Category Archives: Vocabulary Intermediate

Kerstborrel

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Christmas reception [noun] [de <kerst><borrel>, de kerstborrels]

The word “borrel” actually does not translate to reception precisely, but it comes close: a “borrel” is a very informal reception, held periodically at work, or to pleasantly conclude a business meeting or a seminar for example.
Of course there is a verb as well: “borrelen”, the activity of participating in a “borrel”.

The Dutch word for Christmas is “Kerstmis”, often abbreviated to “kerst”.

Examples:
– “Dit jaar wordt de kerstborrel gehouden op 14 december.”
(“This year the Christmas reception is held on the 14th of December.”)

– “Ik ga niet meer naar de vrijdagmiddagborrel; hij komt mijn neus uit!”
(“I am not going to the Friday afternoon reception anymore; I am sick of it!” Literally: “…; it comes out of my nose!”)

– “Tijdens de borrel worden vaak belangrijke beslissingen genomen. Zoals: doen we nog een biertje, of niet?”
(“During a “borrel” quite often important decisions are made. Such as: should we have another beer or not?)” Literally:  “…: do we do another beer, or not?”)

– “De toespraak die Frank hield voorafgaand aan de borrel, duurde veel te lang!”
(“The speech that Frank held prior to the “borrel” was way too long!”)

Related words:
– “Vrijmibo”: abbreviation of “vrijdagmiddagborrel”.
– “Kerstmis”: Christmas.
– “Receptie”: reception.
– “Borrelhapjes”: specific Dutch snacks served during “borrels”, like pieces of cheese, or “bitterballen“.

Extra:
“Vrijmibo’s” in progress can very well be observed every Friday in the several bars at the “Plein” in the city of The Hague, the Netherlands. The bars are crowded with employees from the several nearby ministeries. The number of suites and ties is quite high. In the summer season, on rare sunny days, the terraces start to fill up from three o’clock onwards.

Pakjesavond

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evening of presents [noun] [de pakjesavond, de pakjesavonden]

"Pakjesavond" (literally 'evening of packages'), or "Sinterklaasavond" is the traditional evening ("avond") of "Sinterklaas" which is celebrated at the 5th of December. Since there is only one "pakjesavond", there is no plural.
The tradition is much more than just this evening and you can read all about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas.

A "pakje" is a small package. This word is used to indicate a postal package (also "pakket(je)") or a present, especially if it is in the shape of a box. At "Sinterklaasavond", Sinterklaas and his "Zwarte Pieten" deliver presents to all houses (unless the children have been bad 🙂 ), hence the alternative name "pakjesavond".

Examples:
1. "Voor kinderen is pakjesavond ontzettend spannend!"
("To children pakjesavond is extremely exciting!")

2. "Sinterklaasavond wordt ook wel pakjesavond genoemd."
("Sinterklaasavond is also called pakjesavond." Or: "… is alternatively called…")

3. "Hopelijk slaat Sinterklaas jouw huis niet over op pakjesavond!"
("Hopefully Sinterklaas will not skip your house at pakjesavond!")

4. "Omdat iedereen op tijd thuis wil zijn voor pakjesavond, is het op 5 december 's middags al erg druk op de weg."
("On the 5th of December, already in the afternoon the roads are very crowded, because everybody wants to be at home on time for pakjesavond.")

Related words:
1. "Pepernoot": traditional candy that the "Zwarte Pieten" hand out to children.
2. "Kruidnoot": as in 1. but a different kind.
3. "Strooigoed": mix of candy that the "Zwarte Pieten" traditionally throw in the hall-way, through an open window or where ever possible, prior to delivering the presents. Basically "Zwarte Pieten" can throw candy at you whenever they want in the days leading up to "pakjesavond" 🙂 .
4. "Strooien": to scatter, to throw, to strew.

Extra:
Read more about Sinterklaas and his "Zwarte Pieten" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas .

References to the tradition of Sinterklaas were also made in "DWOTD 36. Kloppen", "DWOTD 72. Waaien" and "DWOTD 73. Hart".

Verkiezing

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*** Dutch general elections today ***

Grammar: <verkiezing> [noun] [de verkiezing, de verkiezingen].

Translates to: election.

Examples:
1. "Vanochtend zijn in Nederland de verkiezingen voor de Tweede Kamer begonnen."
("This morning, the elections for the "Tweede Kamer" have commenced in the Netherlands.")
See also ‘Extra’.

2. "In Amerika is verkiezingskoorts een veel groter fenomeen dan in Nederland."
("Electoral fever is a much bigger phenomenon in the U.S. than it is in the Netherlands.")

3. "Frank kijkt graag miss-verkiezingen op televisie."
("Frank likes to watch beauty contests on television." See also "DWOTD 82. Kijken".)

Related Words:
1. "Verkiezen": to prefer (literally: to forchoose).
2. "Kiezen": to choose.
3. "Stemlokaal": polling station/place, the place where people can vote.

Extra:
The Dutch "Tweede Kamer" (literally: Second Chamber) is another name for the Parliament. It is composed of 150 members of different political parties representing the people.
The political party that wins the elections, gets the first right to form a coalition that has the majority in the Tweede Kamer (because there’s never a single party with absolute majority).
When a coalition has been formed, negotiations start to form the "kabinet": the board of ministers and the prime-minister. The biggest political party usually brings forward the candidate prime-minister. Once the other minister posts have been divided among the coalition parties, the candidate prime-minister and his cabinet are officially appointed by the queen.

Peiling

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*** Dutch general elections ***

Grammar: <peiling> [noun] [de peiling, de peilingen].

Translates to: poll, sounding, bearing.

“Peiling” is often used in the meaning of a “poll” (where people are asked for their opinion), the full word being “opiniepeiling” where “opinie” translates to “opinion”.

Examples:
1. “Volgens de laatste peilingen wordt het een nek-aan-nekrace tussen links en rechts.”
(“According to the latest polls, it’s going to be a neck-and-neck race between the left-wing and right-wing.”)

2. “Frank vindt peilingen voor de verkiezingen erg onbetrouwbaar, omdat verschillende peilingen verschillende resultaten laten zien.”
(“Frank finds election polls to be quite unreliable, because different polls show different results.”)

Related Words:
1. “Peilen”: to probe, to determine.
2. “Stemmen”: to vote (literally: to voice).
3. “Kiezen”: to choose.
4. “Zwevende kiezer”: floating voter (literally: floating chooser).

Staking

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Grammar: <staking> [noun] [de staking, de stakingen].

Translates to: “strike”.

The verb that goes with “staking” is “staken”, which means “to strike”. The Dutch are not eager to strike but it happens once in a while, especially in public transportation.

Examples:
1. “In de vier grote steden is er vandaag een staking in het openbaar vervoer.”
(“In the four big cities, today there’s a strike in public transportation.” See ‘Extra’ below.)

This example is based on a true event ;-), see http://www.nu.nl/news/886336/10/Staking_openbaar_vervoer.html

2. “Omdat het overleg tussen de vakbonden en de overheid is vastgelopen, is er vandaag een staking.”
(“Because the negotiations between the unions and the government have reached a deadlock, there will be a strike today.”) See also “DWOTD 77. Overleg“.

3. “Vanwege de slechte omstandigheden besloot de gevangene in hongerstaking te gaan.”
(“Because of the bad conditions the prisoner decided to go on hunger strike.”)

Related Words:
1. “Staker”: striker.
2. “Vakbond”: union.
3. “Werkonderbreking”: (work) stoppage.
4. “Protesteren”: to protest.

Extra:
“De vier grote steden” (see example 1 above) is the common group name for Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht.