Door de mand vallen

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to be exposed as incompetent/a liar/cheater/fraud/fool, to be seen through Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week] Door de mand vallen

Literally, "door de mand vallen" translates to "to fall through the basket". It is used in a situation where   someone initially denies an accusation, but is then confronted with so many counter-arguments that he/she has to admit that the accusation is rightful. This person is then exposed as a liar, cheater, fraud or fool.

Examples:
– "Dit nieuwe kabinet zal snel door de mand vallen…" – "Wat weet jij nou van politiek?" 
("This new cabinet will be exposed as incompetent…" – "Now what do you know of politics?")

– "Met dit akkefietje val je echt door de mand, ik eis een verontschuldiging!" 
("With this little incident you really expose yourself as a liar, I demand an apology!")

– "Frank is vorige week behoorlijk door de mand gevallen…zijn vriendin is bij hem weggegaan nadat hij met een ander was vreemdgegaan." 
("Frank was quite exposed as an adulterer last week…his girlfriend left him after he cheated on her with another woman.")

Expressions:
– "Nat gaan": to fall through. Lit.: to go wet.

Example:
– "Vorig jaar is hij behoorlijk nat gegaan met zijn bedrijf: echt een miljoenenverlies…"
("Last year, he really fell through with his company: lost really millions…" Lit.: "…a million's loss")

Related words:
– Mand: basket [noun] [de mand, de manden].
– Ontmaskeren: to unmask, to expose [verb] [ontmaskeren, ontmaskerde, h. ontmaskerd].
– Vallen: to fall [verb] [vallen, viel, gevallen].

Example:
– "Pardon meneer, u laat een munt vallen."
("Excuse me sir, you've dropped a coin."

Kabinet

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cabinet Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het ka-bi-net, de ka-bi-net-ten]Kabinet

In case you missed it: the Netherlands has a new cabinet since last week. The liberal party VVD (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) and the CDA (Christian Democratic Appeal) have joined forces in the first minority cabinet since World War II – and the first liberal prime minister since 1918.

Examples:
– "Na 127 dagen formeren is het kabinet-Rutte op 14 oktober gestart." 
("After 127 days of negotiations to form a government, Rutte's Cabinet started on October 14.")

– "Het kabinet-Rutte I is het eerste minderheidskabinet sinds de Tweede Wereldoorlog." 
("Rutte's first Cabinet is the first minority cabinet since World War II.")

– "Voor een meederheidskabinet zijn tenminste 76 van de 150 zetels in de Tweede Kamer nodig." 
("For a majority cabinet, at least 76 of 150 seats in the Second Chamber [House of Commons] are required.")

– "Het kabinet-Rutte heeft 52 zetels, en haalt met steun van Wilders' party PVV 76 zetels." 
("Rutte's Cabinet has 52 seats, and reaches 76 seats with support of Wilders' party PVV.")

– "De meeste leden van het kabinet Rutte I zijn zeer ervaren politici, de vijftig gepasseerd en man." 
("Most members of Rutte's first Cabinet are very experienced politicians, over fifty, and male.")

Related words:
– Verkiezingen: elections [noun] [de verkiezing, de verkiezingen].
– Kabinetsformatie: the formation of a cabinet [noun] [de formatie, de formaties].

Extra:
The support that WIlders' party PVV gives to the cabinet is called "gedoogsteun". The Dutch are known worldwide for their "gedogen" of soft drugs: even though illegal by law, offenders are not persecuted. In the case of Wilders' PVV, the party gives "gedoogsteun" to the minority cabinet, i.e. a party supports the cabinet even though the party is formally an opposition party. The support is agreed on in a formal agreement, the "gedoogakkoord".

Eisen

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to demand, to require, to claim Iconspeaker_3
[verb] Eisen
[ei-sen, eis-te, h. ge-ëist]

"Eisen" is a regular verb, but note that an ë appears in the past participle to avoid ambiguity in pronunciation. Related noun is "eis" (plural: "eisen"): demand, requirement, claim.

For the record…"eisen" has nothing to do with "ei" 🙂

Examples:
– "Het parlement heeft het vertrek van de minister geëist." 
("The parliament has demanded the minister's exit.")

– "Kom op zeg, wat je nu van me eist is echt belachelijk!" 
("Come on, your demands are really ridiculous!" Lit.: ",,,what you demand of me now…")

– "Ik eis dat ik nu word geholpen, dit is toch een ziekenhuis??" 
("I demand to be helped right now, this is a hospital, right??")

Expressions:
– "Op zijn/haar strepen staan": to pull rank. Lit.: to stand on one's stripes.

Related words:
– Eis: demand, claim, request, requirement [noun] [de eis, de eisen].
– Voorwaarde: condition, requisite [noun] [de voorwaarde, de voorwaarden/voorwaardes].

Ontwikkeling

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development, growth Iconspeaker_3 Ontwikkeling
[noun]
[de ont-wik-ke-ling, de ont-wik-ke-ling-en]

"Ontwikkeling" literally translates to something like "to un-wrapping". "To unwrap" usually translates to "uitpakken" in Dutch, which is usually the unwrapping of for example a present. Sometimes though, "uitpakken" figuratively translates to "to develop" or "to turn out", see also Related words.

Examples:
– "Het gebruik van zeep is zeer belangrijk voor de ontwikkeling van persoonlijke hygiëne." 
("The use of soap is very important for the development of personal hygiene.")

– "Dit is een zorgelijke ontwikkeling? Frank zal toch geen roet in het eten gooien?" 
("This is a disturbing development? Frank will not cause any trouble, will he?")

– "De ontwikkeling van dit vaccin heeft vele tegenslagen gekend." 
("The development of this vaccine has known many setbacks.")

Expressions:
– "Algemene ontwikkeling": general knowledge/education.

Example:
– "Je weet niet wie de koningin van Nederland is? Gast, dat is algemene ontwikkeling! Beatrix natuurlijk!!"
("You don't know who's the queen of the Netherlands?? Dude, that's general knowledge! Beatrix of course!!")

Related words:
– Ontwikkelen: to develop [verb] [ontwikkelen, ontwikkelde, h. ontwikkeld].
– Ontwikkelingshulp: development aid [noun] [de ontwikkelingshulp, <no plural>].
– Uitpakken: 1. to unwrap [verb] [uitpakken, pakte uit, h. uitgepakt]. 2. to develop, to turn out [verb] [uitpakken, pakte uit, i. uitgepakt].

Example:
– "Die beslissing is verkeerd uitgepakt."
("That decision has turned out to be wrong.")

– Vooruitgang: progress, improvement, headway [noun] [de vooruitgang, <no plural>].

Zeep

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soap Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de zeep, de ze-pen]

Zeep "Zeep" is the general word for soap. You will also hear 'handzeep' for liquid (hand) soap ('vloeibare zeep'). When discussing soap operas, we say soap 🙂 Read more in the Extra below on the recent death of the well-known Dutch (soap) actor Antonie Kamerling.

Examples:
– "De zeep is al een paar dagen op!" – "O, dat had ik nog niet gemerkt om eerlijk te zijn!" 
("We've been out of soap for a couple of days now!" -"Oh, I hadn't noticed yet to be honest!")

– "Als je naar Albert Heijn gaat, wil je dan handzeep kopen?" 
("When you go to Albert Heijn, could you please buy liquid/hand soap?")

– "Ik vind die zeepjes die je in hotels vindt echt bespottelijk. Daar kun je je toch niet mee wassen, of wel soms??" 
("I find those little pieces of soap one finds in hotels really ridiculous. One can't possible wash oneself with that, can one now??")

– "Voor het douchen gebruik ik liever douchegel dan zeep. Het is ook link, want voor je het weet glij je uit over een stuk zeep!" 
("When showering I prefer to use shower gel over soap. It's also tricky, because before you know you'll slip on a piece of soap!")

Expressions:
– "Iemand om zeep helpen": to kill/murder someone. 

Example:
– "In het wilde Westen werd je om het minste of geringste om zeep geholpen."
("In the Wild West you were killed on the slightest provocation." The word 'gering' translates as 'small, petty'.)

Related words:
– Schoon: clean [adjective].
– Wassen: to wash, to clean [verb] [waste, gewassen]. Note that 'wassen' can also mean 'to rise (of water)' or 'to grow', e.g. an 'adult' in Dutch is a 'volwassene' (a 'fully grown' one).
– Fris: fresh, clean [adjective].
– Hygiënisch: hygienic [adjective].
– Douchen: to take a shower [verb] [douchte, gedoucht].
– In bad gaan: to take a bath.
– Douchegel: shower gel [noun] [de gel, de gels].
– Inzepen: rubbing soap into, or 'the act of rubbing snow in somebody's face' [verb] [zeepte in, ingezeept].

Extra:
150px-Antonie_Kamerling In Dutch we also use the word 'soap' for the soap opera TV series. The most well-known soap in the Netherlands is "Goede tijden, slechte tijden" ('good times, bad times'). It's iconic in the sense that it was the first Dutch soap and it has been running for 20 years or so. Those living in the Netherlands may have noticed the news coverage on the suicide of Antonie Kamerling last week. Antonie Kamerling was part of the first crew of actors in 'Goede tijden, slechte tijden' and became a well-known Dutch actor (e.g. in the film "De kleine blonde dood"). He also scored a number 1 hit with the song 'Toen ik je zag', performed under the artist name "Hero" (originally written by Guus Meeuwis). The song was the number 1 iTunes download in the Netherlands end of last week…

(Picture taken from Wikipedia)