Knutselen

to do some home improvement activities, D.I.Y., to tinker away at, to fiddle with  Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[knut-se-len, knut-sel-de, ge-knut-seld]

There’s not really an exact equivalent in English for "knutselen". It varies from a handyman doing some home improvement, Do It Yourself chores, or children fiddling with paper, scissor and crayons…Knutsel

Examples:
– "Nina heeft een mooie collage geknutseld op school." 
("Nina has made a beautiful collage at school.")

– "Waar is Frank?" – "Hij is aan het knutselen in het tuinhuisje."
("Where is Frank?" – "He’s doing some home improvement in the garden house.")

– "Theo heeft het hele weekend besteed aan het knutselen aan zijn fiets." 
("Theo has spent the entire weekend on fiddling with his bike.")

Related words:
– Knippen: to cut, to use a scissor [verb] [knipte, geknipt].
– Plakken: to paste, to stick [verb] [plakte, geplakt].
– Kleuren: to colour [verb] [kleurde, gekleurd].
Prutser: screw up <person> [noun] [de prutser, de prutsers].

Example:
– "Frank is een totale prutser."
("Frank is a total screw up.")

– Prutsen: to blunder, to be messing things up [verb] [prutste, geprutst].
– Verprutsen: to mess up [verb] [verprutste, verprutst].

Verhullen

to conceal (from), to mask, to cloak/veil Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[ver-hul-len, ver-hul-de, ver-huld]

Forensische_tent2_2
"Verhullen" can be used both literally and figuratively.

Examples:
– "Het kasteel was volledig verhuld door de mist." 
("The castle was completely concealed by the mist.")

– "Met niets verhullende foto’s choqueerde de krant haar lezers." 
("With revealing pictures, the newspaper shocked its readers.")

– "Het valt me op dat Frank zich vaak in verhullende termen uitdrukt." 
("I have noticed that Frank often expresses himself in masked terms.")

– "De werkzaamheden van de forensische experts werden verhuld voor het publiek door een afscheiding." 
("The
work done by the forensic experts was concealed from the audienc by a
fence." Contrary to what is practised in the popular tv series, Dutch
CSI experts usually put up a tent that covers the crime scene.)

– "Zolang ze maar niet de waarheid verhullen, vind ik het best!" 
("As long as they do not conceal the truth it’s fine with me!")

Related words:
– Verbergen: to hide, conceal, cover up [verb] [verborg, verborgen].
– Verhulling: concealment [noun] [de verhulling, de verhullingen].

Example:
– "Hoe noem je zo’n tent die ze gebruiken bij forensisch onderzoek?" – "Ik weet het niet, een verhullingstent??"
("What do you call one of those tents that they use when doing forensic research?" – "I don’t know, a concealment tent??")

– Verstoppen: to hide [verb] [verstopte, verstopt].

Ben je betoeterd?!

Have you gone out of your mind?! Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Toeter_2
"Ben je betoeterd" is used informally and is a bit of a ‘friendly’ "have you gone out of your mind?!". As such it is often used to address children, as opposed to the stronger "ben je gestoord?!" or "ben je besodemieterd?!". It can also be used in the meaning of "don’t be daft/ridiculous".

A common variation is "ben je nu helemaal betoeterd" ("have you gone completely out of your mind").

Note that "toeteren" is the Dutch verb for "to honk/blast/toot".

Examples:
– "Mevrouw, bent u nu helemaal betoeterd, wij staan hier allemaal te wachten en ik ben aan de beurt!" 
("Madam, have you gone out of your mind, we are all waiting (in line) and it is my turn!")

– "Zal ik je thuis afzetten?"- "Ah joh, ben je betoeterd, ik loop wel." 
("Shall I drop you off at your house?" – "Oh don’t be ridiculous, I’ll walk.")

– "Ben je nu helemaal betoeterd?! Wat heeft mamma nou gezegd, hier met dat koekje!" 
("Are you out of your mind?! What did mummy tell you, now give me that cookie/biscuit!")

Expressions:
– "Ben je (nu helemaal) van de pot gerukt?!": a popular more vulgar alternative to "ben je betoeterd". Literally it says "have you been pulled off the pot(ty)?!" .
– "Ben je gek/gestoord?!": are you crazy/insane?!.

Related words:
– Toeter: horn, blower [noun] [de toeter, de toeters].
– Toeteren: to blast, to honk [verb] [toeterde, getoeterd].

Klokslag

stroke of a clock Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de klok-slag, de klok-sla-gen]Bigben

"Klokslag" is composed of "klok" and "slag", which respectively translate to "clock" and "strike/stroke/blow. "Klokslag" is therefore the stroke of a clock.

You will encounter "klokslag" mostly though in the idiom "klokslag [t] uur" or "klokslag half [t]", where t can be any hour of the day. It is best translated with "at exactly [t] o’clock".

The English idiom "at the stroke of midnight" cannot be literally translated with "klokslag middernacht". This would be "precies om middernacht".

Examples:
– "Dat is gek, het is nu drie uur, en ik hoor vier klokslagen…" 
("That’s funny, it’s three o’clock now, and I hear four strokes now…")

– "Om klokslag zes uur zal een zwarte auto het geld oppikken. Volg deze niet." 
("At exactly six o’clock a black car will pick up the money. Do not follow.")

– "Precies om middernacht verandert Frank in een kikker." 
("At the stroke of midnight, Frank will change into a frog.")

Expressions:
– "Haastige spoed is zelden goed": haste makes waste.

Related words:
Horloge: watch [noun] [het horloge, de horloges].
– Wijzer: pointer [noun] [de wijzer, de wijzers].

Example:
– "Als de grote en de kleine wijzer samenvallen, is het twaalf uur."
("If the hour and the minute pointer are aligned, it’s twelve o’clock.")

– Klok: clock [noun] [de klok, de klokken].
– Slag: strike, blow [noun] [de slag, de slagen].

Dubben

to be in doubt, to have doubts Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[dub-ben, dub-de, ge-dubd]

Dubben
"Dubben" has nothing to do with "dubbing a movie", which would be "nasynchroniseren" in Dutch. ("Dubbing" is, by the way, never done in the Netherlands, except for some commercials and children’s movies, but in case of the latter you can still see the original if you want). "Dubben" is a bit informal and usually does not imply a strong doubt.

Examples:
– "Heeft Frank al een flatscreen gekocht?" – "Misschien, maar volgens mij dubt hij er nog over." 
("Has Frank already bought a flatscreen tv?" – "Maybe, but I think he is still in doubt.")

– "Sander is aan het dubben of hij wel of niet een auto moet huren in Engeland." 
("Sander has doubts whether or not to rent a car in England.")

– "Waar wacht je op?" – "Niks, ik dub nog een beetje, dat is alles." 
("What are you waiting for?" -"Nothing, I’m still a bit in doubt, that is all.")

– "Anne-Liesbeth heeft lang gedubd of ze verlof zou nemen, maar uiteindelijk heeft ze het gedaan." 
("For a long time Anne-Liesbeth was in doubt whether or not to take leave, but eventually she did it." Note the relationship between the Dutch word "verlof" and the English "furlough". Also note that Dutch people often say "eventually" when they mean "possibly" or "potentially" (which can translate to "eventueel" in Dutch).)

Related words:
– Twijfelen: to be in doubt [verb] [twijfelde, getwijfeld].
– Aarzelen: to hesitate [verb] [aarzelde, geaarzeld].
– Betwijfelen: to doubt (something) [verb] [betwijfeld, betwijfeld].

Example:
– "Zal Frank vandaag op tijd zijn?" – "Nou, ik betwijfel het ten zeerste!"
("Will Frank be on time today?" – "Well, I seriously doubt it!")