atmosphere
[noun]
[de damp-kring. de damp-krin-gen]

“Dampkring” is composed of “damp” en “kring”, which translate to “vapour” and “circle” respectively. The “vapour circle” around our planet is commonly known as the atmosphere 🙂 In Dutch, there’s also the synonymous “atmosfeer”.

Examples:
– “Laten we wel wezen, ons klimaat verandert door de vervuiling van de dampkring.” 
(“Let’s be fair, our climate is changing due to the pollution of the atmosphere.”)

– “Het zonlicht wordt gefilterd door de dampkring, anders zouden we levend verbranden.” 
(“The sunlight is filtered by the atmosphere, otherwise we would burn alive.”)

– “Het buitenaardse ruimteschip drong de dampkring binnen. Het einde van de wereld zoals we hem kennen was nabij…” 
(“The alien spaceship penetrated the atmosphere. The end of the world as we know it was near…”)

Expressions:
–
“Gelul in de ruimte“: loose talk, nonsense, crap, bullshit.

Example:
– “De kredietcrisis is de schuld van een wereldwijd
financieel-militair complex.” – “Gelul in de ruimte!”
(“The financial
crisis is to be blamed on a global financial-military complex.” –
“Bullshit!”) 

Related words:
– Mist: mist [noun] [de mist, de misten].
– Hemel: heaven(s), sky [noun] [de hemel, de hemelen].

Example:
– “De zon staat hoog aan de hemel.”
(“The sun is high in
the sky.”) 

(embarrassing) blunder / mistake, embarrassment
[noun]
[de fla-ter, de fla-ters]

A “flater” is a stupid mistake in front of other people causing embarrassment. It’s more or less synonymous to “blunder”, which also translates to blunder, but the subtle difference is that a “blunder” is not necessarily witnessed by other people (causing the embarrassment).

A “flater” is mostly used in the expression “een flater slaan”: (lit.: to hit a blunder) to be embarrassed / to blunder.

Examples:
– “Frank liet een scheet tijdens de vergadering, wat een flater!” 
(“Frank farted during the meeting, what a blunder!”)

– “Ik sla echt een flater met dit bodybuilderschort…” 
(“This bodybuilder apron really looks embarrassing on me…”)

– “Met de publicatie van dit onverkwikkelijke artikel sloeg de krant echt een flater.” 
(“The newspaper really blundered by publishing this distasteful article.”)

Expressions:
–
“Voor lul staan/lopen”: (lit.: to stand for cock) to look like an ass.

Example:
– “Je rits staat open…” – “Oei, dan loop ik al de hele ochtend voor lul.”
(“You’re fly is open…” – “Ouch, I’ve been looking like an ass all morning then.”)

Related words:
– Gênant: embarrassing [adjective].
– Lullig: embarrassingly stupid [adjective].

Example:
– “Frank ziet er een beetje lullig uit met die koffievlek op zijn hemd…”
(“Frank looks a bit stupid with that coffee stain on his shirt…”)

– Prutser: incompetent blunderer, screw up [noun] [de prutser, de prutsers].

Extra:
“Guust Flater” (in the picture) is the Dutch translation of Gaston Lagaffe, a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin. Check this article on Wikipedia for more info.

1. apron
[noun]
[de/het schort, de schor-ten]

An old-fashioned Dutch dinner consists of one simple course: beans or potatoes, meat and vegetables (see also Extra). Simple or not, there’s always the risk of spilling food on your clothes and making a bit of mess in the kitchen. That’s where an apron comes in handy, in Dutch a “schort“.

The plural “schorten” is also a verb, see 2. below.

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

– “Mensenkinderen, wat een troep in de keuken!! Waar is mijn schort?” 
(“My goodness, what a mess in the kitchen!! Where’s my apron?”)

Related words:
– Vlek : stain, spot, smudge [noun] [de vlek, de vlekken].
– Koken: 1. to boil [verb] [koken, kookte, h. gekookt]. 2. to cook [verb] [koken, kookte, h. gekookt].

Example:
– “Wel? Kan je nieuwe vriend een beetje koken?”  – “Jazeker, Mark is echt geweldig!”
(“Well? Can your new boyfriend cook (a bit)?”  – “Absolutely, Mark’s really great!”)

– Knoeien: to mess, to spill, to [verb] [knoeien, knoeide, h. geknoeid].

Extra:
The Dutch cuisine is not too ambitious and quite nutritious by intention. It is inspired by the Dutch fishing and farming history. Nowadays, Dutch cuisine has incorporated many foreign cuisines. For more info, check this article on Wikipedia.

2. to lack, to come short
[verb]
[schor-ten, schort-te, h. ge-schort]

In this context, “schorten” is usually combined with the preposition “aan”: “schorten aan”, which translates to “to come short of”, see the Examples.

Examples:
– “In deze wereld schort het aan mensen met een visie op de toekomst!” 
(“This world lacks people with a vision on the future!”)

– “Het schort de mensen van het Rode Kruis aan medicatie, veel slachtoffers moeten hoesten en overgeven.” 
(“The people of the Red Cross are coming short of medication, many victims have to cough and vomit.”)

Expressions:
–
“Wat schort eraan?”: what’s the matter? / What’s wrong?
– “Wat is er aan de hand?“: what’s the matter? / what’s going on?

Related words:
– Mankeren: to be wrong, to lack [verb] [mankeren, mankeerde, h. gemankeerd].
– Schaars: scarce [adjective].