Schimmel

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1. fungus, mould Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de schim-mel, de schim-mels]Broodschimmel

Een "schimmel" is a fungus or a mould. A mushroom is a "paddenstoel" (which grows in the wild) or "champignon" (which is grown on farms).

Examples:
– "Er zit schimmel op het brood." 
("The bread is moulded." Lit.: "There’s mould on the bread.")

– "De dokter heeft een zalf voorgeschreven voor de schimmel tussen mijn tenen." 
("The doctor has prescribed an ointment for the mould between my toes.")

– "Wat is er met deze boom aan de hand?" – "Ik denk dat er de schimmel in zit." 
("What’s going on with this tree?" – "I think it’s been affected by a fungus." Lit.: "I think that the fungus is in it.")

Related words:
– (Be)schimmelen: to mould, to get mouldy [verb] [(be)schimmelen, (be)schimmelde, (be)schimmeld].
– Paddenstoel: mushroom [verb] [de paddenstoel, de paddenstoelen].

Example:
– "Deze paddenstoel behoort tot een familie giftige schimmels."
("This mushroom belongs to a family of poisonous fungi.")

Extra:
The Dutch have a lot of rules to guarantee hygiene in the horeca. Of course, not all restaurants follow the rules…which has led to an entertaining TV show: "Smaakpolitie" (lit.: taste police). Its host Rob de Geus is on a personal mission to ban every mould from Dutch kitchens. Watch this remarkable clip, where he visists a student dorm…

2. grey (horse) Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de schim-mel, de schim-mels]Schimmelsinterklaas

A "schimmel" is also a grey (horse). The most famous grey in the Netherlands makes its appearance around the 5th of December: Sinterklaas’ favourite way of transport is his grey 🙂

Examples:
– "Sinterklaas rijdt op zijn schimmel over de Nederlandse daken…geloof jij het?" 
("Sinterklaas rides his grey over the Dutch rooftops…do you believe it?")

– "Deze schimmel is een lief beest, dat zwarte paard is vals…" 
("This grey horse is a sweet animal, that black horse is mean…")

Expressions:
– "Je mag een gegeven paard niet in bek kijken": to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Related words:
– Paard: horse [noun] [het paard, de paarden].
– Tuig: harness [noun] [het tuig, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Ik heb een nieuw tuig voor mijn schimmel gekocht."
("I bought a new harness for my gray.")

– Pakjesavond: (lit.) evening of presents, Sinterklaas’ evening.

Met de noorderzon vertrekken

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leave without notice to an unknown destination Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

seaside-1031450_1280“Met de noorderzon vertrekken” can be literally translated as “to leave with the northern sun”. It stems from 17th century Dutch. Then, the “noorderzon” was synonymous to “during the night” – the sun shines in the northern/Scandinavian countries at night. The “zuiderzon” (“southernsun”) was synonymous to “during mid-day”. “Met de noorderzon vertrekken” originally meant to leave without notice leaving many debts. Nowadays, it is used when someone leaves without telling anyone that he intends to leave nor where he’s going.

Examples:
– “Hij is met de noorderzon vertrokken en hij heeft nooit meer iets van zich laten horen.” 
(“He left without notice to an unknown destination and has never been in touch since.”)

– “Na dat schandaal is zij met de noorderzon vertrokken, later bleek dat ze naar Canada was geëmigreerd.”
(“After the scandal she left to an unknown destination, later it turned out she had emigrated to Canada.”)

– “Als je zomaar met de noorderzon vertrekt, loop je weg voor je verantwoordelijkheden.”
(“If you just leave like that, you walk away from your responsibilities.”)

Expressions:
– “De benen nemen”: to run away (both in literal and figurative sense) [lit.: “to take the legs”].
– “De plaat poetsen”: to desert (original meaning), to run away, to leave [lit.: “to clean the butt plate(part of a gun)”].

Example:
– “Toen hij de politiesirene hoorde, poetste de dief de plaat.”
(“When he heard the police siren, the thief ran away.”)

Related words:
– Zon: sun [noun] [de zon, de zonnen].
– Noord: north [adjective].

Bezorgen

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1. to deliver Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[be-zor-gen, be-zorg-de, be-zorgd]

Having goods delivered to your house in the Netherlands can be a painful exercise. They of course always come when you are not at home and eventually you will have to go and collect it yourself at the post office. Which will then be closed 🙂 Two weeks ago I ordered a printer on the Internet, and yes it has been delivered – three times already – … at the wrong address.

Examples:
– “Er is voor jou een pakje bezorgd. Je kunt het komen ophalen tussen 9 en 10 uur.” 
(“A package was delivered for you. You can (come and) collect it between 9 and 10 AM.”)

– “Kunt u het bij mij thuis laten bezorgen?”
(“Can you deliver it at my house?” Lit. “have it delivered…”)

– “De postbode bezorgt elke dag van de week behalve zondag.”
(“The mail man delivers each day of the week apart from Sundays.”)

– “Wij hebben geprobeerd een pakje bij u te bezorgen, maar u was niet thuis. U kunt het pakje ophalen op het postkantoor.”
(“We have tried to deliver a package at your house (literally: “with you”), but you were not at home. You can collect the package at the post office.”)

Related words:
– Bezorging: delivery [noun] [de bezorging, <no plural>].
– Bezorgkosten: delivery charge/fee [noun] [de kosten].
– Post: mail [noun] [de post, <no plural>].
– Pakje: parcel, package [noun] [het pakje, de pakjes].

2. to give, to provide with Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[be-zor-gen, be-zorg-de, be-zorgd]

“Bezorgen” is also used figuratively. The translation given does not cover it properly, best to check out the examples below.

Examples:
– “Haar vriend werkt bij een bank en hij heeft mij daar onlangs een baan bezorgd.” 
(“Her boyfriend works at a bank and he recently got me a job there.”)

– “Hij haalt nooit zijn deadlines en dat heeft hem een slechte reputatie bezorgd.”
(“He never meets his deadlines and that has earned him a bad reputation.”)

– “Waarom lees je je e-mail niet goed? Nu moet ik het weer uitleggen en dat bezorgt mij extra werk. Je wordt bedankt!”
(“Why don’t you properly read your e-mail? Now I have to explain it again and that causes a lot of extra work for me. Well thanks a lot!”)

Expressions:
– “Iemand grijze haren bezorgen”: to give someone grey hair, to make somebody worry heavily.

Example:
– “Met dit roekeloze gedrag bezorgt hij mij echt grijze haren.”
(“His reckless behaviour really makes me worry.” Lit.: “With this reckless behaviour he really turns me grey.”)

Kopje

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(little) cup Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het kop-je, de kop-jes]

cup-822855_1280“Kopje” – literally “little cup” – is the diminutive of “kop”, but this is often lost in translation.

“Kop” also translates to “head”, therefore “kopje” would also translate to “little head”, but this is only used in a couple of expression, listed under Extra 2.

Examples:
– “Wilt u een kopje koffie, meneer?” 
(“Would you like a cup of coffee, sir?”)

– “Ik drink mijn thee liever niet uit een plastic bekertje, maar uit een echt kopje.”
(“I’d rather not drink my tea from a plastic cup, but from a real cup.”)

– “Kopje koffie, glazenwasser?”
(“Cup of coffee, Mr. Window-cleaner?” Famous line from a popular Dutch TV series “Pisa” in the 80s)

Related words:
– Beker: mug [noun] [de beker, de bekers].
– Koffie: coffee [noun] [de koffie, <no plural>].
– Thee: tea [noun] [de thee, <no plural>].
– Lepeltje: (little) spoon [noun] [het lepeltje, de lepeltjes].
– Roeren: to stir [verb] [roeren, roerde, geroerd].

Extra:
In the eighties, VOF de Kunst was a popular Dutch band. They had two big hits: “Suzanne” and “Eén kopje koffie“. Check out the clips on YouTube…and you maybe able to sing along whenever they play them in a bar 😉

Extra 2:
– “Kopje duikelen”: to turn somersaults.
– “Kopje onder gaan”: to get a ducking.
– “Kopjes geven”: a cat rubbing its head against someone/something.

Gewoon

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1. usual, common, ordinary, regular, plain Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

The Dutch think they’re pretty common people. We even feel that it’s a virtue to be “common”…see the – very common – first expression under Expressions.

Examples:
– “Ik ben slechts een gewone jongen.” 
(“I’m just a common guy.”)

– “In Nederland is het heel gewoon dat mensen elkaar tutoyeren.”
(“In the Netherlands, it’s very normal that people are on a first-name basis with each other.”)

– “Dit is geen gewone man, nee dit is Superman!”
(“This is not an ordinary man, no this is Superman!”)

– “Ik wil graag een gewone koffie.”
(“I would like a regular coffee.”)

– “Hebben ze in Jordanië gewone stopcontacten?”
(“Do they have normal power plugs in Jordan?”)

Expressions:
– “Doe nou maar gewoon, dan doe je gek genoeg”: There’s no need to act all crazy like that. Lit.: Just act normal, that’s crazy enough”.
– “Zoals gewoonlijk”: As usual.

Related words:
– Gewoonlijk: usually [adjective].

2. just, simply Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

Examples:
– “Dit is gewoon liefde op het eerste gezicht.” 
(“This is just love at first sight.”)

– “Het is gewoon de bedoeling dat deze ellende ophoudt!”
(“This misery is simply supposed to stop!”)

– “Het was niet gewoon een vluggertje…Frank is echt verliefd...”
(“It wasn’t simply a quickie…Frank is really in love…”)

– “Gewoon doen.”
(“Just do it.”)

3. used to, accustomed to Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

Using “gewoon” in this context is somewhat formal. A less formal synonym you may see more often is “gewend”.

Examples:
– “Ik ben dit niet gewoon.” 
(“I’m not accustomed to this.”)

– “De burgemeester is niet gewoon zich te begeven onder het gewone volk.”
(“The mayor is not used to make his way among the common people.”)

Related words:
– Gewend aan: used to [adjective].

Example:
– “Frank is niet gewend aan deze hoge temperaturen.”
(“Frank is not used to these high temperatures.”)