Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Veilig

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safe, secure Iconspeaker_3
[adverb/adjective]
[vei-lig]

"Veilig" denotes a situation that is free from danger. It’s the opposite of "gevaarlijk" ("dangerous"), or the more informal word with the same meaning "link". The corresponding noun is "veiligheid" ("safety"). As in English, you especially come across the word when people refer to traffic, travel advice to certain countries, or sex.

Examples:
– "Hij voelde zich niet veilig op dat verlaten treinstation."  Veilig
("He didn’t feel safe at that abandoned train station.")

– "De soldaten zijn weer veilig (en wel) thuisgekomen." 
("The soldiers have returned home safe (and sound).")

– "Het is niet heel veilig om door Yemen te reizen, omdat er geregeld mensen worden ontvoerd." 
("It’s not so safe to travel through Yemen, since people are kidnapped there frequently.")

– "Veiligheid boven alles! Maak alstublieft uw veiligheidsriem vast." 
("Safety first! Please fasten your seat belt.")

– "Hij heeft zijn hele werkend leven geld opzij gezet om zijn pensioen veilig te stellen." 
("He has put aside money his entire working life to secure his pension.")

– "Veilig Verkeer Nederland is een organisatie die zich richt op veiligheid op de weg." 
("Safe Traffic Netherlands is an organisation that aims for road safety.")

– "Je kunt vervelende SOA’s oplopen door onveilige seks." 
("You can get nasty STD’s through unsafe sex." Note that SOA abbreviates ‘Seksueel Overdraagbare Aandoeningen’, corresponding to ‘Sexually Transmittable Diseases’.)

Related words:
– Onveilig: unsafe, dangerous [adverb/adjective].
– Gevaarlijk: dangerous [adverb/adjective].
– Veiligheid: safety [noun] [de veiligheid, <no plural>].
– Veilig stellen: to secure [verb] [stelde veilig, heeft veilig gesteld].

Flessenlikker

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bottle scraper Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de fles-sen-lik-ker, de fles-sen-lik-kers]Flessenlikker

"Flessenlikker" is composed of "fles" and "likker, which respectively translate to "bottle" and "licker", hence "bottle licker". The "flessenlikker" is actually a kitchen tool, which has become a bit obsolete
nowadays. A "flessenlikker" is/was used to scrape a bottle of yogurt or pudding completely empty. A nice example of Dutch economy 🙂

Instead of bottles, pudding and yogurt comes in packs now. Most youngsters will have never heard of a "flessenlikker"…

Examples:
– "Waar is de flessenlikker? Deze fles yoghurt is bijna leeg." 
("Where is the bottle scraper? This bottle of yogurt is almost empty.")

– "Heb jij de flessenlikker gezien?" – "Een flessenlikker, wat ouderwets!" 
("Have you seen the bottle scraper?" – "A bottle scraper, that’s old-fashioned!")

– "De flessenlikker…een geniale uitvinding! Jammer dat er geen flessen meer gebruikt worden voor yoghurt of pudding…" 
("The bottle scraper…a brilliant invention! Too bad that bottles are no longer used for yogurt or pudding…")

Related words:
– Fles: bottle [noun] [de fles, de flessen].
– Likken: to lick [verb] [likte, gelikt].

Example:
– "De hond likte de hand van zijn baasje."
("The dog licked his master´s hand.")

– Schrapen: to scrape [verb] [schraapte, geschraapt].

Expressions:
– "De keel schrapen": to clear one´s throat. Lit.: to scrape one’s throat.

Extra:
For more information on the bottle scraper, see Wikipedia.

Ben je betoeterd?!

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Have you gone out of your mind?! Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Toeter_2
"Ben je betoeterd" is used informally and is a bit of a ‘friendly’ "have you gone out of your mind?!". As such it is often used to address children, as opposed to the stronger "ben je gestoord?!" or "ben je besodemieterd?!". It can also be used in the meaning of "don’t be daft/ridiculous".

A common variation is "ben je nu helemaal betoeterd" ("have you gone completely out of your mind").

Note that "toeteren" is the Dutch verb for "to honk/blast/toot".

Examples:
– "Mevrouw, bent u nu helemaal betoeterd, wij staan hier allemaal te wachten en ik ben aan de beurt!" 
("Madam, have you gone out of your mind, we are all waiting (in line) and it is my turn!")

– "Zal ik je thuis afzetten?"- "Ah joh, ben je betoeterd, ik loop wel." 
("Shall I drop you off at your house?" – "Oh don’t be ridiculous, I’ll walk.")

– "Ben je nu helemaal betoeterd?! Wat heeft mamma nou gezegd, hier met dat koekje!" 
("Are you out of your mind?! What did mummy tell you, now give me that cookie/biscuit!")

Expressions:
– "Ben je (nu helemaal) van de pot gerukt?!": a popular more vulgar alternative to "ben je betoeterd". Literally it says "have you been pulled off the pot(ty)?!" .
– "Ben je gek/gestoord?!": are you crazy/insane?!.

Related words:
– Toeter: horn, blower [noun] [de toeter, de toeters].
– Toeteren: to blast, to honk [verb] [toeterde, getoeterd].

Dom

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dumb, stupid, silly, ignorant Iconspeaker_3
[adverb/adjective]
[dom]

"Dom" can be used for the opposite of smart or intelligent ("slim" or "intelligent" in Dutch) and to describe naive or foolish people or behaviour. The comparative of "dom" is "dommer", its superlative is "domst". Dom2

Examples:
– "Hij is geen genie, maar ik zou ook niet willen zeggen dat hij dom is ." 
("He’s not a genius, but I wouldn’t want to say he’s stupid either.")

– "Hij heeft uit woede zijn computer uit het raam gegooid; wat een domme actie!" 
("Out of anger he has thrown his computer out of the window; what a stupid thing to do!")

– "Wat is de domste opmerking die je ooit hebt gemaakt?" 
("What’s the stupidest remark you’ve ever made?")

– "Hij is niet zo dom als hij eruit ziet." 
("He’s not as silly as he looks.")

Expressions:
– "Dom blondje": dumb blonde.

Example:
– "Zij is echt geen dom blondje hoor, ze is cum laude afgestudeerd."
("She’s not a dumb blonde you know, she graduated cum laude.")

Related words:
– Slim: smart [adverb/adjective].Fotodom1_3
– Intelligent: intelligent [adverb/adjective].
– Naïef: naive [adverb/adjective].

Extra:
"Dom" with a capital d has a totally different meaning; it refers to a cathedral. When Dutch people mention "De Dom" or "De Domtoren" ("the cathedral tower"), they are talking about the tower of the cathedral in Utrecht, located on Dom Square ("Domplein"). The immense nave of this cathedral was destroyed by a tornado in 1674 and never rebuilt; the Dom tower remains one of the main characteristics of the city of Utrecht, which is called the "Domstad" ("Cathedral city") for this reason. Check the (English) website www.domkerk.nl for more information on the church. Every inhabitant of Utrecht knows the fifties’ classic "Als ik boven op de Dom sta.." ("If I’m standing on top of the Dom church.."). Check the Utrecht dialect lyrics here.

Klokslag

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stroke of a clock Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de klok-slag, de klok-sla-gen]Bigben

"Klokslag" is composed of "klok" and "slag", which respectively translate to "clock" and "strike/stroke/blow. "Klokslag" is therefore the stroke of a clock.

You will encounter "klokslag" mostly though in the idiom "klokslag [t] uur" or "klokslag half [t]", where t can be any hour of the day. It is best translated with "at exactly [t] o’clock".

The English idiom "at the stroke of midnight" cannot be literally translated with "klokslag middernacht". This would be "precies om middernacht".

Examples:
– "Dat is gek, het is nu drie uur, en ik hoor vier klokslagen…" 
("That’s funny, it’s three o’clock now, and I hear four strokes now…")

– "Om klokslag zes uur zal een zwarte auto het geld oppikken. Volg deze niet." 
("At exactly six o’clock a black car will pick up the money. Do not follow.")

– "Precies om middernacht verandert Frank in een kikker." 
("At the stroke of midnight, Frank will change into a frog.")

Expressions:
– "Haastige spoed is zelden goed": haste makes waste.

Related words:
– Horloge: watch [noun] [het horloge, de horloges].
– Wijzer: pointer [noun] [de wijzer, de wijzers].

Example:
– "Als de grote en de kleine wijzer samenvallen, is het twaalf uur."
("If the hour and the minute pointer are aligned, it’s twelve o’clock.")

– Klok: clock [noun] [de klok, de klokken].
– Slag: strike, blow [noun] [de slag, de slagen].