Om de haverklap

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(at) every moment, continuously, at the merest trifle Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

oats-8946_640“Haver” translates to “oat(s)”. “Klap” literally translates to “blow”. A “haverklap” was probably something like a handful of straw, which was considered a small, trivial thing. “Om de haverklap” hence meant something like “at the point of a trivial thing”: every moment, at the merest trifle.

Examples:
– “Frank heeft om de haverklap een afspraakje via een datingsite.” 
(“Frank continuously has a date via a dating site.”)

– “De aandeelhoudersvergadering van Fortis liep om de haverklap uit de hand.”
(“The Fortis shareholder’s meeting was getting out of hand at the merest trifle.”)

– “De beurs stort om de haverklap in elkaar.”
(“The stock exchange crashes constantly at the merest trifle.”)

– “Philip kletst om de haverklap uit zijn nek.”
(“Philip is talking nonsense all the time.”)

Related words:
– Vaak: often [adverb].
– Dikwijls: often, frequently [adverb].

Hilarisch

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hilarious Iconspeaker_3
[adjective]
[hi-la-risch]

Lachen
"Hilarisch" is used the same way in Dutch as "hilarious" in English, yet it seems we only use it when something is really hilarious (as in "extremely funny"). When something is "very funny" it is more common to say "(heel) erg grappig" ("really very funny"), "ontzettend grappig" ("incredibly funny") etc.

Note that one pronounces the ending ‘-isch’ as ‘-ies’.

Examples:
– "Het is hilarisch om te zien hoe sommige mensen afgaan bij de Idols audities." 
("It’s hilarious to see how some people humiliate themselves at the Idols auditions.")

– "Hilarisch? Nee hilarisch zou ik het niet willen noemen, eerder zielig." 
("Hilarious? No, I wouldn’t call it hilarious, I’d rather call it pathetic.")

– "Hoe was de comedyshow in het Comedy Theater?"- "Erg goed, sommige van die gasten zijn echt hilarisch!" 
("How was the comedy show in ‘Comedy Theater’?" – "Very good, some of those guys are really hilarious!")

Expressions:
– "Lachen, gieren, brullen": literally "laughing, screaming, roaring" this is used to say you had a really good laugh. Often also used ironically.

Example:
– "Hoe was de nieuwe film met Mr. Bean?"- "Nou, het was weer lachen, gieren, brullen. Maar niet heus."
("How was the new Mr. Bean movie?" – "Well, once again it was really funny. Not…")

– "Buikpijn hebben van het lachen": literally "to have stomachache because of laughing" you say this when you really have or had to laugh hard because of something.

Related words:
– Grappig: funny, amusing [adjective/adverb].
– Komisch: comical, funny [adjective/adverb].

Lijf

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body Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het lijf, de lij-ven]

When referring to their "body", most people will use the word "lichaam" and not "lijf". "Lijf" is a slightly more old-fashioned version of "lichaam". However, the word can still be heard very often since it is used in an abundance of expressions.Lijf_2

Examples:
– "Hij heeft een gespierd lijf dankzij al die krachttrainingen." 
("He has a muscular body thanks to all those power trainings.")

– "Heb je het tijdschrift "Lijf en Leven" (zie plaatje) wel eens gelezen?" 
("Have you ever read the magazine "Body and Life" (see picture)?")

Expressions:
– "Op het lijf geschreven zijn": to be just right, to be made for.

Example:
– "Deze baan is haar op het lijf geschreven."
("This job is cut out for her.")

– "Iemand tegen het lijf lopen": to bump into someone.

Example:
– "Tijdens de Amsterdam Fashion Week ben ik verschillende BN’ers tegen het lijf gelopen."
("I ran into several famous Dutch people during the Amsterdam Fashion Week.")

– "Iemand te lijf gaan": to fly at someone.

Example:
– "De voetbalfans gingen elkaar met stokken te lijf na de 1-1 gelijkspel."
("The soccer fans attacked each other with sticks after the 1-1 draw.")

– "Het heeft niets om het lijf": there’s nothing to it, it’s not important. Note that this phrase can also be used in a literal sense "to have nothing around the body", i.e. to be naked.

Example:
– "De speech van de politicus had niets om het lijf; het was een opeenhoping van chichés."
("The speech of the politician was useless; it was a pile-up of chlichés.")

– "In levenden lijve": in person, alive.

Example:
– "Op Koninginnedag kun je de Koninklijke familie in levenden lijve zien."
("On Queen’s Day you can see the Royal familiy in person.")

– "Iets aan den lijve ondervinden": to experience something personally, to live through something.

Example:
– "Hij heeft aan den lijve ondervonden wat het is om honger te hebben."
("He has (personally) experienced what it means to be hungry.")

Related words:
– Lichaam: body [noun] [het lichaam, de lichamen].

Extra:
The government provides temporary accomodation to victims of domestic violence ("huiselijk geweld") in so-called "Blijf van mijn lijf-huizen" ("Hands off my body-houses").  All houses are listed on the website http://www.huiselijkgeweld.nl/.

Falen

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to fail Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[fa-len, faal-de, ge-faald]

"Falen" – to fail – is the opposite of "slagen": to succeed. However, in the context of failing an exam, you wouldn’t use "falen" but "zakken (voor)", see the Related words.Falen

Sometimes you can translate the infinitive form of the verb "falen", when used as a noun, with "failure", see the third example.

Examples:
– "Ik dacht dat het een eitje was, maar ik heb jammerlijk gefaald…" 
("I thought it was a piece of cake, but I failed miserably…")

– "Ik waardeer je inzet, maar als je nog een keer faalt, moet ik je ontslaan." 
("I appreciate your effort, but if you fail one more time, I’m going to have to fire you.")

– "Het falen van de regering is een ramp voor het land." 
("The government’s failure is a disaster for the country.")

– "James Bond heeft geen last van faalangst." 
("James Bond is not afraid of failing." Lit.: "…does not have fear of failure." Note: the idiom "last hebben van" translates literally to "to have burden of" / "to be burdened by".)

Related words:
– Faalangst: fear of failure [noun] [de faalangst, de faalangsten].
– Zakken (voor): to fail <usually an exam> [verb] [zakte (voor), gezakt (voor)].

Example:
– "Hoe vaak ben je al gezakt voor je rijexamen?"
("How many times have you failed your driving test (already)?")

– Mislukken: to fail, to not succeed [verb] [mislukte, mislukt].
– Lukken: to succeed [verb] [lukte, gelukt].

Waarderen

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1. to appreciate, to value, to esteem, to rate Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[waar-deWaarderen-ren, waar-deer-de, ge-waar-deerd]

Here "waarderen" is used when you want to express appreciation or value/esteem something or somebody. You can also use "waarderen" in case of monetary value, see translation 2 below. Read the Extra below on what the equivalent of American-English "I appreciate it" could be in Dutch.

Examples:
– "Ik waardeer het enorm dat je vandaag gekomen bent." 
("I very much appreciate you being here today." Lit.: "…  that you have come today.")

– "Ik kan een sigaar op zijn tijd wel waarderen." 
("I appreciate (smoking) a cigar every so now and then.")

– "Het spijt me, maar uw bijdrage aan deze discussie wordt niet gewaardeerd." 
("I’m sorry, but your contribution to this discussion is not appreciated.")

– "Helaas moeten we vandaag afscheid nemen van een bijzonder gewaardeerde collega." 
("Unfortunately, today we have to say goodbye to a highly esteemed colleague.")

– "Over het algemeen voel ik me op mijn werk ondergewaardeerd."
("In general I feel undervalued at work.")

Related words:
– Op prijs stellen: to appreciate [verb] [stel op prijs, op prijs gesteld].

Example:
– "Uw aanwezigheid wordt niet op prijs gesteld."
("Your presence is not appreciated.")

Extra:
Sometimes people ask us how to say "I appreciate it" in Dutch. You can use the verb "waarderen" but mind that its usage is quite formal, i.e. when you say "ik waardeer het" or "het wordt gewaardeerd dat…" then you are making a bit of a strong statement, but it is the thing to say when you seriously want to thank somebody. If you however want to informally say "I appreciate it" or when the circumstances do not mandate a formal or very strong statement of appreciation, it is better just to say thank you (see the DWOTD "Dankjewel"), or you can use one of the following phrases:

– "(Dat is) tof van je": that is nice of you [informal].
– "Dat is (bijzonder) aardig/vriendelijk van je/u": that is (really) nice of you.

2. to value, to estimate, to appraise, to rate, to mark Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[waar-de-ren, waar-deer-de, ge-waar-deerd]

Here "waarderen" is used in the context of monetary value, or when you want to rate the quality of something. There is a strong link with the noun "waarde": value.

Examples:
– "De film ‘Gran Torino’ wordt door de recensenten hoog gewaardeerd." 
("The film ‘Gran Torino’ is highly rated by the critics.")

– "Nederlandse huizen zijn over het algemeen overgewaardeerd en het wordt tijd dat de prijzen gaan dalen!" 
("In general Dutch houses are overvalued and it is about time that the prices will drop!")

Related words:
– Waarde: value [noun] [de waarde, de waarden]. Note that the word is used for both "monetary" and "moral" value.
– Prijs: price, cost [noun] [de prijs, de prijzen].
– Taxatie: assessment, appraisal (of an object) [noun] [de taxatie, de taxaties].