective is "lawaaig" or lawaaierig": noisy. Related noun is "lawaaimaker": noise-maker, also figuratively: braggart, boaster.

Synonyms of "lawaai" are "herrie" and "kabaal".

Examples:
– "Te veel lawaai hier, ik ben weg, toedeledoki!" 
("Too much noise in here, I'm gone, cheerio!")

– "Onze stofzuiger maakt heel veel lawaai, misschien is er iets kapot." 
("Our vacuum-cleaner makes a lot of noise, maybe there's something broken.")

– "Onze nieuwe buurman is schorriemorrie, ik word gek van het lawaai dat hij 's nachts maakt." 
("Our new neighbour is trash, the noise he makes at night makes me crazy." Lit.: "…I become crazy from the noise he makes at night.")

Expressions:
– "Herrie schoppen": to make noise, to cause trouble.

Example:
– "Gisteravond heeft een kleine groepje hooligans veel herrie geschopt in het autovrije centrum van de stad."
("Yesterday night, a small group of hooligans has caused a lot of trouble in the pedestrian zone of the city centre." Lit.: "…in the carless city centre.")

Related words:
– Herrie: noise, uproar [noun] [de herrie, <no plural>].
– Kabaal: noise, uproar, racket [noun] [het kabaal, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Tien kleine kinderen aan een grote tafel, wat een kabaal!"
("Ten little kids at a big table, what a racket!")

– Geluid: sound [noun] [het geluid, de geluiden].

Tafel

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table
Click to listen
Tafel
 

[noun]  
[de ta-fel, de ta-fels] 

A "tafel" is a table, simple as that! Don't confuse "tafel" with "tabel", which also translates to "table", e.g. a table in Excel.

You may often see the idiom "aan tafel", which generally translates to "at the table", but which may also be a command to come sit down at the table to have dinner.

Examples:
– "Aan tafel, iedereen! Het eten is klaar!" 
("Everybody sit down at the table! Dinner's ready!")

– "Alle ingredienten van het nieuwe recept liggen op de keukentafel." 
("All ingredients of the new recipe are on the kitchen table.")

– "Mam, mag ik van tafel opstaan?" 
("Mum, can I get up from the table?")

Expressions:
–
"Ter tafel brengen": to lay on the table, to put forward.
– "Iemand onder de tafel drinken": to drink someone under the table.

Example:
– "Heb je een kater?" – "Ja, ik ben gisteren compleet onder de tafel gedronken door Lisa…" -"Watje…"
("Do you have a hangover?" – "Yes, Lisa completely drank me under the table yesterday…" – "Wimp…" Lit.: "I was completely drunk under the table by Lisa yesterday")

– "W.v.t.t.k. / Wat verder ter tafel komt": a.o.b. / any other business.

Related words:
– Bestek: cutlery [noun] [het bestek, <no plural>].
– Meubel: piece of furniture [het meubel, de meubelen/meubels].
– Stoel: chair [noun] [de stoel, de stoelen].
– Aanrecht: kitchen sink [noun] [het aanrecht, de aanrechten].

Example:
– "De afwas staat al op het aanrecht…"
("The dishes are already in the kitchen sink." Note that "aanrecht" refers to the entire worktop, including the sink)

– Tafellaken: table cover/cloth [noun] [het tafellaken, de tafellakens].
– Tafeldame / tafelheer: (his/her) dinner partner (lit.: table lady/lord) [noun] [de tafeldame / de tafelheer, de tafeldames / de tafelheren].
– Tafeltennis: table tennis [noun] [het tafeltennis, <no plural>].

Recept

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1. recipe Iconspeaker_3 Jamie

[noun]
[het re-cept, de re-cep-ten]

Feeling hungry? Then put on your "schort" and try a recipe of the Dutch cuisine, which is – as you know – not too ambitious 🙂 Check out this article on Wikipedia for more info on the Dutch cuisine…

"Recept" can also be used figuratively.

Examples:
– "Schat, wat eten we vanavond?" – "Ik weet het niet, ik zat te denken aan een recept van Jamie Oliver." 
("Honey, what’s for dinner tonight?" – "I don’t know, I was thinking a Jamie Oliver recipe." Lit.: "Honey, what are we eating tonight?")

– "In de krant van vandaag staat een recept voor een lekkere stoofpot." 
("In today’s newspaper there’s a recipe for a nice stew.")

Expressions:
–
"Wat de boer niet kent, dat eet hij niet": I know what I like, and I like what I know (Lit.: "what the farmer doesn’t know, he doesn’t eat". Used when you refuse to eat something you don’t know).
– "Eten wat de pot schaft": to eat what there is (Lit.: "to eat what the pot provides").
– "Smakelijk eten!": bon appetit!

Related words:
– Koken: to cook/boil [verb] [koken, kookte, h. gekookt].
– Schort: apron [noun] [de/het schort, de schorten].

Example:
– "Er zit een vlek
op mijn schort." 
("There’s a
stain on my apron.") 


2. prescription, recipe Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het re-cept, de re-cep-ten]Ziek

A "recept" can also be a prescription, prescribed a doctor. A recipe for getting better, so to speak…

Actually, the verb "to prescribe" translates to "voorschrijven" (voor=pre, schrijven=to scribe/write) in Dutch. When a doctor prescribes a recipe, this would translate to "een recept voorschrijven". In this context, you can also use the synomous "uitschrijven" (lit.: to write/scribe out).

Examples:
– "Ik heb de griep…" – "Heb je al een recept bij de dokter gehaald?" 
("I’ve got the flu…" – "Have you already gotten a prescription from the doctor?")

– "Dokter, dokter, ik heb last van een zware verliefdheid…" – "Sorry meneer, daar heb ik geen recept voor, u bent verslaafd aan de liefde…" 
("Doctor, doctor, I’ve got a bad case of loving you…" – "I’m sorry sir, I don’t have a recipe for that, you’re addicted to love…")

Related words:
– Griep: flu [noun] [de griep, de griepen].
– Ziek: sick, ill [adjective].

Example:
– "Je ziet er slecht uit. Ben je ziek, of heb je gewoon een kater?"
("You
look bad. Are you ill, or are you just having a hangover?") 

– Verkoudheid: cold [noun] [de verkoudheid, de verkoudheden].
– Dokter: doctor [noun] [de dokter, de dokters].
– Arts: doctor, physician [noun] [de arts, de artsen].
– Huisarts: GP, general practitioner (lit. house doctor) [noun] [de huisarts, de huisartsen].