Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Mist

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fog, mist Iconspeaker_3 Mist_2
[noun]
[de mist, de mist-en]

The autumn is a misty season…you may want to use the "mistlampen" (fog lights) of your car more often now. Check out the Dutch rules on the use of fog lights in Extra.

Examples:
– "Files door mist en ongelukken." 
("Fog and accidents cause traffic jams." Lit.: "Traffic jams due to fog and accidents.")

– "Pas op voor mist onderweg naar Maastricht…" 
("Beware of fog on the way to Maastricht…")

– "De mist is zo dik, ik kan mijn tenen niet meer zien!" – "Dat slaat helemaal nergens op…"
("The fog is so thick, I can’t see my toes any more!" – "That makes no sense at all…")

Expressions:
– "De mist ingaan": to come to nothing, to fail, to flop.

Example:
– "Franks presentatie ging ongelofelijk de mist in, ik heb nog nooit iemand zo zien falen, echt kansloos!"
("Frank’s presentation was an incredible flop, I’ve never seen anybody fail like that, really hopeless!")

Related words:
– Misten: to be foggy/misty [verb] [misten, mistte, h. gemist].
– Mistig: foggy, misty [adjective].
– Mistbank: fog bank, patch of fog [noun] [de mistbank, de mistbanken].
– Mistlamp: fog light [noun] [de mistlamp, de mistlampen].
– Wolk: cloud [noun] [de wolk, de wolken].
– Smog: smog [noun] [de smog, <no plural>].
– Nevel: haze, spray, mist, nebula [noun] [de nevel, de nevels/nevelen].

Extra:
In the Netherlands, the following rules apply for the use of fog lights: the fog lights at the front of a vehicle can be used during fog, snowfall and rain when visibility is less than 200 meters. The fog light at the rear of a vehicle can only be used when visibility is less than 50 meters due to very thick fog or heavy snowfall. (On the Dutch highways, the latter implies that the next "hectometerpaaltje" (see Mijlpaal) becomes visible after you’ve passed the previous "hectometerpaaltje"…this weather condition is quite rare…)

Op rolletjes

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like clockwork Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[op rol-le-tjes]Rollerskating

To express a general state of prosperity, the Dutch use the expression "op rolletjes". You can use it when things are going smoothly: like clockwork.

"Rolletje" is the diminutive of "rol": roll. "Op" is a very common preposition, usually translated with "on". "Op rolletjes" therefore literally translates to something like "on little rolls" or "on little wheels" (like under a desk/chair/table/rollerskates etc.)

Examples:
– "Geen files onderweg, het ging op rolletjes!" 
("No traffic jams on the way, it went like clockwork!")

– "Ik heb nog stapels met werk…" – "Wat klets je nou? Alles gaat op rolletjes!"
("I still have loads of work…" – "You’re talking nonsense, everything goes like clockwork!" )

– "Hoe gaat het met solliciteren?" – "Nou, nog niet echt op rolletjes…"
("How’s the job hunting going?" – "Well, not very well yet…")

Expressions:
– "Voor de wind gaan": to do well, to prosper.

Example:
– "Het gaat Frank voor de wind, zelfs in deze crisistijden."
("Frank is doing well, even in these times of crisis.")

Related words:
– Rol: role [noun] [de rol, de rollen].

Example:
– "Er zijn geen toiletrollen meer…" – "Dat zit er dik in, net nu ik serieus aan de diarree ben…"
("We’ve run out of (roles of) toilet paper…" – "Of course, just when I’m having a serious case of diarrhea…")

– Voorspoedig: prosperous [adjective].

Onderweg

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on the way, en route, in transit, on the road  Iconspeaker_3
[adverb]
[on-der-weg]File_onderweg

Every morning a lot of people are "onderweg" to work. The Dutch "wegen" are packed with "files" (traffic jams).

"Onderweg" literally translates to "underway": in progress.

Examples:
– "Okee baas, ik ben onderweg." 
("Okay boss, I’m on my way.")

– "Deze regering is een aanfluiting, we zijn in dit land onderweg naar totale chaos…" 
("This government is a farce, we’re on our way to total chaos in this country…")

– "Er is altijd wel iemand onderweg naar iemand anders." 
("There’s always somebody on his way to somebody else.")

– "We zijn te laat, het veer is al onderweg naar Texel." 
("We’re too late, the ferry is already on its way to Texel.")

Related words:
– Weg: way, road [noun] [de weg, de wegen].

Extra:
Check out this clip: a song by the Dutch artist Abel. The song is called Onderweg. You may notice that Abel’s pronunciation is characterized by a ‘soft’ g, as most people have in the province of Noord-Brabant and Limburg 🙂

For the soapies: there are Dutch (competitive) soap operas on Dutch television: "Onderweg Naar Morgen – ONM" (broadcast on the public channel), and "Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden – GTST" (broadcast on a commercial channel). Literal translations are respectively "On the way to tomorrow" and "Good times bad times"…

Aanfluiting

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mockery, farce, travesty Iconspeaker_3 Aanfluiting
[noun]
[de aan-flui-ting, de aan-flui-tin-gen]

"Aanfluiting" is often used in the context of (professional) performance, quality, reputation or pride. The word might be related to "fluiten" ("to whistle") which can be used in the form "uitfluiten" (and although a different sound, translated as "to hiss (at) / catcall").

Examples:
– "De prestatie van de atleet was een aanfluiting en hij is terecht door het publiek uitgefloten." 
("The athlete’s performance was farcical and he deserved to be hissed at by the audience." Lit.: "…he was justly hissed at…")

– "Het rapport van de commissie is een regelrechte aanfluiting. Hebben zij hier 3 jaar aan gewerkt?!" 
("The committee’s report is an absolute mockery. Did they work on this for three years?!")

– "Deze spits maakt zijn team tot een aanfluiting; hij bakt er werkelijk niets van!" 
("This forward makes a mockery of his team; he makes a complete mess of it!" See also Expressions)

– "De rechtspraak in dat land is een aanfluiting; je wordt zonder vorm van proces vastgezet!" 
("The jurisdiction in that country is a complete farce; one is imprisoned without trial!")

Expressions:
– "Er niets van bakken": to make a complete mess of it, to be really bad at something. Lit. "to bake nothing of it".

Related words:
– Uitfluiten: to hiss at, to catcall [verb] [floot uit, uitgefloten].
– Farce: farce [noun] [de farce, de farces].
– Fluiten: to whistle [verb] [floot, gefloten].
– Fluitje: glass of beer, lit.: little whistle [noun] [het fluitje, de fluitjes].

Op de hoogte

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informed Iconspeaker_3 Op_de_hoogte_2
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Literally, "hoogte" translates to "height" or "altitude". In general, "op de hoogte" translates to
"informed". It has a somewhat informal connotation, and can be used in combination with quite some verbs. Depending on context, the translations may vary. We’ll deal with most of them in the Examples.

"Op de hoogte" is also often used in combination with the preposition "van" – "op de hoogte van", which translates to "informed of".

Don’t confuse "op de hoogte" with "uit de hoogte", see Expressions.

Examples:
– "Het spijt me, ik ben niet op de hoogte van deze deal." 
("I’m sorry, I wasn’t informed of this deal.")

– "Het kan toch niet zo zijn dat Frank niet op de hoogte is van deze procedure." 
("It can’t possibly the case that Frank is not aware of this procedure.")

– "Kunt u mij op de hoogte stellen van de stand van zaken in het project?" 
("Can you inform me of the project status?")

– "Ik verwacht dat je me op de hoogte houdt van de meest recente ontwikkelingen." 
("I expect you to keep me posted on the most recent developments.")

– "Wat?? Yvonne en Claude hebben hun scheiding aangevraagd?? Daarvan was ik niet op de hoogte!" 
("What?? Yvonne and Claude have filed for divorce?? I wasn’t aware of that!")

Expressions:
– "Uit de hoogte": arrogant, haughtily, with an air.
– "Ergens geen hoogte van (kunnen) krijgen": to not be able to understand/grasp.

Example:
– "Frank deed erg vaag vandaag, ik kon geen hoogte van hem krijgen."
("Frank was acting very vague today, I couldn’t make him out.")

Related words:
– Hoogte: height, altitude [noun] [de hoogte, de hoogtes].
– Bijpraten: to catch up [verb] [bijpraten, praatte bij, h. bijgepraat].

Example:
– "Lang niet gezien! Heb je even tijd om bij te praten?"
("Long time no see! Do you have a moment to catch up?")

– Informeren: to inform [verb] [informeren, informeerde, geïnformeerd].