Archive for 'Dutch Vocabulary'
Dutch President Rutte Is In Trouble Again Posted by Sten on Jan 14, 2019
Like with the discussion about zwarte pieten (Black Petes), the Dutch have a discussion about the need and safety of vuurwerk (fireworks) at the end of every year. A problem that most people agree on, however, is that hulpverleners (aid workers) should be left in peace to do their work during the dangerous night that carries us into the new year…
The Dutch Day of Wallowing! Posted by Karoly Molina on Jan 9, 2019
Yes, you read the title right. There is a Dutch day of wallowing or zwelgen! Read below to find out about this curious event. What is zwelgen? According to my trusted Prisma dictionary, zwelgen means the following: gulzig en veel eten en drinken; zich te buiten gaan aan, genieten van; zich helemaal overgeven aan het hebben van medelijden…
Vuurwerk: Should it be restricted? Posted by Sten on Dec 31, 2018
Oudejaarsavond (New Year’s Eve) and vuurwerk (fireworks) are inseparable in the Netherlands. No jaarwisseling (turn of the year) without the loud knallen (bangs) and bright kleuren (colors) of the vuurpijlen (rockets) and rotjes (firecrackers)! However, this vuurwerk also has a dark side. Every year, there are hundreds of accidents with these dangerous producten (products) that lead to ernstige letsels (serious injuries), from losing fingers to losing eyesight. Should, perhaps, vuurwerk be forbidden? Or is…
Van Dale Word of the Year 2018 Posted by Karoly Molina on Dec 5, 2018
The official list of the Van Dale Word of 2018 is out and open for votes, but before we go to the list, who is this van Dale? Van Dale Dictionary If you are learning Dutch, you might have heard of the wonderful dictionary by Van Dale. Van Dale is like the Webster’s and Oxford…
Untranslatable Words: Kletskoek Posted by Sten on Nov 20, 2018
Wat zeg je nou? Kletskoek! Ik heb daar niets mee te maken! You may have heard this before. Somebody is upset, and their choice of words is… kletskoek? A chatting cookie? What does that mean, how did we get here? Here is an attempt to explain it. Click here for more untranslatable words Gossip Biscuit! Nowadays, the…
Changing The Time We Live In Posted by Sten on Oct 29, 2018
A debate is going on in Europe right now that shows the importance of language very nicely. The European Union (EU) is going to abandon Daylight Savings Time. The question now is – what time will become the standard? The zomertijd (summertime) or the wintertijd (wintertime)? Welke tijd? In the segment above, Arjen Lubach in his show Zondag met Lubach…
What You MUST Know About Dutch Train Stations (pt. 2) Posted by Sten on Sep 17, 2018
Last week, we looked at everything you need to know about Dutch train stations. Since there was so much to know, I decided to break it up in two parts, to make it easier digestible. Today, we will look a bit more at tickets and the infamous OV-chipkaart. In- en uitchecken The OV-chipkaart… We need to briefly…