Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Mensenkinderen

Posted on by

goodness gracious/me Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase
of the week]

Mensenkinderen
Probably not used much by today’s youth, this somewhat old-fashioned expression allows you to express your amazement or discomfort in a decent way. It is composed of "mensen" (people) and "kinderen" (children). Perhaps it was originally used to address the people around you before sharing your amazement with them 🙂 Why the two words are now combined into one I don’t know.

Examples:
– "Mensenkinderen wat een weer!" 
("Goodness me, this weather is crazy!")

– "Mensenkinderen, moet je die rij zien!" 
("Oh my, look at that queue!")

– "Mensenkinderen…" 
("Goodness gracious…")

– "Mensenkinderen… Dit is toch niet te geloven… Sterker nog, het is te bezopen voor woorden!" 
("Goodness me… I can’t believe it… No wait, it is insane!!" Literally: ‘This is not to be believed… To put it stonger…’ Note the expression "te bezopen voor woorden": ‘bezopen’ is the state of being drunk.)

Related words:
– Hoofdschuddend: shaking one’s head [adverb].
– Verbazing: amazement, surprise [noun] [de verbazing, <no plural>].
– Ongelofelijk: unbelievable [adjective/adverb].
– Jeetje: oh my [interjection]. This is actually derived from ‘Jezus’. You will also hear ‘Jee’, but as you know, we turn (almost) anything into a diminutive 🙂

Je van het

Posted on by


very good, all that, the very best  Iconspeaker_3 Je_van_het

[Dutch
phrase of the week]

"Je van het" literally translates to "you of it", which makes absolutely no sense at all 🙂 Translations may vary, but the general idea is that when something is "je van het", it’s very good.

Examples:
– "Dit beachresort is helemaal je van
het. Ontspannen
in je hangmat op het strand!"
– "Te
gek!" 
("This beach resort
is the best. Relaxing in your hammock on the beach!" – "Far out!")

– "Ik vind het nieuwe behang in de woonkamer niet je van het." 
("I think the wallpaper in the living room is not all that.")

– "Hebben jullie ook een afwasmachine? Ik vind het helemaal je van het!" 
("Do you also have a dishwasher? I think it’s really the best!")

Expressions:
–
"Crème de la crème": the very best.
– "Het neusje van de zalm": (lit.: the little nose of the salmon) the very best, the finest of the finest, the pick of the bunch/basket.

Example:
– "Ober, is er iets wat kunt u me aanraden?" – "De Belugakaviaar meneer, echt het neusje van de zalm."
("Waiter, is there something you can recommend to me?" – "The Beluga caviar sir, really the finest of the finest.")

Related words:
– Blits: flashy, hip, cool, groovy [adjective].

Example:
– "Deze tent is helemaal blits, het is echt je van het tegenwoordig."
("This place is totally hip, it’s really all that nowadays.")

Schorriemorrie

Posted on by


scum, trash Iconspeaker_3
[noun]Schorriemorrie

[het schor-rie-mor-rie, <no plural>]

"Schorriemorrie" is somewhat synonymous to "tuig": people of low social status, scum or trash. It’s somewhat posh/polite though. It’s typically used by nervous, rich upper class people who are afraid that the neighbourhood goes to pieces due to the arrival of "schorriemorrie". This was the basis of the successful Dutch Flodder movies and series, see also Extra.

Examples:
– "Wie zijn die nieuwe mensen?" – "Ik weet het niet, maar het is schorriemorrie!" 
("Who are those new people?" – "I don’t know, but it’s scum!")

– "De nieuwe buren gooien al hun troep in de tuin, het is schorriemorrie!" 
("The new neighbours throw all their junk in the garden, it’s scum!")

– "De buurt gaat naar de haaien, zoveel schorriemorrie!" 
("The neighbourhood goes to pieces, so many trash!" Lit.: "…goes to the sharks…")

– "Frank lijkt een rijke kakker, maar hij is gewoon schorriemorrie…" 
("Frank looks like a rich stuck-up, be he’s just trash…")

Expressions:
–
"Tuig van de richel": scum of the earth.

Example: 
– "Hooligans zijn echt tuig van de richel".

("Hooligans are really the scum of the earth".)

Related words:
– Tuig: scum, trash [noun] [het tuig, <no plural>].
– Asociaal: anti-social, rude [adjective].

Example:
– "Er zijn zo veel asociale mensen in de wereld…" – "Stel je niet aan, jij watje."
("There are so many rude people in the world…" – "Get over it, you wimp.")

Extra:
<From Wikipedia> Flodder is a 1986 Dutch comedy film and the first film in the Flodder franchise and is
followed by two more films and a spin-off series. The film follows an
anti-social, dysfunctional family who move to an affluent, upper class
neighbourhood as part of a social experiment which results in mayhem as
the Flodder family refuses to adapt. Click here for an impression. Mark that the first line is "Het is schorriemorrie!" 🙂 Second line goes: "Ik wil niets met dat tuig te maken hebben!": I don’t want to have anything to do with that scum!"

Krant

Posted on by


newspaper Iconspeaker_3 Krant

[noun]
[de krant, de kran-ten]

A "krant" is a newspaper. You may often see the synonymous "dagblad". There’s also the old-fashioned "courant" of which "krant" is of course derived.

There many newspapers in the Netherlands. Check out Extra for an overview.

Examples:
– "Ik lees nooit meer een krant, ik heb het Internet!" 
("I never read a newspaper anymore, I’ve got the Internet!")

– "Als je de muren gaat verven, moet je eerst wat kranten op de grond leggen." 
("If you’re gonna paint the walls, you’ve got to put some newspapers on the ground.")

– "Met niets
verhullende foto’s choqueerde
de krant haar lezers." 
("With revealing pictures, the
newspaper shocked its readers.") 

Expressions:
–
"Spelen als een natte krant": (lit.: to play like a wet newspaper) to play very bad.

Example:
– "De spits speelde als een natte krant, totaal onzichtbaar in het veld."
("The forward played very bad, totally invisible in the field.")

Related words:
– Blad: 1. magazine [noun] [het blad, de bladen]. 2. leaf [noun] [het blad, de bladeren].
– Ochtendblad: morning paper [noun] [het ochtendblad, de ochtendbladen].
– Ochtendkrant: morning paper [noun] [de ochtendkrant, de ochtendkranten].
– Avondkrant: evening paper [noun] [de avondkrant, de avondkranten].
– Dagblad: newspaper [noun] [het dagblad, de dagbladen].
– Courant: newspaper [noun] [de courant, de couranten].
– Voorpagina: front page [noun] [de voorpagina, de voorpagina’s].
– Voorpaginanieuws: front page news [noun] [het voorpaginanieuws, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Dit onverkwikkelijke schandaal is voorpaginanieuws, wat triest."
("This unpleasant scandal is front page news, how sad.")

– Krantekop: headline [noun] [de krantekop, de krantekoppen].

Example:
– "Dit is geen wereldnieuws…dit zal de krantekoppen nooit halen…"
("This is not world news, this will never make the headlines…")

Extra:
<From Wikipedia> In the Netherlands there are seven national paid newspapers. Morning papers: De
Telegraaf, de Volkskrant, Algemeen Dagblad, Trouw, Nederlands Dagblad, Financieele Dagblad,and nrc.next
(only on weekdays). Evening papers: Het Parool, NRC Handelsblad and the Reformatorisch Dagblad. There are many regional newspapers. There are three national newspapers that are free: Metro, Sp!ts en De Pers. Some consider these free newspapers not proper quality newspapers…

Punaise

Posted on by


thumb-tack, drawing-pin Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de pu-nai-se, de pu-nai-ses]

The Dutch language has quite a number of words that are imported from other languages. "Punaise" is one of them. It’s of course imported from the French language. Funny, because apparently the "punaise" was invented in Germany… 🙂

Examples:Punaises
– "Weet jij waar ik punaises kan vinden?" 
("Do you know where I can find the thumb-tacks?")

– "De punaises liggen in de bovenste
la,
tenminste,
daar heb ik ze voor het laatst gezien." 
("The thumb-tacks are in the top drawer, at least,
that’s where I saw them last.")

– "Heeft Frank een punaise op de stoel van zijn baas gelegd??" – "Hij is niet goed snik!" 
("Did Frank put a drawing-pin on his manager’s chair??" – "He’s out of his mind!")

Related words:
– Vastpinnen : to keep someone to it (lit.: to pin down) [verb] [vastpinnen, pinde vast, vastgepind].

Example:
– "Het ligt voor de hand dat Senna er vanavond zal zijn, maar pin me er niet op vast."
("Senna will probably be there tonight, but don’t keep me to / pin me down on it.")

– Plakband: tape [noun] [de plakband, <no plural>].
– Lijm: glue [noun] [de lijm, de lijmen].