1. flash, dash [noun] [de blits, de blitsen]

According to the dictionary, there is a Dutch noun "blits" which supposedly translates to the English "flash" and the German "Blitz". However, as far as we can tell, we only use this word in the expression below. It is a common expression; try to use it!

Expression:
– "De blits maken": to be really hip/flashy/cool/groovy/trendy, or ‘to steal the show/make a good show’. Literally: to make the flash.

Examples:
– "Met die zonnebril maak je echt de blits!"
("With those sunglasses you’re really flashy/cool!")

– "Sinds vorige week maakt Andreas de blits in zijn nieuwe Volkswagenbusje."
  ("Since last week Andreas is stealing the show in his new Volkswagen van." A "bus" is short for "autobus", but when talking about a van, always the word "busje" is used.)

– "Frank maakte helemaal de blits toen hij in zijn nieuwe pak op het werk verscheen."
("Frank completely stole the show when he appeared at work in his new suit.")

2. flashy, hip, cool, groovy [adjective]

We do use "blits" as an adjective however, although mainly used by adults (we guess the word itself is not "blits" enough to be used by teen-agers!).

Examples:
– "Blits man!"
("<admiring your friend’s new car:> Cool dude! / Brilliant mate!")

– "Wat zie jij er blits uit vandaag!"
("My, you look flashy/hip today!")

– "Dat is een blitse auto, zeker met die rode kleur.
("That is a flashy car, certainly with that red colour.")

– "Isabelle heeft altijd blitse kleren aan."
("Isabelle always wears trendy clothes.")

– "Restaurant ONI is een blitse Japanse tent in Den Haag."
("The ONI restaurant is a hip Japanese joint in The Hague." Lit.: "…a hip Japanese tent…")

Related words:
– "Blitskikker": flashy guy. Lit.: Hip frog 🙂 (Sometime used with a negative connotation).

Example:
– "Wie is die blitskikker in die Porsche? Wat een eikel!"
("Who is that flashy guy in the Porsche? What a loser!" An "eikel" literally translates to "acorn", but here "dickhead" is meant.)

– "Hip": hip, flashy.
– "Cool": cool [pronounced as in English].

“Babbelen” is an informal way of talking. It can be used in a positive or negative context, see translation 1. and 2. respectively.

1. to chat, chatter [verb] [babbelde, gebabbeld]

Examples:
– “Wat hebben jullie twee gisteravond gedaan? – Gezellig in de kroeg zitten babbelen!”
(“What did you two do yesterday evening? – Sat down in the pub and had a nice (little) chat!”)

– “Twee omaatjes zaten op een bankje in het park te babbelen over het weer.”
(“Two little grannies were sitting on a little bench in the park chattering about the weather.”)

Related word:
– “Kletsen“: chat, to talk informally.

2. to blab, to gossip [verb] [babbelde, gebabbeld]

Examples:
– “Die secretaresse zit altijd over anderen te babbelen.”
(“That secretary is always blabbing about other people.”)

– “Er wordt gebabbeld dat Frank het doet met die secretaresse…”
(“Gossiping is going on about Frank having an affair with that secretary…” Literally: “It is gossiped that Frank does it with that secretary…”)

Related word:
– “Roddelen”: to gossip.

flirt, pick-up [noun] [de scharrel, de scharrels]

‘Scharrel’ is used for the person with whom you have a fling. This fling can be for the duration of an evening or night, but usually for a short period with some kind of regular interaction. If it is really just for the night, the Dutch use the English expression ‘one night stand’ (if you-know-what happened).

‘Scharrel’ is derived from the verb ‘scharrelen’, see ‘Related words’.

Examples:
– "Is dat je nieuwe vriendje, of gewoon een scharrel?"
("Is that your new boyfriend, or just a flirt?" Pay attention to the use of ‘vriendje’ here. It is the diminutive of ‘vriend’: ‘friend’. It is very common for women to use this diminutive when talking about a boyfriend. When talking about a male friend, one says ‘een vriend’.)

– "Die gast heeft altijd alleen maar scharrels en is niet in staat om een echte relatie te hebben."
("That guy/bloke always (only) has flings and is not capable of having a real relationship." Lit.: "…always only has flirts…". The word ‘gast’ literally means ‘guest’ but can be used informally to denote a man.)

Related words:
– "Scharrelen": to scratch up, scrape together. Also: to rummage (about/around).

Examples:
– "De bedelaar had wat geld bij elkaar gescharreld voor een koffie."
("The beggar had scraped together some money for a coffee.")

– "Onze buurman heeft de hele dag in de tuin gescharreld om onkruid te wieden."
("Our neighbour has rummaged around in the garden all day to do some weeding.")

– "Scharrelkip": free-range chicken/hen as opposed to battery cage chickens.
– "Scharreleieren": the eggs a ‘scharrelkip’ produces. This name is explicitly stated on a box of free-range eggs.

pedantic, clever-clever [adjective]

The adjective "betweterig" is derived from the noun "betweter". A "betweter", composed of ‘bet’ and ‘weter’ (pronounced: bet-waiter), is a person who ‘knows it better’. In Dutch, ‘to know’ translates to ‘weten’, and ‘better’ to ‘beter’.
If you want to create an adjective that describes that something or somebody has the characteristics of a noun or verb, you can often do this by replacing the ‘-en’ at the end with ‘-erig’ (translated: ‘-y’) in case of a verb, or add ‘-ig’ in case of a noun, like "betweterig". See ‘Extra’ for more examples.

Examples:
– "Wat ben jij betweterig!"
("You’re so pedantic!" or "How pedantic you are!")

– "Ik vind hem nogal betweterig overkomen op het werk."
("I think he comes across as quite pedantic at work.")

– "Tijdens de vergadering gedroeg Frank zich behoorlijk betweterig.")
("During the meeting, Frank acted quite pedantically.")

– "Die nieuwe productmanager vind ik een bijdehante betweter."
("I think (that) that new product manager is a know-it-all wise-guy.")

Related words:
– "Betweter": someone who knows it better all the time, wise-guy.
– "Bijdehand": bright, sharp, quick-witted.
– "Wijsneus": wise-guy (literally: wise nose).

Extra:
Here are a few examples of words ending with "-ig". See if you can think of the corresponding verbs:
– "zweterig": sweaty.
– "beverig": shaky.
– "rillerig": shivery.
– "slaperig": sleepy.

The following words are derived from nouns:
– "aardig": friendly, nice.
– "gezellig": cosy/’nice atmosphere’-like (typical and well-known Dutch word that is hard to translate).
– "krenterig": stingy. Literally: currant-like.
– "kattig": catty.
– "mistig": foggy.
– "vettig": greasy.

bright, sharp, quick-witted [adjective]

"Bijdehand" is a contraction of "bij de hand", the latter meaning "at hand" (see ‘Related words’). The ‘d’ at the end sounds like a ‘t’, and when conjugating this adjective declining this adjective by adding an ‘e’ to the end, Dutch people get confused; should we write "bijdehande" or "bijdehante"? The first does not sound right, and the second looks strange since now the ‘d’ that belongs to ‘hand’ has disappeared. However, the latter is the correct way of spelling (but it is still a bit weird; see ‘Examples’).

This word is quite often used in a derogatory or ironic way.

Examples:
– "Dat jongetje is behoorlijk bijdehand voor zijn leeftijd!"
("That boy is pretty quick-witted for his age!")

– "Het bijdehante meisje stak bij elke vraag van de leraar haar vinger in de lucht."
("The bright girl raised her hand at every question from the teacher." Literally: "… stuck her finger in the air.")

– "<spottend:> Zooo, bij-de-ha…and…"
("<mockingly:> Wooow, briiight…" … or something :-). "Zo" is a bit like "well" but it can also be used as an expression of astonishment. Remember, it sounds like "zoa", not "zoo".)

– "<ironisch:> Bijdehante actie zeg!"
("<ironically:> Smart move, eh!")

– "Doe niet zo bijdehand!"
("Don’t be smart now!")

Related words:
– "Bijdehandje": quick-witted person (often derogatory/ironic).

Example:
"Wat een bijdehandje!"
("What a know-it-all!")

– "Bij de hand": at hand.

Example:
"Heb je een schroevendraaier bij de hand?"
("Do you have a screwdriver at hand?")