Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Schuldig

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guilty Iconspeaker_3
[adjective]
[schul-dig]

"Schuldig" translates to "guilty". The related noun is "schuld", which translates to "guilt" or "debt".

If you’re "onschuldig", you’re not guilty or innocent.Schuldig

Examples:
– "Ik voel me schuldig omdat ik Sara’s verjaardag vergeten ben." 
("I feel guilty because I forgot Sara’s birthday." Lit.: "I feel myself guilty…")

– "De verdachte werd schuldig bevonden aan moord." 
("The suspect was found guilty of murder.")

– "Wie heeft er een scheetje gelaten?" – "Oeps…schuldig…" 
("Who farted?" – "Oops…guilty…")

Expressions:
– "Het antwoord schuldig (moeten) blijven": to not be able to give an answer.
– "Iemand iets schuldig/verschuldigd zijn": to owe someone something, to be in someone’s debt.

Example:
– "Hoeveel ben ik u schuldig?" – "EUR 9,80."
("How much do I owe you?" – "EUR 9,80")

– "Een slecht geweten": a guilty conscience. Lit.: a bad conscience.

Related words:
– Onschuldig: not guilty, innocent, harmless [adjective].

Example:
– "De ogen van een onschuldig kind maken de grootste bullebak week."
("The eyes of an innocent child weaken the biggest bully.")

– Schuld: guilt, debt [noun] [de schuld, de schulden].

Storing

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disturbance, interruption, failure, technical malfunction Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
Storing_2[de sto-ring, de sto-ring-en]

The verb "storen" translates to "to disturb/intrude/interrupt/interfere" and is used in both a technical and non-technical context. The noun "storing" however is mostly used in its translation of "technical failure/malfunction".

Examples:
– "Wereldwijde storing treft Gmail." 
("Gmail hit by worldwide breakdown.")

– "Vanwege een seinstoring is er geen treinverkeer mogelijk tussen Amsterdam en Den Haag." 
("Due to signal failure there are no trains between Amsterdam and The Hague." Lit.: "there is no train traffic between …")

– "Er is een storing op Schiphol, je kunt op dit moment niet inchecken." 
("There is a service interruption at Schiphol airport, you cannot check in at the moment.")

Related words:
– Onderbreking: disruption [noun] [de onderbreking, de onderbrekingen].
– Buiten dienst/werking: out of service/order.
– Storen: to interrupt/interfere/disturb [verb] [stoorde, gestoord].
– Gestoord: defective, mentaly disturbed [adjective].

Daar heb ik geen boodschap aan

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That is not of my concern, that is of no relevance to me Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

"Boodschap" can be translated as "message" or "grocery". See also DWOTD Supermarkt for more on "boodschap". The meaning of "Daar heb ik geen boodschap aan", most likely refers to its meaning as "message". Literally, it can be translated as "I don’t have a message on that" but that doesn’t make much sense. A sentence with a similar meaning is "Daar heb ik niks mee te maken".

Examples:
– "Wat de buurman van mijn tuin vindt, daar heb ik geen boodschap aan." 
("What the neighbour thinks of my garden doesn’t interest me at all.")

– "Hij heeft geen boodschap aan de ouderwetse opvattingen van zijn overgrootoma." 
("He has no interest in the old-fashioned views of his great-grandmother.")

– "Zij heeft er geen boodschap aan wat haar studiegenoten van haar communistische opvattingen vinden." 
("It’s of no interest to her what her classmates think of her communist views.") Wilders

– "De Nederlandse politicus Wilders had geen boodschap aan de oproep van de regering om zijn Koran-film niet te vertonen." 
("Dutch politician Wilders didn’t care about the request of the government to refrain from showing his Quran-film.")

Related words:
– Boodschap: grocery, message [noun] [de boodschap, de boodschappen].
– Boodschappen doen: do groceries [verb] [deed boodschappen, heb boodschappen gedaan].

Flapdrol

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dweeb, idiot, loony, wacko Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de flap-drol, de flap-drol-len]

"Flapdrol" is composed of "flap" and "drol", which respectively translate to "flap" and "turd", so "flap turd" isn’t a compliment 🙂Flapdrol

"Flapdrol" is used informally and is a derogatory word for a lame and loony person (mostly male) without character.

Examples:
– "Het zal wel aan mij liggen, maar ik vind Frank een flapdrol." 
("It’s probably just me, but I think Frank’s a dweeb.")

– "Zie je die gast met dat groene haar? Wat een flapdrol!" 
("Do you see that dude with the green hair? What a loony!")

– "Wie is die flapdrol met dat brilletje?" – "Ho eens even! Dat is onze minister-president Jan-Peter Balkenende!"
("Who’s the dweeb with the glasses?" – "Now just a minute! That’s our prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende!")

Expressions:
– "Elke gek zijn gebrek": <ironical> Everybody’s a fool sometimes.
– "Zalig de armen van geest, want hunner is het Koninkrijk der hemelen (Matteüs 5:3)": Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matth 5:3).

Related words:
– Mafkees: crazy person, wacko [noun] [de mafkees, de mafkezen].
– Mafkikker: crazy person, wacko (lit.: crazy frog) [noun] [de mafkikker, de mafkikkers].

Bonje

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row, fight, quarrel Iconspeaker_3
Vette_bonje
[noun]
[de bon-je, <no plural>]

You can say that there is "bonje" somewhere, that people are having "bonje" or that there is "bonje" between people. It is not necessarily a row or fight, it can also be the state of people being heavily in disagreement, not talking to each other etc. It is in fact quite similar to "ruzie" but its usage is more informal.

Examples:
– "Hoor je dat lawaai hiernaast? Volgens mij hebben de buren bonje." 
("Do you hear that noise next door? I think the neighbours are fighting.")

– "Het begon als een discussie, maar aan het eind van de middag was het toch echt bonje." 
("It started out as a debate, but at the end of the afternoon it became a real fight after all." Note that quite often a "discussie" in Dutch is more a debate/argument than a conversation.)

– "Kunnen Robert en Erica beter niet uit elkaar gaan; het is altijd bonje tussen die twee." 
("Shouldn’t Robert and Erica break up; they are always fighting / having arguments.")

– "Wat is er? Hebben jullie bonje?" 
("What’s wrong? Are you (guys) fighting?")

Related word:
– Ruzie: quarrel, row, argument, fight [noun] [de ruzie, de ruzies].