slow [adjective/adverb]

"Traag" refers to the slowness of events, people, internet and so on. A more often-used synonym of "traag" is "langzaam". The difference between the two words is that people will choose "traag" if they are starting to get a bit annoyed, whereas "langzaam" can also be a good thing.

Examples:
– "Hij loopt zo traag als een slak hoewel er niets mis is met zijn conditie." 
("He walks like a snail although there’s nothing wrong with his fitness.")

– "Ik kom echt traag op gang elke dag, vooral nu het nog steeds donker is als ik opsta ‘s ochtends." 
("I really get off to a slow start every day, especially now it’s still dark when I get up in the morning.")

– "Zij is een beetje traag van begrip vandaag omdat ze maar drie uur heeft geslapen vannacht." 
("She’s a bit slow-witted today since she’s only slept three hours last night.")

– "Internet is zo traag vandaag, is er een technische storing ofzo?" 
("Internet is so slow today, is there a technical malfunction or something?")

– "<Plaatje:> Graag traag (rijden)".
(" ("<Picture:> (Drive) slowly please.")

– "De bestuurder in de auto voor ons rijdt zo traag als een oma." 
("The driver in the car before us drives as slow as a grandma.")

Related words:
– Langzaam: slow [adjective/adverb].
– Snel: fast [adjective/adverb].
– Traagheid: slowness, tardiness [noun] [de traagheid, no plural].

company, firm, enterprise, business [noun] [het bedrijf, de bedrijven]

The most common translation of "bedrijf" is "company". You will less often encounter it in its meaning of an "act" in a play. It also has a meaning in the context of machinery, see the Expressions.

Examples:
– "Ken jij het bedrijf Twofish in Amsterdam?" – "Nee, maar het komt me wel bekend voor!" 
("Do you know the business Twofish in Amsterdam?" – "No, but it does sound familiar!")

– "Ik wil een eigen bedrijf beginnen, dus ik heb vrijdag een afspraak bij de Kamer van Koophandel." 
("I want to start my own company, so I have an appointment at the Chamber of Commerce this Friday.")

– "Mijn dochter studeert bedrijfskunde en ze vindt het erg leuk." 
("My daughter studies business administration and she enjoys it very much.")

– "Wist je dat TomTom een Nederlands bedrijf is?" 
("Did you know that TomTom is a Dutch company?")

Expressions:
– "Tussen de bedrijven door": as one goes along, in between times/jobs/tasks.

Example:
– "Sander schrijft deze DWOTD tussen de bedrijven door."
("Sander writes this DWOTD in between other activities.")

– "Buiten bedrijf zijn": to be out of operation, to be out of order.

Example:
– "Deze automaat is buiten bedrijf."
("This machine is out of order.")

Related words:
– Bedrijfsuitje: company outing [noun] [het uitje, de uitjes]. You will also hear "personeelsuitje" ("personnel outing"). See the Extra.
– Bedrijfsvoering: (operational) mangement [noun] [de bedrijfsvoering, no plural].
– Collega: colleague, co-worker [noun] [de collega, de collega’s].
– Bestuur: board of directors, management [noun] [het bestuur, de besturen].
– Aandeel: share, stock [noun] [het aandeel, de aandelen].

Extra:
"Bedrijfsuitjes" are common in the Netherlands and usually you will have one once a year. The purpose is obvious: have a (hopefully) good time with the co-workers, which will then (hopefully) improve the working climate and hence make things more efficient. These days one tries to make the company outings more exciting, and there are even companies that specialize in company outings. Check out this video from youtube, which is a dubbed scene from ‘Der Untergang’, in which Hitler and his generals discuss what to do for the next company outing ("personeelsuitje"). Hitler wants to go bowling. They also discuss the family fun park "Drievliet" which is located along the river "de Vliet" between the cities of The Hague and Delft.

heaven(s), sky [noun] [de hemel, de hemelen]

"Hemel" is used for the place where the good people (supposedly) go after they die, as well as for the sky that covers the earth.

Examples:
– "Onze Vader die in de hemel zijt." 
("Our Father who art in heaven.")

– "Zijn ze niet mooi, al die sterren aan de hemel?" 
("Aren’t they beautiful, all those stars in the sky?")

– "Ken je ‘De ontdekking van de hemel’ van Harry Mulish?" 
("Do you know ‘Discovery of heaven’ by Harry Mulish?")

– "In hemelsnaam, ga niet!" 
("For heaven’s sake, don’t go!")

– "De zon staat hoog aan de hemel." 
("The sun is high in the sky.")

Expressions:
– "Mijn/lieve hemel": good heavens. Lit.: My/dear heaven.
– "Hemeltjelief": good heavens. Lit.: Little heaven’s dear.
– "In de zevende hemel": in a state of total bliss, in heaven. Lit.: in the seventh sky/heaven.

Example:
– "Grace is in de zevende hemel. Ze is helemaal verliefd op Will."
("Grace is in a state of total bliss. She’s completely in love with Will.")

– "Hemel en aarde bewegen": to move heaven and earth, to leave no stone unturned.

Related words:
– Engel: angel [noun] [de engel, de engelen].
– Hel: hell [noun] [de hel, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Goede mensen gaan naar de hemel, slechte mensen naar de hel…"
("Good people go to heaven, bad people to hell…")

– Lucht: air, sky [noun] [de lucht, de luchten].
– Ster: star [noun] [de ster, de sterren].
– Aarde: earth [noun] [de aarde, de aardes].
– Hemelvaart: ascension [noun] [de hemelvaart, <no plural>].

(poor) excuse, pretext, fib [noun] [de smoes,de smoezen]

A "smoes" is an informal synonym for "excuus", which translates to "excuse". It is usually a (small) story that is used to twist or cover up the truth. Although "smoes" has a negative connotation in this sense, it is not as ‘bad’ as a straight lie (which translates to "leugen" in Dutch).

Besides "smoes" you will often see its diminutive "smoesje" which makes it even less bad than a "smoes":-)

The related verb is "smoezen", which translates to "to whisper (secretly)".

Examples:
– "Ik verzin geen smoes, dit is echt de waarheid!" 
("I’m not making up an excuse, this is really the truth!")

– "Frank is weer laat vanochtend." – "Wat is nu zijn smoes?"
("Frank is late again this morning." – "What’s his excuse now?")

– "Geen smoesjes, jongedame! Niet smoezen in de klas!" 
("No excuses, young lady! No secret whispering during class!")

Expressions:
– "Een leugentje om bestwil": a white lie.
– "(Ja ja,) smoesjes!": yeah right, that’s just making poor excuses!

Related words:
– Excuus: excuse [noun] [het excuus, de excuses].
– Uitvlucht: pretext, escape, excuse [noun] [de uitvlucht, de uitvluchten].
– Leugen: lie [noun] [de leugen, de leugens].
– Liegen: to lie [verb] [loog, gelogen].

1. history [noun] [de geschiedenis, de geschiedenissen]

Every Dutch newspaper will probably use this word today when referring to the Barack Obama’s presidential election victory. For more words related to elections, check DWOTD’s "verkiezing" or "peiling".

Examples:
– "Obama wordt de eerste Afro-Amerikaanse president in de geschiedenis van de Verenigde Staten." 
("Obama will become the first Afro-American president in the history of the United States." Please note that the United States of America ("Verenigde Staten van Amerika") are often abbreviated to "VS" in Dutch. Also the term "Afro-Amerikaans" is more commonly used than ‘Afrikaans-Amerikaans’.)

– "De geschiedenis van China begint 6.000 jaar geleden." 
("The history of China starts 6,000 years ago".)

– "Hij heeft geschiedenis gestudeerd aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam." 
("He has studies history at the University of Amsterdam".)

– "Onze vaderlandse geschiedenis leert ons over het heden en de toekomst van Nederland." 
("Our country’s history teaches us about the present and the future of the Netherlands." Please note that the literal translation for the slightly outdated "vaderland" is "fatherland".)

Expressions:
– Geschiedenis schrijven: to write history.

Example:
– "Obama schrijft geschiedenis door de eerste Afro-Amerikaanse president van de Verenigde Staten te worden." 
("Obama writes history by becoming the first Afro-American president of the United States.")

– De geschiedenis herhaalt zich: history repeates itself.

Example:
– "De geschiedenis herhaalt zich keer op keer." 
("History repeats itself again and again.")

Related words:
– Verleden: the past [noun] [het verleden, no plural].
– Heden: the present [noun] [het heden, no plural].
– Toekomst: the future [noun] [de toekomst, no plural].

2. story, tale [noun] [de geschiedenis, de geschiedenissen]

"Geschiedenis" can also be used when referring to a story of tale. This translation is much more uncommon than the one explained above and is rather old-fashioned.

Examples:
– "Hij vertelde me dat hij wakker werd en niet meer wist hoe hij aan het geld kwam. Wat een vreemde geschiedenis."
("He told me that he woke up and he didn’t remember how he got the money. What a strange story".A more common way to say "Wat een vreemde geschiedenis" would be "Wat een raar verhaal".)

Related words:
– Verhaal: the story [noun] [het verhaal, de verhalen].