Archive for 'Culture'
What’s Dutch About the Dutch Act? Posted by Sten on Mar 26, 2021
Let’s revisit the “Dutch”-terms series today. There are many curious words in English that in some way refer to the Dutch. Here we find out what’s Dutch (or not) about them. We might get a little dark here – we talk about the Dutch act today. What is a Dutch act? The Dutch act, quite…
Dutch Idioms 19 – Eggs Make It Easy Posted by Sten on Mar 24, 2021
Welcome to yet another post in our series on Dutch idioms! Today, I want to take a closer look at two pretty weird ones, and they’re both related to eggs. Without further ado, here’s the first for today: the spreekwoord (saying). For other idioms in this series, click here. Dat is een eitje! Literally: That’s a…
What Do You Call A Female Dutch Surgeon? Posted by Sten on Mar 19, 2021
Languages often have three genders – male, female and neuter. And most often, the male form is the standard one. However, there are many situations in which you want the feminine form instead. Especially when you’re talking about people and their profession, hobbies and passions. So how do female endings work in Dutch, and when…
How The Dutch Elections Work Posted by Sten on Mar 15, 2021
On Wednesday, it’s time for new elections in the Netherlands! With 37 parties and hundreds of electable people, choosing a party and a person in that party can be daunting. So how do the Dutch make that choice? How does the Dutch voting system work? The Dutch have what’s called a parlementaire democratie (parliamentary democracy) with a meerpartijenstelsel…
How Women Fought For Suffrage in the Netherlands Posted by Sten on Mar 8, 2021
It’s Internationale Vrouwendag (International Women’s Day) today! With the theme #ChooseToChallenge, this year’s Day emphasizes individual thinking and actions. And so I want to look at women’s suffrage in the Netherlands in this post, with at the helm Aletta Jacobs, one of the most famous political figures in the country. However, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine……
3 Ways The Dutch State Is Becoming More Inclusive Posted by Sten on Feb 25, 2021
Let’s talk about inclusivity. Not only regarding genders, and I don’t mean the discussion on what’s de and what’s het, we’ve done that before. No, today I want to talk about how the 2017 regeerakkoord (coalition agreement) noted the intention of the Dutch government to reduce the identification of gender where possible and making the state more inclusive, by…
What Dutch Drinking Games Were Like In The 17th Century Posted by Sten on Feb 22, 2021
The Dutch have quite an intricate relationship with alcohol. From the infamous Dutch courage to the nationwide Dutch celebrations like Koningsdag (King’s Day) or the bevrijdingsfestivals (Liberation Festivals), the Dutch enjoy a glass or two. And what’s better than enjoying drinks doing a drankspelletje (drinking game)? You might think that this is a rather recent mindset – but…