to be stranded, to strand
[verb]
[stran-den, strand-de, ge-strand]

Derived from the noun "strand" (beach) this verb takes on the meaning of "washing ashore" (of goods), or "running aground/ashore" (of ships). However, it is more commonly used in its (figurative) translation of "to be stranded" or "to fail/strand". Note the ‘second d’ in the past tense.

Examples:
– "Ik heb medelijden met al die mensen die op de luchthaven zijn gestrand." 
("I feel sorry for all those people who stranded at the airport.")

– "Zijn vernieuwende plannen strandden al in een vroeg stadium." 
("His innovative plans already came to a hold at an early stage.")

– "Met een beetje geluk houdt die vulkaan weer op en strand ik niet op de terugweg!" 
("With a little luck this vulcano will stop again, and I won’t get stuck on the way back!")

– "De gestrande walvis trok veel bekijks." 
("The stranded whale drew a lot of attention." The word ‘bekijks’ is derived from ‘kijken‘: to look, to watch. ‘Bekijks trekken’ translates to something like ‘to draw look-upon’.)

Related words:
– Strand: beach [noun] [het strand, de stranden].
– Vast: fixed, attached, stuck [adverb/adjective].

Example:
– "Debbie en Nikki zijn gestrand in Bangkok en zitten nog vast tot zeker het einde van de maand."
("Debbie and Nikki stranded in Bangkok and are stuck until the end of the month at least.")

1. to bore, to annoy
[transitive verb]

[ver-ve-len, ver-veel-de, ver-veeld]

As a transitive verb, "vervelen" is used in the general construction "iemand met iets vervelen": to bore/annoy someone with something.

Check out 2. to see the use of "vervelen" as a reflexive verb: "zich vervelen".

Examples:
– "Verveel me niet met die onzin!" 
("Don’t annoy me with that nonsense!")

– "De dampkring bestaat uit vijf verschillende hoofdlagen. Wil je weten welke?" – "Nee, ga iemand anders vervelen met die saaie feiten." 
("The atmosphere consists of five different principal layers. Do you want to know which?" – "No, go bore someone else with those dull facts.")

Related words:
– Vervelend : annoying [adjective].

Example:
– "Iemand heeft punaises op mijn stoel gelegd!" – "Ach, wat vervelend…"
("Somebody has put thumb-tacks in my chair!" – "Ah, how annoying…")

– Irritant: annoying, bothersome, irritating [adjective].

2. to be bored
[reflexive verb]
[zich ver-ve-len, ver-veel-de zich, h. zich ver-veeld]

As a reflexive verb, "vervelen" is used in combination with a reflexive pronoun. We don’t like to give you whole series of verb conjugations – that would be very "vervelend" and "saai" 🙂  – but this time we’ll make an exception…see Extra.

Examples:
– "Frank heeft zich tijdens de vergadering duidelijk verveeld, hij zat te hele tijd te gapen." 
("Frank was clearly bored during the meeting, he was yawning all the time.")

– "Britt is echt een feestbeest, ze verveelt zich nooit!" 
("Britt is really a party animal, she’s never bored!")

– "Ik verveel me, ik heb helemaal niks te doen…" 
("I am bored, I’ve got really nothing to do…")

Related words:
– Gapen: to yawn [verb] [gapen, gaapte , h. gegaapt].
– Saai: boring [adjective].

Example:
– "Laten we wel wezen, we waren nooit saai…"
("Let’s be fair, we were never being boring.")

Extra:

atmosphere
[noun]
[de damp-kring. de damp-krin-gen]

“Dampkring” is composed of “damp” en “kring”, which translate to “vapour” and “circle” respectively. The “vapour circle” around our planet is commonly known as the atmosphere 🙂 In Dutch, there’s also the synonymous “atmosfeer”.

Examples:
– “Laten we wel wezen, ons klimaat verandert door de vervuiling van de dampkring.” 
(“Let’s be fair, our climate is changing due to the pollution of the atmosphere.”)

– “Het zonlicht wordt gefilterd door de dampkring, anders zouden we levend verbranden.” 
(“The sunlight is filtered by the atmosphere, otherwise we would burn alive.”)

– “Het buitenaardse ruimteschip drong de dampkring binnen. Het einde van de wereld zoals we hem kennen was nabij…” 
(“The alien spaceship penetrated the atmosphere. The end of the world as we know it was near…”)

Expressions:
–
“Gelul in de ruimte“: loose talk, nonsense, crap, bullshit.

Example:
– “De kredietcrisis is de schuld van een wereldwijd
financieel-militair complex.” – “Gelul in de ruimte!”
(“The financial
crisis is to be blamed on a global financial-military complex.” –
“Bullshit!”) 

Related words:
– Mist: mist [noun] [de mist, de misten].
– Hemel: heaven(s), sky [noun] [de hemel, de hemelen].

Example:
– “De zon staat hoog aan de hemel.”
(“The sun is high in
the sky.”) 

(embarrassing) blunder / mistake, embarrassment
[noun]
[de fla-ter, de fla-ters]

A “flater” is a stupid mistake in front of other people causing embarrassment. It’s more or less synonymous to “blunder”, which also translates to blunder, but the subtle difference is that a “blunder” is not necessarily witnessed by other people (causing the embarrassment).

A “flater” is mostly used in the expression “een flater slaan”: (lit.: to hit a blunder) to be embarrassed / to blunder.

Examples:
– “Frank liet een scheet tijdens de vergadering, wat een flater!” 
(“Frank farted during the meeting, what a blunder!”)

– “Ik sla echt een flater met dit bodybuilderschort…” 
(“This bodybuilder apron really looks embarrassing on me…”)

– “Met de publicatie van dit onverkwikkelijke artikel sloeg de krant echt een flater.” 
(“The newspaper really blundered by publishing this distasteful article.”)

Expressions:
–
“Voor lul staan/lopen”: (lit.: to stand for cock) to look like an ass.

Example:
– “Je rits staat open…” – “Oei, dan loop ik al de hele ochtend voor lul.”
(“You’re fly is open…” – “Ouch, I’ve been looking like an ass all morning then.”)

Related words:
– Gênant: embarrassing [adjective].
– Lullig: embarrassingly stupid [adjective].

Example:
– “Frank ziet er een beetje lullig uit met die koffievlek op zijn hemd…”
(“Frank looks a bit stupid with that coffee stain on his shirt…”)

– Prutser: incompetent blunderer, screw up [noun] [de prutser, de prutsers].

Extra:
“Guust Flater” (in the picture) is the Dutch translation of Gaston Lagaffe, a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin. Check this article on Wikipedia for more info.