Category Archives: Vocabulary Intermediate

Rimpel

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wrinkle Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de rim-pel, de rim-pels]Rimpel_3

"Rimpels" are "wrinkles", lines that appear on people’s faces when they grow older. The related adjective "gerimpeld" can refer to a wrinkled face, but also more generally, to a surface that has one or more ridges.

Examples:
– "Mijn nieuwe dagcrème belooft dat rimpels tot de verleden tijd behoren." 
("My new daycream promises that wrinkles belong to the past.")

– "Ik kan zien dat je veel lacht: je hebt allemaal lachrimpeltjes om je ogen." 
("I can see that you laugh a lot: you have a lot of little wrinkles around your eyes from laughing.")

– "De oma had een rimpelloze huid na de botox-behandeling." 
("The grandma had a wrinkleless skin after the botox-treatment.")

– "Het nieuwe drankje "Fontein van de Jeugd" garandeert een rimpelloos bestaan." 
("The new potion "Fountain of Youth" guarantees a wrinkleless existence.")

– "De gerimpelde oude man zat glimlachend op een bankje in de zon." 
("The wrinkled old man sat smiling on a little bench in the sun.")

Related words:
– Plastische chirurgie: plastic surgery [noun] [de plastische chirurgie, <no plural>].
– Crème: cream [noun] [de crème, de crèmes].

Schimmel

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1. fungus, mould Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de schim-mel, de schim-mels]Broodschimmel

Een "schimmel" is a fungus or a mould. A mushroom is a "paddenstoel" (which grows in the wild) or "champignon" (which is grown on farms).

Examples:
– "Er zit schimmel op het brood." 
("The bread is moulded." Lit.: "There’s mould on the bread.")

– "De dokter heeft een zalf voorgeschreven voor de schimmel tussen mijn tenen." 
("The doctor has prescribed an ointment for the mould between my toes.")

– "Wat is er met deze boom aan de hand?" – "Ik denk dat er de schimmel in zit." 
("What’s going on with this tree?" – "I think it’s been affected by a fungus." Lit.: "I think that the fungus is in it.")

Related words:
– (Be)schimmelen: to mould, to get mouldy [verb] [(be)schimmelen, (be)schimmelde, (be)schimmeld].
– Paddenstoel: mushroom [verb] [de paddenstoel, de paddenstoelen].

Example:
– "Deze paddenstoel behoort tot een familie giftige schimmels."
("This mushroom belongs to a family of poisonous fungi.")

Extra:
The Dutch have a lot of rules to guarantee hygiene in the horeca. Of course, not all restaurants follow the rules…which has led to an entertaining TV show: "Smaakpolitie" (lit.: taste police). Its host Rob de Geus is on a personal mission to ban every mould from Dutch kitchens. Watch this remarkable clip, where he visists a student dorm…

2. grey (horse) Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de schim-mel, de schim-mels]Schimmelsinterklaas

A "schimmel" is also a grey (horse). The most famous grey in the Netherlands makes its appearance around the 5th of December: Sinterklaas’ favourite way of transport is his grey 🙂

Examples:
– "Sinterklaas rijdt op zijn schimmel over de Nederlandse daken…geloof jij het?" 
("Sinterklaas rides his grey over the Dutch rooftops…do you believe it?")

– "Deze schimmel is een lief beest, dat zwarte paard is vals…" 
("This grey horse is a sweet animal, that black horse is mean…")

Expressions:
– "Je mag een gegeven paard niet in bek kijken": to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Related words:
– Paard: horse [noun] [het paard, de paarden].
– Tuig: harness [noun] [het tuig, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Ik heb een nieuw tuig voor mijn schimmel gekocht."
("I bought a new harness for my gray.")

– Pakjesavond: (lit.) evening of presents, Sinterklaas’ evening.

Met de noorderzon vertrekken

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leave without notice to an unknown destination Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

seaside-1031450_1280“Met de noorderzon vertrekken” can be literally translated as “to leave with the northern sun”. It stems from 17th century Dutch. Then, the “noorderzon” was synonymous to “during the night” – the sun shines in the northern/Scandinavian countries at night. The “zuiderzon” (“southernsun”) was synonymous to “during mid-day”. “Met de noorderzon vertrekken” originally meant to leave without notice leaving many debts. Nowadays, it is used when someone leaves without telling anyone that he intends to leave nor where he’s going.

Examples:
– “Hij is met de noorderzon vertrokken en hij heeft nooit meer iets van zich laten horen.” 
(“He left without notice to an unknown destination and has never been in touch since.”)

– “Na dat schandaal is zij met de noorderzon vertrokken, later bleek dat ze naar Canada was geëmigreerd.”
(“After the scandal she left to an unknown destination, later it turned out she had emigrated to Canada.”)

– “Als je zomaar met de noorderzon vertrekt, loop je weg voor je verantwoordelijkheden.”
(“If you just leave like that, you walk away from your responsibilities.”)

Expressions:
– “De benen nemen”: to run away (both in literal and figurative sense) [lit.: “to take the legs”].
– “De plaat poetsen”: to desert (original meaning), to run away, to leave [lit.: “to clean the butt plate(part of a gun)”].

Example:
– “Toen hij de politiesirene hoorde, poetste de dief de plaat.”
(“When he heard the police siren, the thief ran away.”)

Related words:
– Zon: sun [noun] [de zon, de zonnen].
– Noord: north [adjective].

Een heet hangijzer

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a hot potato, a loaded subject, a controversial theme Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]Hangijzer

"Hangijzer" literally translates to a pot-hanger: a metal hook for hanging pots over a fire. You can easily burn your fingers on it…

As an expression, "een heet hangijzer" is used for a difficult (current) subject, on which a lot of discussion takes place: a delicate matter. It is often used in politics.

Examples:
– "De Joint Strike Fighter is nog steeds een heet hangijzer in de Nederlandse politiek." 
("The Joint Strike Fighter is still a loaded subject in Dutch politics.")

– "De hypotheekrenteaftrek: nog zo’n heet hangijzer…" 
("Home mortgage interest deduction: yet another hot potato…")

– "De kerst doorbrengen bij de eigen ouders of bij de schoonouders: een heet hangijzer in menige relatie." 
("To spend Christmas at your own parents or at your in-laws: a hot potato in many a relationship.")

Related words:
– Heet: hot [adjective].
– Hangen: to hang [verb] [hangen, hing, gehangen].
– IJzer: iron [noun] [het ijzer, de ijzers].
– IJzeren: iron [adjective].
– Beladed: loaded, burdened [adjective].
– Omstreden: disputed, controversial [adjective]

Example:
– "Het gebruik van gentechnologie in de landbouw is omstreden."
("The use of gen-technology in agriculture is controversial.")

– Gevoelig: touchy, sensitive [adjective].
– Taboe: taboo [noun] [het taboe, de taboes].

Een domper op de feestvreugde

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A damper on the party… / a shadow over the party…
 Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Verwijderen_versiering
Every year on Queen’s day the Dutch Royal family visits a town or village somewhere in the country. Locals put on a show and the Royal family waves, smiles, participates in games and shakes hands. This year the festivities in the town of Apeldoorn were heavily disrupted by a man trying to drive his car into the bus transporting the royals. He missed the bus but killed 6 spectators and did not survive himself in the end.

Throughout the country festivities were canceled or sobered down. At first one spoke of "een domper op de feestvreugde": a typical Dutch phrase often used when something ruins the party (or otherwise good atmosphere) one way or the other. When the severity of the accident became clear though, one spoke of "tragedie", "drama" and "Koninginnedag zal nooit meer hetzelfde zijn".

Examples:
– "De aanslaag op de Koninklijke familie in Apeldoorn was een domper op de feestvreugde.
"
("The assault on the Royal family in Apeldoorn cast a shadow over the party.
")

– " ‘Een domper op de feestvreugde’ vind ik een eufemisme; Koninginnedag zal nooit meer hetzelfde zijn!"
("I believe that ‘a damper on the party’ is a euphemism; Queen’s day will never be the same!")

– " ‘Mijn ouders kunnen niet bij de première aanwezig zijn en dat is voor mij een domper op de feestvreugde’, zei de veelbelovende toneelspeler."
(" ‘My parents are unable to attend the opening performance and that kind of ruins it for me’, the promising actor said." Note that a "toneelspeler" is an actor in a play, whereas an "acteur" is an actor in general.)

Related words:
– Feestvreugde: fun, festivity [noun] [de feestvreugde, <no plural>]
– Vreugde: joy, happiness [noun] [de vreugde, de vreugden]
– Verdriet: grief, sorrow [noun] [het verdriet, <no plural>]