Watje

1. cotton pad, wad of cotton wool [noun] [het watje, de watjes] [‘wa-tju’] Iconspeaker_klein

hand-768558_640A “watje” is the pad that you remove your make-up with or clean your ears with, or what you use when cleaning a wound or stemming the blood flow when one of your wisdomtooth has just been removed. “Watje” is the singular diminutive of the plural “watten”, which can be translated as “cotton wadding” or “batting”.

Examples:
– “Ik vind het heerlijk om elke avond mijn make-up te verwijderen met een watje!”
(“I love removing my make-up every night with a cotton pad”.)

– “De wattenstaafjes zijn weer op; haal je even nieuwe bij Etos?”
(“We ran out of cotton buds / Q-tips again; will you get new ones at Etos?” Lit.: “The cotton-buds are finished again,.. “)

– “We hebben het matras opgevuld met watten.”
(“We’ve stuffed the mattress with batting.”)

-“De dokter op de spoedeisende hulp stopte het bloeden van haar knie met bloedstelpende watten.”
(“The doctor at the emergency room stopped the bleeding of her knee with styptic cotton.” Note that the emergency ward was previously called “Eerste Hulp” (“First Aid”). The name was changed to “spoedeisende hulp” (lit.: speed demanding help) . Since the Dutch health system includes general practitioners (“huisartsen“), people should only go to the “spoedeisende hulp” when there is an emergency. If not, they should visit their general practitioner. Many hospitals have a general practitioner’s ward (“huisartsenpost”) and a emergency ward (“spoedeisende hulp post”) to prevent people with non-emergency complaints to get in the way of patients that need emergency aid.)

Expressions:
– “Als haar vriend jarig is, legt ze hem in de watten.”
(“She pampers her boyfriend on his birthday.”)

2. sissy, wimp [noun] [het watje, de watjes] [‘wa-tju’] Iconspeaker_klein

Another meaning of “watje” – maybe because of its nice soft fluffiness – is “sissy” or “wimp”. Friends can use it amongst each other without being too offended.

Example:
– “Hij steunt zijn eigen collega’s nooit; hij is zo’n watje!”
(“He never backs his own colleagues; he’s such a wimp!”)

Related words:
Now that we’re talking terms of abuse, let me give you some more – I’ll stick to the acceptable ones (starting with the least harmful one):
– “Doetje”:  an outdated word for “softy”, no-one will be really offended when called a “doetje”, but rather laugh at you.
– “Sukkel”: is still used for an idiot or clumsy person (mostly boys). The related verb is “sukkelen” which is often used when referring to someone who’s suffering from diseases (“hij sukkelt met zijn gezondheid” means “he’s in ill-health”).
– “Trut”: is only used for girls and means something like “cow”, “goat”. It is often accompanied by “stom” (“stupid”), as in “stomme trut!” (“stupid cow”).
– “Mietje”: is used to offend boys or men by calling them a “sissy”. The following dubious expression exists in Dutch: “Laten we elkaar geen mietje noemen” which means “Let’s call a spade a spade”.
– “Loser”: no explanation needed.
– “Eikel”: (here’s where the genitals come in) “idiot” or “oaf”.
– “(Kloot)zak”: (another genital) “sucker”.

Buitenspel

offside [adverb] [‘bui-tun-spel‘] Iconspeaker_klein_2Buitenspel_2

Euro 2008 has begun, and how! A 3-0 victory for Holland against Italy yesterday evening!!! Let’s do a soccer-related word 🙂

"Buitenspel" is the Dutch word for "offside". It is composed of "buiten" and "spel", which translate to "outside" and "game" respectively. As we all know, a soccer player is in offside position when he is in front of the opponent’s  defender at the moment the ball is played by one of his team (provided that the goalkeeper is still in his goal). The idiom "buitenspel staan" (lit.: "to stand offside") is frequently used for "to be (in) offside (position)".

"Buitenspel" can also be used figuratively, often in combination with the verb "zetten" ("to put"), in the context of sidelining someone or shunting someone off. See the last of the Examples.

Examples:
– "Die eerste goal van Van Nistelrooy was buitenspel, toch?" 
("That first goal by Van Nistelrooy was offside, right?")

– "Die speler stond buitenspel!" – "Echt niet! Hij stond gelijk met de laatste man!"
("That player was offside!" – "No way! He was level with the sweeper!")

– "Frank vindt dat hij vaak buitenspel wordt gezet door zijn manager."
("Frank feels he’s being sidelined a lot by his manager.")

Related words:
– "Buiten": outside, out, out of.
– "Spel": game. See also "spelletje".

Extra:
Since you will probably hear a lot of people talk about soccer these days, we’ll provide you with some basic soccer vocabulary 🙂

– "Voetbal": soccer, football (the sports).
– "Voetbal": (foot)ball (the ball).
– "Scheidsrechter": referee. Often abbreviated to "scheids" (: "ref").
– "Speler": player.
– "Keeper": (goal)keeper.
– "Verdedigen": to play defense, to defend.
– "Aanvallen": to attack.
– "Middenveld": midfield.
– "Aftrap": kickoff.
– "Vrije trap": free kick.
– "Hoekschop": corner.
– "Strafschop": penalty. Often the English "penalty" is used, pronounced with Dutch accent and emphasis 🙂
– "Hands": hands, handball.
– "Overtreding": foul, offense.
– "Uit": out.
– "Inwerpen/ingooien": to throw in.

Goed bezig!

nice job, great work, doing well! [Dutch phrase of the week] Iconspeaker_3

“Goed bezig” is actually a shortened form of “<subject> <finite form of “zijn”> goed bezig”: “you are doing well”.

hand-166442_640“Bezig” actually translates to “busy” and “bezig zijn” means “to be
in the act of”. So “goed bezig” means that whatever it is that you are
doing, you are doing it well, or you are doing well for yourself. You
can also use it to encourage somebody, a bit like the “nice job!” that
I frequently hear when I’m in the U.S.

Mind that “goed bezig” is used informally. You will also hear
“lekker bezig” which kind of has the same meaning but is mainly used
ironically, see the last example.

Examples:
– “Heb jij ook gemerkt dat Edyta al veel beter Nederlands spreekt?” – “Ja man, ze is echt goed bezig!”
(“Have you also noticed that Edyta’s Dutch has already improved?” –
“Yeah man, she is really doing well!” Lit. “…that Edyta already
speaks Dutch a lot better?”)

– “Goed bezig mannen!”
(“Nice job guys! / (You are) doing well guys!”)

– “Wist je al dat Pepijn en Anneloes een huis hebben gekocht?” – “Nee nog niet. Maar die zijn dus goed bezig!”
(“Did you know that Pepijn and Anneloes have bought a house?” – “No not
yet. I understand that they are doing well!” Note that “maar” normally
translates to “but” and “dus” to “thus/hence”, but in this case the
“maar <subject> dus” is best translated with “I understand”.)

– “Frank is net begonnen met zijn nieuwe baan en heeft nu al promotie gemaakt!” – “Zo hee, die is goed bezig!”
(“Frank has just started his new job and now he has already been promoted!” – “Wow, he is doing well for himself!” Literally “… has made promotion”.)

– “Er komt weer een reorganisatie aan!” – “Nou, het management is weer lekker bezig!”)
(“There is another reorganization coming!” – “<ironically:> My, the management at its best again!”)

Bliksem

lightning [noun] [de bliksem, de bliksems] [‘blik-sum’] Iconspeaker_3

Onweer"Thunder and lightning" is translated in Dutch as "donder en bliksem". The two combined are called "onweer" ("thunderstorm"; "weather" in Dutch is "weer"). The related verb is "onweren" and can only be used in the third-person singular "it": "het onweert" ("there is a thunderstorm"). The same is true for the verb "bliksemen": "het bliksemt" translates to something like "there are flashes of lightning".

"Bliksem" is often combined with the verb "inslaan, sloeg in, ingeslagen" ("to strike, struck, struck").

Examples:
– "Gisteravond is de bliksem ingeslagen in twee huizen. Ze brandden volledig uit."
("Last night two houses were struck by lightning. They burnt down completely.")

– "Mijn hond kan niet tegen vuurwerk en onweer."
("My dog can’t stand fireworks and thunderstorms.")

– "Er zit onweer in de lucht: het weer is benauwd en te warm voor de tijd van het jaar."
("There’s a storm brewing: the weather is a bit muggy and too warm for this time of year.")

– "De veiligste plek om te zijn als het onweert, is in de auto, zolang je er maar niet uitkomt!"
("The safest place to be during a thunderstorm is inside a car, as long as you don’t get out!")

– "Tijdens het bliksembezoek van de minister van Defensie aan de troepen in Afghanistan maakte hij bekend wanneer zij terug naar huis konden."
("During the flying visit of the Secretary of State for Defence to the troops in Afghanistan, he announced when they could return home.")

Expressions:
– "Kom als de bliksem naar beneden, we gaan nu!"
("Come down immediately, we’re leaving now!" Instead of ‘als de bliksem’, it’s possible to use ‘als de wiedeweerga’.)

– "Zijn gezicht stond op onweer toen hij zijn ex-vrouw samen met zijn collega zag."
("His face spelled trouble when he saw his former wife together with his colleague.")

Related words:
– "De bliksemschicht": thunderbolt.
– "De bliksemafleider": lightning rod.
– "Het bliksembezoek": flying visit.
– "De blikseminslag": stroke of lightning.
– "De bliksemschade": damage caused by lightning.

Het moet maar

(oh well alright,) I guess it just has to be done [Dutch phrase of the week]  Iconspeaker_klein

The translation above is just one of many possibilities, depending on context. We’ll cover a few in the Examples.

Examples:
– "Ik heb helemaal geen zin om vandaag weer naar het werk te gaan…het moet maar…"
("I really don’t feel like going to work again today…I guess I’ll just have to do it…")Het_moet_maar_2

– "Ga jij ook naar de afscheidsborrel van Frank?" – "Het moet maar…"
("Are you going to the Frank’s farewell drink too?" – "I guess I have no choice…")

– "Spring, spring!" – "Het moet maar…"
("Jump, jump!" – "Here goes nothing…")

– "Sander, weet jij een andere vertaling voor ‘het moet maar’ ?" – "Nee makker, het moet maar zo…bij gebrek aan betere alternatieven…"
("Sander, do you know another translation for ‘het moet maar’ ?"- "No dude, I guess we’ll have to do this one…for lack of better alternatives…")

Related words:
– "Moeten": [verb] to must, to have to.
– "Maar": [adverb] but, only, just.