Category Archives: Vocabulary Intermediate

Dat zit wel snor

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that's all right, that will be all right Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week] Snor

There isn't really a literal translation for "dat zit wel snor". In Dutch, verbs like "zitten" (to sit), "staan" (to stand) and "liggen" are sometimes used in case of an ongoing activity, usually translated in English with a conjugation of "to be" + gerund, for example: "hij zit te liegen" (he's lying). In this particular phrase, "zit" is also translated with "is"/"will be", although it's not an ongoing activity that is referred to.

"Dat zit wel snor" is synonymous to "dat zit wel goed".

"Snor" translates to moustache, by the way 🙂

Examples:
– "Heb jij je surprise nog niet gemaakt? Morgen is surprise-avond!" – "Maak je niet druk, dat zit wel snor." 
("You haven't made your Sinterklaas surprise yet? Tomorrow is Sinterklaas surprise night! "Don't worry, that will be all right.")

– "Nederlands leren is een kwestie van veel oefenen." – "Dat zit wel snor, ik volg de DWOTD op Twitter." 
("Learning Dutch is a matter of practising a lot." – "That's all right, I follow the DWOTD on Twitter.")

– "Wat is je strategie om de koploper te verslaan?" – "Dat zit wel snor, we hebben een geheim wapen…" 
("What's your strategy to beat the number one team?" – "It will be all right, we've got a secret weapon…")

Expressions:
– "In orde": in order, okay, all right.
– "Dat zit wel goed": that's all right, that will be all right.

Example:
– "Alstublieft meneer, uw wisselgeld." – "Dat zit wel goed, dat muntje van 5 cent mag je houden."
("There you go sir, your change." – "That's all right, you can keep the 5 cents (coin).")

Related words:
– Snor: moustache [noun] [de snor, de snorren].

Example:
– "Mannen met een snor bereiken meer in het leven." – "Wat een onzin!"
("Men with a moustache achieve more in life." – "That's nonsense!")

Surprise

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surprise Iconspeaker_3
[noun] Surprise
[de sur-pri-se, de sur-pri-ses]

The Dutch "surprise" (pronounced "sur-pree-zuh") is nearly only used in the context of Sinterklaas. Unless you're a "kakker" and speak with a hot "aardappel" in your mouth…then you may want to use "surprise" as a synonym for the far more common "verrassing" (surprise)…and if you really want to overdo it, you can use the French "quelle surprise" 🙂

See Extra for more info on the Dutch tradition of "surprises".

Examples:
– "Heb jij je surprise al klaar? Zondag is het pakjesavond!" 
("Do you have your Sinterklaas surprise ready yet? It's Sinterklaas' evening of presents on Sunday!")

– "Ik heb echt een onnozele surprise gemaakt voor Frank…dat zal hij echt niet leuk vinden :-)" 
("I really made a silly Sinterklaas surprise for Frank…he's really not going to like it :-)")

– "Mijn beste kerel! Mieters jou hier te treffen, wat een surprise!" 
("Old chap! How swell to meet you here, what a surprise!" Lit.: "My best man!…")

Expressions:
– "Grote ogen opzetten": to be surprised, to be dazed. Lit.: "to put on big eyes".
– "Nou breekt mijn klomp!": I'll be damned! Lit.: "Now my wooden shoe breaks!"

Example:
– "Heb jij deze surprise gemaakt?? Nou breekt mijn klomp! Hij is geweldig!!"
("Did you make this Sinterklaas surprise?? I'll be damned! It's great!!")

Related words:
– Pakjesavond: Sinterklaas' evening of presents [noun] [de pakjesavond, de pakjesavonden].
– Stomverbaasd: dumbfounded, flabbergasted [adjective].
– Verrassing: surprise [noun] [de verrassing, de verrassingen].

Example:
– "Met die stevige wind is het geen verrassing dat de gevoelstemperatuur erg laag ligt."
("With that strong wind, it's no surprise that it feels like temperatures are very low.")

Extra:
During Sinterklaas time, it's kind of a tradition to have a "surprise-avond" (lit.: surprise night). The "surprise-avond" may coincide with "pakjesavond", but this is not mandatory. A few weeks (sometimes months) before "surprise-avond" there's the crucial part of "lootjes trekken", where all participants draw the name of another participant. It is of the utmost importance not to reveal the name you have drawn, although many try to find out the names that others have drawn. The objective is then to create a "surprise" for the person you've drawn, which consists of three elements: 1. a hand-made object (constructed by using materials like paper, cardboard boxes, toilet paper roles, etc.) 2. a Sinterklaas poem, and 3. a small, funny present. During "lootjes trekken" often a maximum amount is agreed upon, which may be spent on the "surprise". The created object, poem and/or present must preferably apply to a characteristic feature of the recipient. Finally, at the "surprise-avond" everybody opens/unpacks/dismantles the "surprise" that has been created for him/her, reads the poem out loud, and guesses the name of the creator. Because the quality of the "surprises" may vary, a "surprise-avond" may include feelings of both pleasant surprise and serious disappointment, as well as the consumption of alcoholic beverages 🙂

Tevergeefs

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in vain, futile Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb] Tevergeefs
[te-ver-geefs]

"Tevergeefs" is used to qualify a futile action or activity that is without result. Synonymous to "tevergeefs" is "voor niks": for nothing, see also Expressions.

Examples:
– "Mijn pogingen om vanochtend op tijd te zijn waren tevergeefs…met al die files was er geen doorkomen aan…" 
("My efforts to be on time this morning were futile…there was no way to get through all these traffic jams…")

– "Het organisatiecomité heeft tevergeefs geprobeerd om Snoop Dogg te boeken. Het concert is daarom afgeblazen." 
("The organisation committee has tried in vain to book Snoop Dogg. The concert has therefore been called off.")

– "Ik heb jaren tevergeefs gewacht op een huwelijksaanzoek, maar hij vindt een knipperlichtrelatie blijkbaar normaal." 
("Years I have waited for him to propose, but apparently he thinks it's normal to have an on-off relationship.")

Expressions:
– "Onbegonnen werk": it's a hopeless task.
– "Jammer maar helaas": (that's just) too bad.
– "Voor niks": for nothing.

Example:
– "Alles is voor niks geweest, wat een ellende!"
("All has been for nothing, what misery!")

Related words:
– Hopeloos: hopeless [adjective].
– Nutteloos: useless [adjective].
– Onverrichterzake: with nothing achieved, empty-handed [adverb].

Example:
– "!k ben vandaag tevergeefs naar de bank geweest. Ze konden me niet helpen met een lening, dus ik ben onverrichterzake naar huis teruggegaan."
("I've been to the bank in vain today. They couldn't help me with a loan, so I went back home empty-handed.")

Er is geen doorkomen aan

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there is no way to get through/to finish, there is no end to it Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Rijen_dik The verb "doorkomen" translates as "to come/get/pass through" and can also be used figuratively, for example in this week's Dutch phrase.

Examples:
– "Heb je al een afspraak gemaakt met de huisarts?" – "Nog niet, ik probeer (ze) te bellen, maar er is geen doorkomen aan!" 
("Have you made an appointment yet with the family doctor?" – "Not yet, I'm trying to call (them), but I can't get through at all!")

– "Misschien is het een goed idee om dit jaar wat eerder kerstinkopen te doen. Want straks is er in de winkels geen doorkomen meer aan!" 
("Perhaps it is a good idea to start the Christmas shopping a little earlier this year. Later on there will be no way to get through (the crowd of people) in the shops!")

– "Het is jouw beurt om bier te halen!" – "Als je het goed vindt wacht ik liever, want er is op het moment aan de bar geen doorkomen aan…" 
("It's your turn to get some beer!" – "If it's okay with you I'd rather wait as there is at the moment no way to get through at the bar…")

– "Gaat het je lukken om het rapport om twee uur af te hebben?" – "Zeg, heb je die stapel gezien? Er is geen doorkomen aan!" 
("Will you succeed in finishing the report by two o'clock?" – "Hey, have you seen that stack? There is no way to finish!")

Expressions:
– Rijen dik: rows of people, a big crowd of people (lit. 'rows thick').

Example:
– "Het publiek staat rijen dik te wachten om een glimp op te vangen van de popster."
("Rows of spectators were waiting to catch a glimpse of the pop star.")

Related words:
– Druk: busy, crowded [adjective/adverb].
– Drukte: busyness, commotion, pressure [noun] [de drukte, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Wat een drukte! Kom, we komen straks wel terug!"
("What a crowd! Come on, we'll come back later!")

Afblazen

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to call off (a plan) to blow off/away Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[af-bla-zen, blies af, af-ge-bla-zen]

Afgeblazen Yesterday I read in a Dutch newspaper that president Obama “afblies” a plan by George W. Bush. Regardless of the plan I concluded that “afblazen” would make a good DWOTD 🙂 Literally “to blow off”, a common translation of “afblazen” is “to call off a plan”. Usually the plan that is “afgeblazen” is already close to execution or in an advanced state.

The adjective/adverb “af” can mean “off, away, finished, out” and verbs that are composed of “af” + “some other verb” usually indicate ending or moving away from something. An example is when a referee “afblaast”: blowing the whistle in order to end the match.

Examples:
– “En zijn jullie klaar voor morgen? Ik heb echt een heel goede presentatie, al zeg ik het zelf.” – “Heb je het nog niet gehoord? De voorlichtingsdag is afgeblazen!” 
(“Are you (guys) ready for tomorrow? My presentation is (going to be) excellent, if I say so myself.” – “Haven’t you heard yet? The information day has been cancelled!”)

– “De scheidsrechter negeerde de extra tijd en blies vroegtijdig af.” 
(“The referee ignored the extra time and ended the match early.” A common alternative to ‘afblazen’ in this context is ‘affluiten’.)

– “Weet je wat, het lijkt mij het beste als we het afblazen, zeg nu zelf, we hebben echt te weinig voorbereidingstijd.” 
(“You know what, I think it’s best if we call it off, let’s be honest, we definitely do not have enough preparation time.”)

– “Ruim een jaar geleden blies president Obama een omstreden plan van George W. Bush voor een raketschild juist af.” (in NRC Handelsblad, 18 November 2010)
(“While over a year ago president Obama called off a controversial plan by George W. Bush for a missile shield.” The use of the word ‘juist’ in the sentence indicates that the described (past) action is contrary to or in contrast with what is done at the moment; I tried to capture this with the word “while” at the beginning of the sentence.)

– ” ‘Het wordt weer vroeger donker en somberheid maakt zich van mij meester’, sprak Richard terwijl de wind de bladeren van het dak blies.” 
(” ‘The days are becoming shorter again and gloominess is taking control of me’, Richard said while the wind blew the leaves off the roof.” Literally “It is getting darker earlier again…”)

Expressions:
– “Stoom afblazen”: to let off steam.

Example:
– “Laat hem maar even stoom afblazen, hij is boos dat het toernooi is afgeblazen.”
(“Just leave him, he needs to let off some steam, he is angry about the tournament having been cancelled.”)

Related words:
– Blazen: to blow [verb] [blies, geblazen].
– Beëindigen: to end, to terminate [verb] [beëindigde, beëindigd].
– Annuleren: to cancel [verb] [annuleerde, geannuleerd].
– Affluiten: blowing the whistle to end the match (by referee) [verb] [floot af, afgefloten].
– Aflasten/afgelasten: to cancel, to call off [verb] [(ge)lastte af, afgelast].