coach, carriage [noun] [de koets, de koetsen]

Today, the third Tuesday of September, is called "Prinsjesdag" ("Day of the little princes"). "Prinsjesdag" marks the opening of the Dutch parliamentary year and the day on which the government makes public the national budget for the coming year. The Queen will read her "troonrede" ("speech from the throne") in the "Ridderzaal" ("Room of the knight") outlining the government’s plans for the coming year. The Queen traditionally arrives at the "Ridderzaal" in the golden coach. This coach, offered by the people of Amsterdam to the Queen’s grandmother in 1898, is used only on "Prinsjesdag" since 1903.

Examples:
– "In het sprookje ‘Assepoester’ verandert de fee een pompoen in een gouden koets."
("In the fairytale ‘Cinderella’ the fairy changes a pumpkin into a gilded coach".)

– "De koningin zwaait vanuit de gouden koets naar de menigte."
("The Queen waves from the golden coach at the crowd.")

– "De gouden koets wordt getrokken door acht paarden."
("The golden coach is pulled forward by eigth horses.")

– "Koningin Beatrix arriveert op het Binnenhof waar zij om half twee de Troonrede zal voorlezen in de Ridderzaal."
("Queen Beatrix arrives at the ‘Binnenhof’ where she will read the speech from the throne at 1.30 PM in the ‘Ridderzaal’ .")

Extra:
The document in which the National Budget is presented is called the ‘Miljoenennota’, literally translated as the ‘Document of the Millions’. The Minister of Finance gives both the National Budget and the ‘Miljoenennota’ in a golden suitcase to the (Dutch) Lower Chamber. 

Related words:
– Koetspaard: coach horse [noun] [het koetspaard, de koetspaarden].
– Koetsier: coach driver [noun] [de koetsier, de koetsiers].
– Troonrede: speech from the throne [noun] [de troonrede, de troonredes].
– Koningin: queen [noun] [de koningin, de koninginnen].
– Begroting: budget [noun] [de begroting, de begrotingen].

swept off one’s feet, smitten with, enamored of [adjective]   

"Hoteldebotel" has nothing to do with a hotel 🙂 It is used to describe your thoughts being confused,
mostly by the fact that you’re in love…
Sometimes it is used to refer to a more general discombobulated state, see the last example.

Examples:
– "Luc is helemaal hoteldebotel…" – "Echt?? Van wie?" – "Van Mélanie!"
("Luc is completely swept of his feet…" – "Really?? By whom?" – "By Mélanie!")

– "Scheetje, wat ben je toch een lekker ding! Ik ben helemaal hoteldebotel van je…"
("Baby, you’re such a hottie! You’ve totally swept me of my feet…"

– "Kent is hoteldebotel van Lara. En zij is hoteldebotel van hem!"
("Kent is smitten with Lara. And she’s enamored of him!")

– "Al die auto’s in Lima…ik werd er helemaal hoteldebotel van…"
("All those cars in Lima…they drove me totally crazy…")

Expressions:
– "Hij/zij is helemaal in de wolken."
("His/her head is the clouds.")

Related words:
– "Tureluurs": totally confused/disoriented, crazy.
– "Verliefd": in love.

misery, distress [noun] [de ellende, <no plural>] 

In Dutch, “ellende” does not always have a weighty connotation (e.g. like in “the misery of war…”) . Also the insignificant occurrences of life’s distress are referred to as “ellende”, see the Examples.

Examples:
– “Ik word echt chagrijnig van alle ellende in deze wereld…”
(“All the misery in this world really makes me cranky…” Lit.: “I really get cranky because of all the misery in this world…”)

– “Het Nederlands elftal heeft afgelopen zaterdag verloren van Australië…ellende…”
(“The Dutch were beaten by Australia last Saturday…misery…”)

– “Eerst kreeg ik een lekke band, daarna begon het te regenen.” – “Jongen, wat een ellende!”
(“First I got a flat tyre, then it started to rain.” – “Dude, what a distress!”)

Expressions:
– “Na regen komt zonneschijn”: After rain comes sunshine.

Related words:
– “Balen“: to be fed up with.
– “Belabberd“: lousy, terrible, miserable.
– “Ellendig”: [adjective] miserable.
– “Ellendeling”: [noun] [de ellendeling, de ellendelingen] wretch, villain.

tramp, vagabond, hobo, homeless person [noun] [de zwerver, de zwervers]

The word "zwerver" can also be translated with "drifter" or "wanderer", the associated verbs being "zwerven" or "rondzwerven" (see Related words). However, usually the meaning is more negative: "tramp" or "homeless person".

In the Netherlands we are not doing too badly in preventing people from becoming homeless. However, we do have our fair share of "zwervers" in the bigger cities. The situation seems to have improved in the last decade and one is not confronted with beggars as much as for example in the 80s.

Examples:
– "De zwerver probeerde wat geld te verdienen voor een slaapplaats door op straat liedjes te zingen."
("The tramp tried to make some money for a sleeping-place by singing songs on the street.") 

– "Ach moet je die zwerver zien, echt zielig…"
("My, look at that hobo, how sad/pitiful…")

– "Je hebt ook mensen die er voor kiezen om zwerver te zijn."
("There are people who choose to be homeless.")

– "In Italië lopen overal zwerfkatten."
("In Italy, stray cats are everywhere.") 

Related words:
– Zwerven: to wander, float, drift [verb] [zwierf, gezworven].
– Rondzwerven: to wander/roam about [verb] [zwierf rond, rondgezworven].

Examples:
– "Wie laat zijn kinderen nou zo laat op straat rondzwerven?"
("Who would let his children wander on the streets this late?")

– "We gaven de rondzwervende huisdieren wat eten en water."
("We gave the stray pets some food and water.")

– Bedelaar: beggar [noun] [de bedelaar, de bedelaars].
– Bedelen: to beg [verb] [bedelde, gebedeld].
– Dakloos: homeless [adjective]. Literally: "roofless".
– Dakloze: homeless person [noun] [de dakloze, daklozen].
– Verslaafd: addicted [adjective].
– Opvang: shelter [noun] [de opvang, no plural]. Usually this implies food and a bed.

beer belly [noun] [de bierbuik, de bierbuiken]

"Bierbuik" is the Dutch word for "beer belly". It’s definitely not a
nice thing to say that someone has a beer belly. "Buik" is used in many
other ways (see DWOTD "Buik") and the Dutch even use it as part of a verb (see "Extra").

Examples:
– "Als je zo doorgaat met bier drinken heb je op je 30e een bierbuik!"
("If you continue drinking beer like that you’ll have beer belly when you’re 30!" Note that in Dutch the word "beer" translates to "bear".)

– "Ondanks zijn bierbuik is het hem gelukt de marathon van New York uit te lopen!"
("Despite his beer belly, he managed to finish the New York marathon!")

– "Hij gaat elke week naar de sportschool om zijn bierbuik weg te krijgen, hij traint net zolang tot hij een wasbordje heeft."
("He goes to the gym every week to get rid of his beer belly, he will
train until he has six pack abs." Please note that "wasbordje"
literally means "washboard", the board that was used by your
grandmother to wash clothes on.)

Related words: 
– "Buikspreker": ventriloquist [noun] [de buikspreker, de buiksprekers].
– "Buikpijn": stomachache [noun] [de buikpijn, no plural].
– "Buikje": little belly [noun] [het buikje, de buikjes].
– "Uitbuiken": digest your food comfortably [verb] [uitbuikte, uitgebuikt].

Extra:
When you sit back and relax after a lavish dinner, this is called
"uitbuiken" in Dutch. Literally, it means something like "to stomach
out", or give your stomach some room. Typically, people who are in the
event of "uitbuiken" will stretch their legs and lean backwards on the
couch or a chair to give their stomach some space.

Example:
– "Pff, ik heb zoveel gegeten, even uitbuiken!"
("Pff, I ate so much, let’s sit back and relax!")