Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Pop

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1. doll Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de pop, de pop-pen]

"Pop" means "doll". Of course we all know the world’s most famous doll, Barbie. Many Dutch girls have had their own "barbiepop" ("Barbie doll"). See Examples for more on dolls. Some men also refer to their girlfriend or women in general as "pop" or its diminutive "poppetje". If a girl looks fragile and dressed up, some people could refer to her as a "poppetje". It could be used in both a positive and a negative meaning.

Pop2

Examples:
– "Heb je die poppen bij Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam wel eens bekeken?"- "Oh, de wassen beelden bedoel je? Nee, nog niet." 
("Have you ever seen those dolls at Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam? -"Oh, you mean the wax sculptures? No not yet.")

– "De bewaker van Paleis Noordeinde stond kaarsrecht en knipperde zelfs niet met zijn ogen; hij leek net een pop." 
("The guard of Noordeinde Palace stood upright and didn’t even blink his eyes; he looked just like a doll.")

– "Mijn buurvrouw spaart porseleinen poppen." 
("My neighbour collects porcelain dolls." Please note that Dutch distinguishes between female and male neighbours, "buurvrouw" and "buurman", respectively.)

– "Zij is echt een poppetje: elke dag worden haar nagels en haar gedaan." 
("She is really a doll; every day she gets her nails and hair done.")

– "Tijdens het kinderfeestje werd poppenkast gespeeld met echte poppenkastpoppen." 
("During the children’s party a charade was performed with real puppet theatre dolls.")

– "Deze politieke beweging stelt echt helemaal niets voor; het is een grote poppenkast." 
("This political movement amounts to nothing at all; it’s one big charade.")

Related words:
– Poppenkast: puppet theatre [noun] [de poppenkast, de poppenkasten].

2. pop Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de pop, <no plural]

"Pop" can also refer to the music genre "pop". "Popmuziek" is "pop music", a "popgroep" is a band playing pop music. "Nederpop" is popmusic with Dutch lyrics, derived from the name of our country "Nederland" ("Netherlands"; "neder" is oldfashioned Dutch for "low"). Check out the Extra of DWOTD "Dak" for a typical 1950’s "Nederpopsong". Dutch hasn’t invented its own words for music genres and just copies the English words (jazz, soul, R&B, rock, metal).

Examples:
– "Houd je van Nederpop?"-"Ja hoor, ik luister naar alles: De Dijk, Blof, Doe Maar." 
("Do you like Dutch pop music? "Sure, I listen to everything: De Dijk, Bløf, Doe Maar.")

– "Gaat je voorkeur uit naar pop, jazz of bossanova?" 
("Do you prefer pop, jazz, or bossanova?")

Related words:Pop_3
– Popgroep: band playing pop [noun] [de popgroep, de popgroepen].
– Popmuziek: pop music [noun] [de popmuziek, <no plural>].

Extra:
During the Pentecost weekend and on First Pentecost day ("Pinksterweekend" and "Pinkstermaandag"), Dutch popfestival Pinkpop will be held for the fourtiest time in Landgraaf. The logo of the festival combines "pop" in its two meanings: "doll" and "pop".

Rimpel

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wrinkle Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de rim-pel, de rim-pels]Rimpel_3

"Rimpels" are "wrinkles", lines that appear on people’s faces when they grow older. The related adjective "gerimpeld" can refer to a wrinkled face, but also more generally, to a surface that has one or more ridges.

Examples:
– "Mijn nieuwe dagcrème belooft dat rimpels tot de verleden tijd behoren." 
("My new daycream promises that wrinkles belong to the past.")

– "Ik kan zien dat je veel lacht: je hebt allemaal lachrimpeltjes om je ogen." 
("I can see that you laugh a lot: you have a lot of little wrinkles around your eyes from laughing.")

– "De oma had een rimpelloze huid na de botox-behandeling." 
("The grandma had a wrinkleless skin after the botox-treatment.")

– "Het nieuwe drankje "Fontein van de Jeugd" garandeert een rimpelloos bestaan." 
("The new potion "Fountain of Youth" guarantees a wrinkleless existence.")

– "De gerimpelde oude man zat glimlachend op een bankje in de zon." 
("The wrinkled old man sat smiling on a little bench in the sun.")

Related words:
– Plastische chirurgie: plastic surgery [noun] [de plastische chirurgie, <no plural>].
– Crème: cream [noun] [de crème, de crèmes].

Schimmel

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1. fungus, mould Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de schim-mel, de schim-mels]Broodschimmel

Een "schimmel" is a fungus or a mould. A mushroom is a "paddenstoel" (which grows in the wild) or "champignon" (which is grown on farms).

Examples:
– "Er zit schimmel op het brood." 
("The bread is moulded." Lit.: "There’s mould on the bread.")

– "De dokter heeft een zalf voorgeschreven voor de schimmel tussen mijn tenen." 
("The doctor has prescribed an ointment for the mould between my toes.")

– "Wat is er met deze boom aan de hand?" – "Ik denk dat er de schimmel in zit." 
("What’s going on with this tree?" – "I think it’s been affected by a fungus." Lit.: "I think that the fungus is in it.")

Related words:
– (Be)schimmelen: to mould, to get mouldy [verb] [(be)schimmelen, (be)schimmelde, (be)schimmeld].
– Paddenstoel: mushroom [verb] [de paddenstoel, de paddenstoelen].

Example:
– "Deze paddenstoel behoort tot een familie giftige schimmels."
("This mushroom belongs to a family of poisonous fungi.")

Extra:
The Dutch have a lot of rules to guarantee hygiene in the horeca. Of course, not all restaurants follow the rules…which has led to an entertaining TV show: "Smaakpolitie" (lit.: taste police). Its host Rob de Geus is on a personal mission to ban every mould from Dutch kitchens. Watch this remarkable clip, where he visists a student dorm…

2. grey (horse) Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de schim-mel, de schim-mels]Schimmelsinterklaas

A "schimmel" is also a grey (horse). The most famous grey in the Netherlands makes its appearance around the 5th of December: Sinterklaas’ favourite way of transport is his grey 🙂

Examples:
– "Sinterklaas rijdt op zijn schimmel over de Nederlandse daken…geloof jij het?" 
("Sinterklaas rides his grey over the Dutch rooftops…do you believe it?")

– "Deze schimmel is een lief beest, dat zwarte paard is vals…" 
("This grey horse is a sweet animal, that black horse is mean…")

Expressions:
– "Je mag een gegeven paard niet in bek kijken": to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Related words:
– Paard: horse [noun] [het paard, de paarden].
– Tuig: harness [noun] [het tuig, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Ik heb een nieuw tuig voor mijn schimmel gekocht."
("I bought a new harness for my gray.")

– Pakjesavond: (lit.) evening of presents, Sinterklaas’ evening.

Met de noorderzon vertrekken

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leave without notice to an unknown destination Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

seaside-1031450_1280“Met de noorderzon vertrekken” can be literally translated as “to leave with the northern sun”. It stems from 17th century Dutch. Then, the “noorderzon” was synonymous to “during the night” – the sun shines in the northern/Scandinavian countries at night. The “zuiderzon” (“southernsun”) was synonymous to “during mid-day”. “Met de noorderzon vertrekken” originally meant to leave without notice leaving many debts. Nowadays, it is used when someone leaves without telling anyone that he intends to leave nor where he’s going.

Examples:
– “Hij is met de noorderzon vertrokken en hij heeft nooit meer iets van zich laten horen.” 
(“He left without notice to an unknown destination and has never been in touch since.”)

– “Na dat schandaal is zij met de noorderzon vertrokken, later bleek dat ze naar Canada was geëmigreerd.”
(“After the scandal she left to an unknown destination, later it turned out she had emigrated to Canada.”)

– “Als je zomaar met de noorderzon vertrekt, loop je weg voor je verantwoordelijkheden.”
(“If you just leave like that, you walk away from your responsibilities.”)

Expressions:
– “De benen nemen”: to run away (both in literal and figurative sense) [lit.: “to take the legs”].
– “De plaat poetsen”: to desert (original meaning), to run away, to leave [lit.: “to clean the butt plate(part of a gun)”].

Example:
– “Toen hij de politiesirene hoorde, poetste de dief de plaat.”
(“When he heard the police siren, the thief ran away.”)

Related words:
– Zon: sun [noun] [de zon, de zonnen].
– Noord: north [adjective].

Bezorgen

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1. to deliver Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[be-zor-gen, be-zorg-de, be-zorgd]

Having goods delivered to your house in the Netherlands can be a painful exercise. They of course always come when you are not at home and eventually you will have to go and collect it yourself at the post office. Which will then be closed 🙂 Two weeks ago I ordered a printer on the Internet, and yes it has been delivered – three times already – … at the wrong address.

Examples:
– “Er is voor jou een pakje bezorgd. Je kunt het komen ophalen tussen 9 en 10 uur.” 
(“A package was delivered for you. You can (come and) collect it between 9 and 10 AM.”)

– “Kunt u het bij mij thuis laten bezorgen?”
(“Can you deliver it at my house?” Lit. “have it delivered…”)

– “De postbode bezorgt elke dag van de week behalve zondag.”
(“The mail man delivers each day of the week apart from Sundays.”)

– “Wij hebben geprobeerd een pakje bij u te bezorgen, maar u was niet thuis. U kunt het pakje ophalen op het postkantoor.”
(“We have tried to deliver a package at your house (literally: “with you”), but you were not at home. You can collect the package at the post office.”)

Related words:
– Bezorging: delivery [noun] [de bezorging, <no plural>].
– Bezorgkosten: delivery charge/fee [noun] [de kosten].
– Post: mail [noun] [de post, <no plural>].
– Pakje: parcel, package [noun] [het pakje, de pakjes].

2. to give, to provide with Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[be-zor-gen, be-zorg-de, be-zorgd]

“Bezorgen” is also used figuratively. The translation given does not cover it properly, best to check out the examples below.

Examples:
– “Haar vriend werkt bij een bank en hij heeft mij daar onlangs een baan bezorgd.” 
(“Her boyfriend works at a bank and he recently got me a job there.”)

– “Hij haalt nooit zijn deadlines en dat heeft hem een slechte reputatie bezorgd.”
(“He never meets his deadlines and that has earned him a bad reputation.”)

– “Waarom lees je je e-mail niet goed? Nu moet ik het weer uitleggen en dat bezorgt mij extra werk. Je wordt bedankt!”
(“Why don’t you properly read your e-mail? Now I have to explain it again and that causes a lot of extra work for me. Well thanks a lot!”)

Expressions:
– “Iemand grijze haren bezorgen”: to give someone grey hair, to make somebody worry heavily.

Example:
– “Met dit roekeloze gedrag bezorgt hij mij echt grijze haren.”
(“His reckless behaviour really makes me worry.” Lit.: “With this reckless behaviour he really turns me grey.”)