Wat kan mij het schelen!

What do I care! / I can’t  be bothered! [Dutch phrase of the week] Speaker

2720967080_0ee1f9d858_zThis phrase is used when you convince yourself that you shouldn’t care, don’t want to care, or just don’t care when making a decision.

Alternative versions of this phrase are “wat kan mij het ook schelen!” or “wat kan mij dat nou schelen!”, the latter also suitable to use as a response to a claim, much the same way as “lekker belangrijk!“.

In this phrase “schelen” has the meaning of “to be of concern” or “to
matter”. You will also hear the verb used in the translation of “to
differ” or “to make a (financial) difference”.
(Photo: Francis Barton (flickr.com) – some rights reserved.)

Examples:
– “Wat kan mij het schelen, ik parkeer gewoon op de stoep!”

(“What do I care, I’ll just park on the pavement/side walk!”)

– “Ik ga vandaag een uur eerder naar huis, wat kan mij het schelen!”
(“I’m going home an hour early today, what do I care!”)

– “Nou, dan ga je toch niet mee vanavond. Wat kan mij dat nou schelen!”
(“Well, then stay at home tonight. As if I care!” Literally “dan ga je toch niet mee” translates as “then you don’t come along” with “toch” emphasizing that it is contrary to what was expected/agreed.)

– “Meneer, dit pak staat u echt geweldig!” – “Het is eigenlijk boven mijn budget, maar wat kan mij het ook schelen, ik doe het!”
(“Sir, this suit looks great on you!” – “It is in fact above budget, but what do I care, I’ll take it!)

Hoteldebotel

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

"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.Hoteldebotel

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.

Wijn

wine [noun] [de wijn, de wijnen] Speaker

The Dutch word for wine is similar to the English: "wijn". The dimunitive of "wijn" is commonly used to refer to a glass of wine: "een wijntje".

Examples:
– "Ik ga vanavond lekker in de zon zitten met een glas wijn."
("I’m going to sit in the sun tonight and enjoy a glass of wine".)

– "Ter ere van zijn promotie hebben we een wijnproeverij georganiseerd."
("In honour of his job promotion we organised a wine tasting.")

– "<Ober:> De huiswijn serveren we per glas of karaf; de andere wijnen worden per fles geserveerd."
("<Waiter:> We serve the house wine per glass of carafe; the other wines are served per bottle.")

– "Prosecco is een mousserende witte wijn." Wijn_4
("Prosecco is a sparkling white wine.")

– "Ik heb een kater van die wijn van gister: wat een Chateau Migraine!"
("I have a hangover due to that wine yesterday: wat a god-awful wine!" Please note that chateau migraine is a joke referring to a fictive French vineyard literally translated as "Castle Migrain".)

– "De serveerster struikelde en liet het dienblad met wijnglazen in de gracht vallen."
("The waitress tripped and dropped the tray with wine glasses in the canal.")

– "Wat wil je drinken? Een wit wijntje, een rood wijntje of een rosé’tje."
("What would you like to drink? A glass of white wine, a glass of red wine or a glass of rosé wine?")

Expressions:
– "Bier na wijn geeft venijn; wijn na bier geeft plezier."
("Drinking beer after wine will make you feel ill; wine after beer will give pleasure".)

Oddly, there is no agreement in Europe about the truth of this saying. The Germans have a saying that agrees with the Dutch saying, but the British tend to reverse it:
"Beer after wine, and you’ll feel fine, wine after beer and you’ll feel queer".

Related words:
– Wijngaard: vineyard [noun] [de wijngaard, de wijngaarden].
– Wijnproeverij: wine tasting [noun] [de wijnproeverij, de wijnproeverijen].
– Wijnglas: wine glass [noun] [het wijnglas, de wijnglazen].
– Wijnazijn: wine vinegar [noun] [de wijnazijn, no plural].

Vriend

friend [noun] [de vriend, de vrienden] Iconspeaker_klein

Vriend
The translation is obvious and the usage is obvious, however… This noun is a typical example of a noun of which the diminutive has a specific meaning. "Vriendje" is used for a friend of a small boy (if also small of course), but also for a "boyfriend"… The same is true when "vriend" is used with a possessive pronoun, e.g. "mijn".
If you want to avoid strange looks don’t say "dit is mijn vriend",  when you mean to say "this is a friend of mine", but say "dit is een vriend van mij" instead. Note that in fact "dit is mijn vriend" translates to "this is my friend" so grammatically there is no issue 🙂

This subtlety also exists with the female version: "vriendin".

"Vriend" can also be used in the meaning of "mate" or "dude". See also DWOTD Makker.

Examples:
– "Mag ik je aan mijn vriend voorstellen?"
("May I introduce you to my boyfriend?")

– "Ik durf het bijna niet te vragen, maar ben jij nu mijn vriendje?"
("I’m a bit shy to ask, but are you now my boyfriend?")

– "Dit is een vriend van mij. Ik ken hem nog van vroeger."
("This is a friend of mine. We’ve been friends since we were young / We’ve been friends for a long time." Literally: I know him from the old days.)

– "Dit is mijn vriend. Eh, ik bedoel, dit is een vriend van mij."

("This is my (boy)friend. Err, I mean, this is a friend of mine.")

– "Als je wint, heb je vrienden."
("When you win, you have friends." Line from the song "Als je wint" by "Doe Maar", a famous Dutch eighties ska/reggae/pop band.)

– "Op deze manier maak je geen vrienden gast, ik zou maar even dimmen als ik jou was!"
("You don’t make yourself popular this way mate, I would take it a little easier if I were you!" Literally: "This way you don’t make friends…")

Related words:
– Vriendelijk: friendly [adverb/adjective].
– Vriendschappelijk: friendly, amicable [adverb/adjective] (as in "a friendly match").
– Maat/maatje/makker: popular slang synonyms for "vriend" [noun] [de maat/het maatje/de makker, de maatjes/de makkers].
– Vriendschap: friendship [noun] [de vriendschap, no plural].

Example:
– "Een keer trek je de conclusie, vriendschap is een illusie."
("One time you will draw the conclusion, friendschip is an illusion." Famous line from the song "Vriendschap" by the Dutch eighties band "Het goede doel".)

Extra:
Toon Hermans was a Dutch comedian who was very popular in the fifties and sixties. He wrote the well-known poem "Vriend". You might see it on a "wc-tegeltje" if you visit elderly Dutch people. It goes:

"Je hebt iemand nodig, stil en oprecht,
Die als het erop aankomt, voor je bidt of voor je vecht.
Pas als je iemand hebt, die met je lacht en met je grient,
Dan pas kun je zeggen, ik heb een vriend."

Some help on the translation: "oprecht" translates to "sincere". The verb "grienen" is a synonym for "huilen", but is not used much anymore.

Ellende

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

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.Ellende

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.