{"id":2612,"date":"2014-05-28T22:54:43","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T22:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=2612"},"modified":"2014-05-28T22:54:43","modified_gmt":"2014-05-28T22:54:43","slug":"a-cookie-from-your-own-dough-and-other-dutch-idioms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/a-cookie-from-your-own-dough-and-other-dutch-idioms\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cookie From Your Own Dough and Other Dutch Idioms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"3922742304_37f1e34c28_z\"<\/a>What would a language be without its own unique sayings? In English, for instance, we color our communication with a number of clich\u00e9s. How often have you heard someone talk about it being just the way the cookie crumbles or wax poetic about home, sweet home?<\/p>\n

Turns out, the Dutch also love their expressions. But as I quickly found out when I told a Dutch acquaintance there was nothing like \u201cthuis, lieve thuis,\u201d these expressions don\u2019t always translate literally.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the uitdrukkingen<\/em> you may encounter as you continue your Dutch language development:<\/p>\n

\u201cin \u2018t huwelijksbootje stappen\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nTranslation:<\/span> stepping into the wedding boat
\nMeaning:<\/span> taking the plunge
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> tying the knot<\/p>\n

\u201ceen koekje van je eigen deeg\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
\nTranslation:<\/span> a cookie from your own dough
\nMeaning:<\/span> when what you usually do to others is done to you
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> a taste of your own medicine<\/p>\n

\u201ciets onder de knie hebben\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nTranslation:<\/span> have something under your knee
\nMeaning:<\/span> having mastered something
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> have something under your belt<\/p>\n

\u201ceen gegeven paard niet in de bek kijken\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nTranslation:<\/span> don\u2019t look a gift horse in the mouth
\nMeaning:<\/span> never question a gift
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> beggars can\u2019t be choosers (the literal translation also works)<\/p>\n

\u201choge bomen vangen veel wind\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
\nTranslation:<\/span> tall trees catch a lot of wind
\nMeaning:<\/span> those who stand out from the crowd hear a lot of flack
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> the bigger they are, the harder they fall<\/p>\n

\u201cde appel valt niet ver van de boom\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nTranslation:<\/span> the apple doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree
\nMeaning:<\/span> Children bear a strong resemblance to their parents
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> a chip off the old block (the literal translation also works)<\/p>\n

\u201croeien met de riemen die je hebt\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
\nTranslation:<\/span> row with the oars you\u2019ve got
\nMeaning:<\/span> do what you can with what you have
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> make do with what you\u2019ve got<\/p>\n

\u201cals de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nTranslation:<\/span> when the cat is away from home, the mice dance on the table
\nMeaning:<\/span> people will behave badly when there\u2019s no one in charge
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> while the cat\u2019s away, the mice will play<\/p>\n

\u201choe komt een ezel aan twee lange oren?\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nTranslation:<\/span> why does a donkey have two long ears?
\nMeaning:<\/span> a smart-ass response to a question you don\u2019t have the answer to
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> \u201cwhy is the sky blue?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoost mag het weten\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nTranslation:<\/span> Joost knows it
\nMeaning:<\/span> no one knows or I don\u2019t know
\nEnglish equivalent:<\/span> only God knows<\/p>\n

BONUS!!!<\/p>\n

So how do you tell a Dutch person that there’s no place like home? Try one of these!<\/p>\n

“oost, west, thuis best”<\/strong><\/em>
\nTranslation:<\/span> east, west, home’s best<\/p>\n

“zoals het klokje thuis tikt, tikt het nergens”<\/strong><\/em>
\nTranslation:<\/span> nowhere else does the clock tick like it does at home<\/p>\n

Can you think of any other expressions, either in Dutch or English? Share them in the comments!<\/p>\n

Sebastiaan ter Burg<\/a>, Flick Creative Commons<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

What would a language be without its own unique sayings? In English, for instance, we color our communication with a number of clich\u00e9s. How often have you heard someone talk about it being just the way the cookie crumbles or wax poetic about home, sweet home? Turns out, the Dutch also love their expressions. But…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":2613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3590],"tags":[3623,82],"class_list":["post-2612","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dutch-language","tag-dutch-proverbs","tag-idioms"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2614,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2612\/revisions\/2614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}