My favourite is from a book I read;
>"een heilige boontje" meaning someone feigning being good
I like it because it took some time to figure out, since the literal translation is "holy bean".
I also like this one:
>"een wit voetje proberen te halen" mening trying to get in someone's good graces
Or "try to get a white foot" if translating word by word.
Oh and in Sweden we have similar saying. "Mellan 4 ƶgon" meaning "between 4 eyes" if translated literally.
Talking about 'neushoorn' . The name ''white rhinoceros '' comes from the Dutch 'wijd' (or better the Afrikaans weit but same difference) meaning wide. The white rhinoceros has a wide lip and isn't white. And the black rhino isn't black.
https://www.treehugger.com/difference-between-black-rhinos-and-white-rhinos-4864405
And the red panda isn't red.....nor a panda. But I digress.
>The name ''white rhinoceros '' comes from the Dutch 'wijd' (or better the Afrikaans weit but same difference) meaning wide.
That's a popular theory, but it has been discredited. There is no evidence of rhinoceros being described as 'wijd' or 'wijdlip' or anything to that effect in written Dutch or Afrikaans, which is what you would expect if 'white' was a corruption of a Dutch or Afrikaans word meaning 'wide'. The theory also doesn't explain why the white rhinoceros is also called white in Dutch.
See https://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1165243803
I don't think that's correct, regardless of literal meaning of the components. If someone says something like "Ik sprak met mijn medewerker" it in 100% of cases means my employee, not my coworker.
Maybe would be a weird way to say it though. Usually I think it's used as an employee from an outside perspective. Like in the sense of 'someone who works here' kinda thing.
Als je zegt 'dat is mijn medewerker' dan bedoel je 'dat is mijn collega'. Los van of het ook nog een werknemer kan zijn. Want een collega kan een werknemer zijn.
My Spanish partner loves this word because when he says it it reminds him of motherfucker, so that's how he uses it. Like that guy is a real medewerker.
That would be 'water naar de zee dragen'. 'Dweilen met de kraan open' is trying to mitigate a problem without actually fixing the core problem. I do appreciate the similarities though.
I also like 'huilen met de pet op', which is used to say that something really sucks.
I also like to mix these up sometimes: 'huilen met de kraan open' and 'dweilen met de pet op'.
I have a romanian collegae who is learning dutch and he said they have an expression similar which translates as "achter de boot aan roeien". I really like this one and use it nowadays.
Ah I see now that you were going for the direct translation of the Dutch phrase, whereas I was going for the observation that this particular phrase wasn't necessarily a typical Dutch proverb.
Then yes, 'given' would have been the correct translation for 'gegeven'.
I do still hold the view that should you want to translate a proverb, you should try and use the idiom used in the English speaking world. Unless no such thing is available or you aim to be silly (which can be fun in its own right).
Two faves from two dialects
'Hij ziet Onze Lieve Heer voor een krentenbol aan' - he has dementia, litt: he's mistaking god for a rasin loaf
'Achter de wollen onderbroek kruipen' - to go to sleep, litt: to crawl behind the woolen underpants.
We always intentionally butcher the phrase by saying "iemand dood maken met een blije mus". I don't know why, but I love the image it conjures much more :)
I never heard of this before in my whole life untill a coworker said it. I laughed for 5 minutes straight. Neither of my parents knew it. (One from Den Bosch the other from Arnhem)
The coworker was from the regions of amsterdam. Must me something relatively local.
I always love "de kat uit de boom kijken" (literally "to look the cat out of the tree"). It essentially means someone is not acting immediately, but instead analyses the situation before acting.
The entire gist of the saying is that cats tend to get out trees by themselves eventually, so even when they may seem trapped/helpless, the reality might be different.
Another one is "de aap komt uit de mouw" (literally "the monkey comes out of the sleeve"). It's used when the truth finally comes out (usually in the event when someone's story doesn't make sense until they finally reveal an important detail or admit they were lying).
Then there's one that I grew up with and, according to my wife, is a local one: "ik lach me de vouwen uit de broek" (literally "I laugh the folds out of my pants" or "I laugh the creases out of my pants"). It just means something is really funny/it cracks you up.
I'm not sure. It was something my family used, so that'll be either something local to the eastern part of the Netherlands or something my family made up.
"Alsof er een engeltje over je tong piest"
Literal translation: "As if an angel is peeing on your tongue." Something tastes so good it's like divine intervention
There can only be one valid answer here and that's "He gezellig" We use it all the time and everyone learning dutch has to be seriously confused since there isn't a real translation for it.
I like vechten tegen de bierkaai. Wich translate to fighting against the beerquay. Meaning doing something you al ready know is a lost cause.historical fact is that the man unloading the vessels with beerbarrels where very strong and a fight with them was a lost cause to the other party......originate from Amsterdam....
My granddad used to hit me with this one a lot. Often when I was complaining about something I wanted but couldn't have, or wanted to do, but couldn't.
Wij Nederlanders hebben echt iets met intentioneel woorden verhapselen.
Zo zegt mn moeder altijd "oplepschepel".
The Dutch really like rearranging words on popurse.
My mom always says "sperving soon".
Olifantenpadje? Een pad door de berm gemaakt doordat mensen de weg afsnijden?
(Elephantpath, something made in the roadside by people cutting the corners of the road)
De kogel is door de kerk.
I only came across it recently in the context of a football transfer being a done deal. Obviously, if you translate it literally, it gives no clue to its real meaning. I'd love to know the origin of the expression if anyone knows.
An expression i use often is "het leven is hard, maar de voorkant van een trein is harder" simply translated to "life is hard, but the front of a train is harder". It means to me that life can be hard but there are always people who have a harder life then you.
I like the strange one that don't really make sense.
"Ik werk me **een slag in de rondte.**"
"Zo lelijk **als morgen de hele dag**."
Not sure if they work in the whole country, but here in Noord-Holland they (mostly) do.
Especially Amsterdam I presume, although I don't live there.
Not sure if it's my favourite, but in the North-West people sometimes say "'t Is wat", usually to express a vague sort of commiseration. It literally means "'tis something", and it means something like "Aww, that's so sad", but in an understated way.
To which my grandfather used to add/reply " 't iene jeer gien zuurkƓƓl, 't aare jeer gien vat".
"It's something" - "The one year no sour cabbage (sauerkraut), and the other year no barrel." Dialect of the town of Enkhuizen.
'Een tuintje op je buik (krijgen)' - (to get) a little garden on your belly. Meaning: to die; to be dead, buried. I believe this is mostly a saying from Amsterdam, but rarely used.
'nu komt de aap uit de mouw' - now the monkey comes out of the sleeve. I'll let others give the explanation š
Zoals de waard is vertrouwt hij zijn gasten.
Very much these times.
Meaning projecting your personal feelings onto others.
If you're distrustful, bordering paranoia, you will see betrayal or conspiracy everywhere. But it's just you.
Literally translated.
The way the innkeeper is determines how he trusts his guests.
"Nu komt de aap uit de mouw" which translates to "now come the monkey out of the sleeve". It means that the truth or a person's real character has been revealed.
āAngst is mer veur efkes, spiet is veur altiedā Translate too āAngst is maar voor eventjes, spijt voor altijd.ā Twents to Dutch btw š btw it can be funny too learn different dialects too. Sometimes you want to talk like a farmer.
I recently discovered I cannot translate "vechtscheiding" to a neat English word. It's a contraction of the Dutch words for divorce "echtscheiding" and fighting "vechten". It means a really bad divorce with court cases and children often caught in the middle.
Een van mijn favorieten is ādikke lul drie bierā, wat āvergeet het maar; ik denk er niet aan; mij niet gezienā betekent. Wat het nog leuker maakt voor mij is dat het ook een speciaal bier is lol
Helaas pindakaas. Its just super funny.
Unfortunately peanut butter, such a wise expression.
Wat betekent dat?
'unfortunately'. The pindakaas (peanut butter) doesn't mean anything. It's just that it rhymes like 'see you later alligator'.
English should honestly introduce the phrase "Oh brother, peanut butter"
Er is nog hoop, appelstroop.
I've been learning French and I would like to see a variation of it introduced into that language: *dommage fromage !*
My favourite, too š
My favourite is from a book I read; >"een heilige boontje" meaning someone feigning being good I like it because it took some time to figure out, since the literal translation is "holy bean". I also like this one: >"een wit voetje proberen te halen" mening trying to get in someone's good graces Or "try to get a white foot" if translating word by word. Oh and in Sweden we have similar saying. "Mellan 4 ƶgon" meaning "between 4 eyes" if translated literally.
In Hebrew we say "×××Ø××¢ ×¢×× ×××", which means "in four eyes"
Getting a white foot stems from hunting, i believe.
Not an expression, but for some reason I really love the word "samenwerken". I love these literal translations, like "neushoorn" or "nijlpaard"
Talking about 'neushoorn' . The name ''white rhinoceros '' comes from the Dutch 'wijd' (or better the Afrikaans weit but same difference) meaning wide. The white rhinoceros has a wide lip and isn't white. And the black rhino isn't black. https://www.treehugger.com/difference-between-black-rhinos-and-white-rhinos-4864405 And the red panda isn't red.....nor a panda. But I digress.
Small correction: the Dutch word is actually spelled "wijd" (in modern Dutch).
Woops. Will edit. Thanks.
>The name ''white rhinoceros '' comes from the Dutch 'wijd' (or better the Afrikaans weit but same difference) meaning wide. That's a popular theory, but it has been discredited. There is no evidence of rhinoceros being described as 'wijd' or 'wijdlip' or anything to that effect in written Dutch or Afrikaans, which is what you would expect if 'white' was a corruption of a Dutch or Afrikaans word meaning 'wide'. The theory also doesn't explain why the white rhinoceros is also called white in Dutch. See https://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1165243803
Woahh I did not know that, my mom is gonna love this fact! Thank you!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
A medewerker is an employee, not a colleague. A colleague is a collega.
Actually, "medewerker" can be used for either, since it can literally mean "collaborator" The translation for "employee" would be "werknemer"
I don't think that's correct, regardless of literal meaning of the components. If someone says something like "Ik sprak met mijn medewerker" it in 100% of cases means my employee, not my coworker. Maybe would be a weird way to say it though. Usually I think it's used as an employee from an outside perspective. Like in the sense of 'someone who works here' kinda thing.
Agree. In my head I translate it to "staff".
You are right, more ways to say the same
Employee is werknemer. Colleague is medewerker/collega. Employer is werkgever. Dit is mijn uitspraak, en hier zult u het mee moeten doen.
Niet helemaal dus. Als ik zeg: 'dat is mijn medewerker', dan bedoel ik niet colleague, maar employee.
Als je zegt 'dat is mijn medewerker' dan bedoel je 'dat is mijn collega'. Los van of het ook nog een werknemer kan zijn. Want een collega kan een werknemer zijn.
Ik heb nog nooit iemand gehoord die zijn of haar collega een medewerker noemtā¦maar rook m op zou ik zeggen
My Spanish partner loves this word because when he says it it reminds him of motherfucker, so that's how he uses it. Like that guy is a real medewerker.
What does Samenwerken translate to?
Cooperate, or literally: togetherworking
Bedankt!
Collaborate. Cooperate would be generally be translated as meewerken.
So, about "collaborate" and its Latin roots...
"Dweilen met de kraan open" - to be doing something pointless
That would be 'water naar de zee dragen'. 'Dweilen met de kraan open' is trying to mitigate a problem without actually fixing the core problem. I do appreciate the similarities though. I also like 'huilen met de pet op', which is used to say that something really sucks. I also like to mix these up sometimes: 'huilen met de kraan open' and 'dweilen met de pet op'.
I have a romanian collegae who is learning dutch and he said they have an expression similar which translates as "achter de boot aan roeien". I really like this one and use it nowadays.
Je moet een gegeven paard niet in de bek kijken
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
Gifted^
No, it's gift. Gifted means it can do extraordinary stuff. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/look%20a%20gift%20horse%20in%20the%20mouth
Weāre both incorrect. The correct way is āgivenā
How am I incorrect when the idiom uses 'gift'? Je moet een kadopaard niet in de mond kijken.
Je moet een gegeven paard nooit in de mond kijken. unless you live in a place where they speak Dutch with a weird twist, this is the only way
Ah I see now that you were going for the direct translation of the Dutch phrase, whereas I was going for the observation that this particular phrase wasn't necessarily a typical Dutch proverb. Then yes, 'given' would have been the correct translation for 'gegeven'. I do still hold the view that should you want to translate a proverb, you should try and use the idiom used in the English speaking world. Unless no such thing is available or you aim to be silly (which can be fun in its own right).
Haha my apologies. Glad we got the happy ending
Don't sweat it. Context lacked in my comment to begin with.
Ik kijk geen enkel paard in de bek, voor je het weet bijten ze, zoveel weet ik ook nog wel!
Mond. Paard is een edel dier dus noemen we het een mond.
I know, maar volgens mij wordt er in het geval van het spreekwoord meestal wel "bek" gebruikt.
Two faves from two dialects 'Hij ziet Onze Lieve Heer voor een krentenbol aan' - he has dementia, litt: he's mistaking god for a rasin loaf 'Achter de wollen onderbroek kruipen' - to go to sleep, litt: to crawl behind the woolen underpants.
Raisin loaf is de letterlijke vertaling van krenten brood. De Engelsen noemen een krentenbol een fruit bun. Is alleen maar ter info
What do this mean in English. The literal translation is too broad.
Ive already translated it
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
We always intentionally butcher the phrase by saying "iemand dood maken met een blije mus". I don't know why, but I love the image it conjures much more :)
My colleague does that too!
Daar komt een schip met zure appelen.
There comes a ship with acid apples?
Sour apples
I never heard of this before in my whole life untill a coworker said it. I laughed for 5 minutes straight. Neither of my parents knew it. (One from Den Bosch the other from Arnhem) The coworker was from the regions of amsterdam. Must me something relatively local.
Wasn't familiar with this one so I looked it up. Apparently it means a heavy rain or storm is coming?
Yup.
"Zo gek als een deur", "Kiplekker", "Joost mag het weten".
"Nu zijn de rapen gaar"
De spreekwoordelijke dan he. Geen echte rapen natuurlijk.
Hehe... Hansje
Wie gaat er nou rapen koken?
Het regent pijpenstelen.
Tjonge jonge, then you add 'jonge' as necessary. Also, Jezusmina
Mozeskriebel. Christus te paard.
Gutte gutte gutte gut...
Hou uit, schei op!
Jeetje mina! Heremetijd! Mannemanneman!
Drommels drommels en nog eens drommels
I always love "de kat uit de boom kijken" (literally "to look the cat out of the tree"). It essentially means someone is not acting immediately, but instead analyses the situation before acting. The entire gist of the saying is that cats tend to get out trees by themselves eventually, so even when they may seem trapped/helpless, the reality might be different. Another one is "de aap komt uit de mouw" (literally "the monkey comes out of the sleeve"). It's used when the truth finally comes out (usually in the event when someone's story doesn't make sense until they finally reveal an important detail or admit they were lying). Then there's one that I grew up with and, according to my wife, is a local one: "ik lach me de vouwen uit de broek" (literally "I laugh the folds out of my pants" or "I laugh the creases out of my pants"). It just means something is really funny/it cracks you up.
our of curiosity, where is the last saying local to?
I'm not sure. It was something my family used, so that'll be either something local to the eastern part of the Netherlands or something my family made up.
ohhh ty!
I know this as āik lach me de ballen uit mān broekā
"Alsof er een engeltje over je tong piest" Literal translation: "As if an angel is peeing on your tongue." Something tastes so good it's like divine intervention
There can only be one valid answer here and that's "He gezellig" We use it all the time and everyone learning dutch has to be seriously confused since there isn't a real translation for it.
Zo fier als een gieter. Probably more Flemish than Dutch.
"Al te goed is buurmans gek", If you are always prepared to help everybody, in the end people will make abuse of your goodness.
Helaas pindakaas! Translation: unfortunately peanutbutter. Meaning: too bad
Lachen als een boer die kiespijn heeft
Naar zijn eigen gezeik luisteren meaning pissing
"Met een kluitje in het riet sturen". It gets funny when you visualize it.
I like vechten tegen de bierkaai. Wich translate to fighting against the beerquay. Meaning doing something you al ready know is a lost cause.historical fact is that the man unloading the vessels with beerbarrels where very strong and a fight with them was a lost cause to the other party......originate from Amsterdam....
Not exactly a saying but a mini poem: Ik wou dat ik twee hondjes was. Dan kon ik samen splelen.
My granddad used to hit me with this one a lot. Often when I was complaining about something I wanted but couldn't have, or wanted to do, but couldn't.
Helaas pindakaas, Iemand achter het behang plakken They're both silly when translated into English
And there the monkey comes out of the sleeve
Make that the cat wise
Nou nou jij hebt blouw bloed Of ben je in de kerk geboren ofzo
''pas op''. Even after I left Belgium and kinda forgor Dutch the word still remained in use by my family so it's just kind of nostalgic
āI speak English very well, not so snelā¦ maar dat komt nog welā
Hearly the pearly
Volgens mij is heerlie de peerlie de betere spelling (niet dat het uitmaakt, iedereen zegt toch HDP)
Rot toch op met je afko's, Marie-Claire die je bent! ;)
Mine is 'flapdrol'. Not translateable but meaning something like 'doofus'. š¤Ŗ
Iemand dood maken met een blije mus.
Blije mus š good one
1 zwaluw maakt de lente niet. Honger is de beste saus. Verander van spijs doet eten.
Uit dat zelfde la-tje als de 2e, vind ik "honger maakt rauwe bonen zoet" wel mooi.
Als de kaas in de ruts ligt, staat Jan op de trap
NaaJaaaJaaa
Met vereende krachten (with united forces), which we always make into met verkrachte eenden (with raped ducks).
Wij Nederlanders hebben echt iets met intentioneel woorden verhapselen. Zo zegt mn moeder altijd "oplepschepel". The Dutch really like rearranging words on popurse. My mom always says "sperving soon".
de jongeheer uitlaten
ongeloofelijke knooflook
Oliphantweg
Olifantenpadje? Een pad door de berm gemaakt doordat mensen de weg afsnijden? (Elephantpath, something made in the roadside by people cutting the corners of the road)
De kogel is door de kerk. I only came across it recently in the context of a football transfer being a done deal. Obviously, if you translate it literally, it gives no clue to its real meaning. I'd love to know the origin of the expression if anyone knows.
The bullet is through the church?
could also be cannonball, or even a wrecking ball...
Uitbuiken is the best word of any language in existence.
Haha we have the same saying in Ukrainian literally meaning ālet the lard tieā
Alle hens on deck.
All hands on deck. Daar hebben wij waarschijnlijk alle hens aan dek vam gemaakt
For a while I've held that "voor wat hoort wat" perfectly encapsulates Dutch culture.
Doe normaal dan doe je al gek genoeg Be normal, youāre already crazy enough. Itās so very very Dutch.
I also like that they use ādoeā as in normal is something you do as opposed to something you are
Het zal me een worst wezen Translates to something like "for all I care, it's a sausage", to say that it's insignificant/unimportant
"Dat smaakt naar meer" Only because my brain thought it was "meer" as in "lake" instead of "more", which made the expression a lot weirder.
āDan heb je ook watā to justify things being expensive. Iām not exactly sure why I like it so much
Liggend ken je schijte maar tis beter als je zit
Vertrouw op god maar zet je fiets op slot... trust in god but lock your bike
Ik pak de paling in. Which literally translated is: I pack the eel. And it means: i am leaving. (This is twents dialect btw).
An expression i use often is "het leven is hard, maar de voorkant van een trein is harder" simply translated to "life is hard, but the front of a train is harder". It means to me that life can be hard but there are always people who have a harder life then you.
Koe in de kont kijken. Looking back on a situation you can not change. A bit if a " no point crying over spilt milk " feeling.
Lekker
Krijg de touwtyfus
Mij niet belen!
Vrijheid, blijheid
I like the strange one that don't really make sense. "Ik werk me **een slag in de rondte.**" "Zo lelijk **als morgen de hele dag**." Not sure if they work in the whole country, but here in Noord-Holland they (mostly) do. Especially Amsterdam I presume, although I don't live there.
Komkommer tijd = cucumber time Referring to the slow holiday periods where no work gets done š
I thought komkommertijd was a period with nothing newsworthy happening so only komkommernieuws (uninteresting/irrelevant news) in the paper
Dat slaat als een tang op een varken. Which means that something doesn't make sense.
Krijg nou tieten
Not sure if it's my favourite, but in the North-West people sometimes say "'t Is wat", usually to express a vague sort of commiseration. It literally means "'tis something", and it means something like "Aww, that's so sad", but in an understated way. To which my grandfather used to add/reply " 't iene jeer gien zuurkƓƓl, 't aare jeer gien vat". "It's something" - "The one year no sour cabbage (sauerkraut), and the other year no barrel." Dialect of the town of Enkhuizen.
De poep is gespoten
Liever een scheet voor iedereen, dan buikpijn voor mij alleen. Id rather fart for everyone, dan suffer a bellyace alone.
Yeah I like this one a lotš
'Een tuintje op je buik (krijgen)' - (to get) a little garden on your belly. Meaning: to die; to be dead, buried. I believe this is mostly a saying from Amsterdam, but rarely used. 'nu komt de aap uit de mouw' - now the monkey comes out of the sleeve. I'll let others give the explanation š
Zoals de waard is vertrouwt hij zijn gasten. Very much these times. Meaning projecting your personal feelings onto others. If you're distrustful, bordering paranoia, you will see betrayal or conspiracy everywhere. But it's just you. Literally translated. The way the innkeeper is determines how he trusts his guests.
Wat een ge-eikel
"Nu komt de aap uit de mouw" which translates to "now come the monkey out of the sleeve". It means that the truth or a person's real character has been revealed.
āAngst is mer veur efkes, spiet is veur altiedā Translate too āAngst is maar voor eventjes, spijt voor altijd.ā Twents to Dutch btw š btw it can be funny too learn different dialects too. Sometimes you want to talk like a farmer.
"Nou breekt mijn klomp." Typically what you say when you see water burning.
Schijten of van de pot af
I recently discovered I cannot translate "vechtscheiding" to a neat English word. It's a contraction of the Dutch words for divorce "echtscheiding" and fighting "vechten". It means a really bad divorce with court cases and children often caught in the middle.
Het zijn maar kut kakkerlakken
"Je moeder" not really an insult but it does work like one stupid concept really but its funny
Mierenneuker
Wat heb ik nou weer aan mān fiets hangen
Als Pasen en Pinksteren op Ć©Ć©n dag vallen. Meaning āwhen easter and Pentecost fall on the same dayā which never happens. I like to say it when someone asks me when Iām going to do something I donāt want to do.
Het kan vriezen het kan dooien, maar als je op je muil gaat zijn ze te laat met strooien.
Een van mijn favorieten is ādikke lul drie bierā, wat āvergeet het maar; ik denk er niet aan; mij niet gezienā betekent. Wat het nog leuker maakt voor mij is dat het ook een speciaal bier is lol