Archive by Author
An Unusual Dutch Easter Tradition: Matzes Posted by Sten on Apr 21, 2019
It is Pasen (Easter)! On Easter Sunday, the Dutch have a few traditions they follow, and one that I am highlighting today are a very popular food item: matzes! Why Do The Dutch Eat Unleavened Flat Bread during Easter? During the Paasontbijt (Easter breakfast), which is usually quite extensive, the Dutch eat these flat crackers a lot…
Dutch Resistance in World War II – Part 1: De Slag bij Mill Posted by Sten on Apr 15, 2019
In anticipation of the dodenherdenking and the celebration of the bevrijding of the Netherlands from the German occupation during World War II on May 4 and 5 and the fact that 2019 marks 80 years since the start of World War II in 1939, I am writing a series on how the Dutch got sucked into the war…
Big Surprises In The Dutch Provinciale Statenverkiezingen Posted by Sten on Mar 25, 2019
Last Wednesday, thousands of stemgerechtigden (voters) flocked to the hundreds of stemlokalen (polling stations) all over the country to cast their stem (vote). Or, perhaps, the plural stemmen is more apt, as the Dutch actually had two verkiezingen (elections)! One vote for the waterschapsverkiezingen (water board elections) and the other for the Provinciale Statenverkiezingen (Provincial States elections). Today, the official results will…
Curious Words in Dutch 3: IJsberen Posted by Sten on Mar 18, 2019
There are many strange words in a language. Words that are just not used much, words that are pronounced in a weird way… Just words that have something curious about them! And those are the ones we look at in this series. Today, we look at ijsberen. Previous posts in this series: Curious Words In…
Real Madrid vs. Ajax Amsterdam: 1-4 – how did they do it? Posted by Sten on Mar 9, 2019
A voetbalwedstrijd (soccer match) unlike any wedstrijd ever before. It happened last Tuesday on March 5. Ajax, a strong club in the Netherlands, but not the most prestigious in international circles, beat the world-class team of Real Madrid. And not by a little bit: 1 to 4! Wat een Wedstrijd! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPCZqh51VHg In the Champions League, there is…
‘s Woensdags – How does the Dutch genitive work? Posted by Sten on Feb 25, 2019
How do you say “On Wednesdays, we go shopping in Amsterdam” in Dutch? The answer may not be as straightforward as you’d think. And that is what this post is about! Genitief ‘s Woensdags winkelen we in Amsterdam. What stands out in the sentence above? Perhaps the apostrophe and lowercase s at the BEGINNING of a sentence. Woensdags…
Untranslatable Dutch Words: Potloodventer Posted by Sten on Feb 23, 2019
Another untranslatable word for you today – de potloodventer. Potloodventers are exhibitionists, flashers. Yet the word potloodventer is a bit more specific… Let’s figure it out! Click here for more untranslatable words The meaning and equivalents The word potloodventer literally means “pencil dude”. The closest equivalent would be “flasher”. Though due to the nature of the Dutch word, it always refers to…