Archive for 'Dutch Vocabulary'
Curious Dutch Words: Kidnapping By Mistake: Vergisontvoering Posted by Sten on Sep 30, 2021
Ontvoeringen (kidnappings)! Not a fun thing, but they happen. Often with the intention of using the gijzelaar (hostage) as a negotiation chip or for blackmail. There’s a clear intention behind the act. But somehow, the Dutch found the word vergisontvoering (mistaken kidnapping). How does that work, and how is this a word? Previous posts in this series…
Local Language: The Dutch say WHAT in Rotterdam? Posted by Sten on Sep 28, 2021
The Netherlands is a small country. Everybody is tall, eats cheese and speaks Dutch. But don’t let the small country size fool you – there are quite some linguistic differences in the Netherlands that you are quite likely to encounter! In this series, we’ll take a look at typical dialects and words that you only…
Dutch Idioms 24 – Fault and Justice Posted by Sten on Sep 24, 2021
It’s Friday! How did your week go? Had a good one? Or did you spill your coffee on your way to work, having to go home and change only to arrive at work too late, and your boss telling you eigen schuld, dikke bult? It’s a thing we say in Dutch, which literally means “own fault…
How Did The GP In Zandvoort Host So Many People? Posted by Sten on Sep 10, 2021
This summer saw barely any slowdown of the coronavirus in the Netherlands. With continuously high infection rates, the summer was not a sunny time of festivals and other large events like the Dutch are normally used to. Instead, large festivals had to cancel, as the government decided that they could not be organized because of COVID…
A Sterk Verhaal: What’s Strong About This Dutch Story? Posted by Sten on Aug 30, 2021
In this post, we’ll explore the curiosity of the Dutch word sterk verhaal (“strong story”, a tall tale). What’s sterk about it? And by extension, what’s tall about the English story? Let’s explore. Skiing in Yugoslavia This weekend, I told the sterke verhaal that my dad told me many times. It’s a fun one, so why not! Back when Yugoslavia…
Curious Dutch Words: Are You The Hostage Or Hostage Taker? Posted by Sten on Aug 2, 2021
In Dutch, we have a pretty straightforward rule. If the word ends with -aar, that means that this person does whatever verb it is derived from: makelaar is a realtor (from makelen). An aarzelaar is a hesitator (from aarzelen). A handelaar is a trader (from handelen). A gijzelaar is a hostage (from gijzelen). But wait… gijzelen means to…
Going to Space at Age 18 – This Dutch Guy did it Posted by Sten on Jul 27, 2021
There’s a good chance that you heard about it: The ruimtevlucht (space flight) of Jeff Bezos and three other passagiers (passengers). One of them was 18-year old Dutchman Oliver Daemen, whose father secured him a spot in the bidding process for the ticket. At his young age, it makes him the youngest person in the ruimte ever! What did…