{"id":4009,"date":"2016-02-29T15:58:14","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T15:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=4009"},"modified":"2016-02-29T15:58:14","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T15:58:14","slug":"het-schrikkeljaar-3-questions-answered-about-the-dutch-leap-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/het-schrikkeljaar-3-questions-answered-about-the-dutch-leap-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Het Schrikkeljaar &#8211; 3 Questions Answered About The Dutch Leap Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every four years &#8211; except century years, unless they are divisible by 400 &#8211; we have a\u00a0<em>schrikkeljaar<\/em> (leap year). 2016\u00a0<em>is\u00a0<\/em>one! Today, it is one of the rare\u00a0<em>schrikkeldagen\u00a0<\/em>(leap days), and this has implications of course! Also in the Netherlands&#8230;<\/p>\n<h3>1.\u00a0<em>Waarom houden we schrikkeljaren? <\/em>(Why do we have leap years?)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Waarom hebben we een schrikkeljaar?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6A-18Ij6wcQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I think this video explains perfectly why we have\u00a0<em>schrikkeljaren!<\/em>\u00a0And of course, in Dutch.<em>\u00a0<\/em>See below the transcript of the video and a translation. If he talks too fast for you to understand, you can try to click on the gear in the video, go to speed, and set it to 0.5. It might also be too slow then. Or you can\u00a0watch it multiple times, of course!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Moeder Aarde heeft een belangrijke baan: een baan om de zon. Zo&#8217;n rondje zon duurt driehonderdvijfenzestig (365) dagen, vijf (5) uren, achtenveertig (48) minuten en vijfenveertig komma \u00e9\u00e9n acht \u00e9\u00e9n vier (45,1814) seconden. Dat betekent dat als wij op eenendertig (31) december om middernacht het nieuwe jaar vieren, de Aarde nog niet helemaal rond is. Die moet nog bijna zes (6) uur. En dat kunnen wij niet hebben, want dan kan de champagne pas ploppen om elf (11) voor\u00a0zes (6). Tegen die tijd ligt iedereen al te slapen. We laten die uurtjes lekker zitten, maar hierdoor loopt na vier (4) jaar onze tijd al bijna een dag voor op de zon. En wat doen we dan? We voegen een extra dag in, zodat de zon tijd heeft om ons een beetje in te halen. Deze schrikkeldag werd in vijfenveertig (45) voor Christus (v. Chr.) ingevoerd door Julius Caesar. Die plakte hem vast aan de laatste en kortste maand van het Romeinse jaar: Februari. Een eind aan het geharrewar? Wel Caesar, maar! Maar met elke vier (4) jaar een schrikkeldag, lopen we nog niet helemaal op schema. Daarom zijn eeuwjaren geen schrikkeljaren. Tenzij ze deelbaar zijn door vierhonderd (400), natuurlijk. En dan nog is ons jaar gemiddeld iets te lang. Dus als je met oud en nieuw de kurken precies zevenentwintig (27) seconden voor middernacht laat knallen, dan ben je eigenlijk heel astronomisch bezig.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">TRANSLATION<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mother Earth has an important orbit: the orbit around the son. Such a little lap takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45.1814 seconds. That means that when we celebrate New Year&#8217;s Eve on the 31st of December at midnight, the Earth is not completely done\u00a0yet. She still has almost 6 hours to go. And we cannot have that, because then the champagne can only pop at 11 to 6 (5:49 a.m.). By that time everybody is already sleeping. We just let those hours be, but because of this, our time is already almost one day ahead of the sun after four years. And what do we do then? We add in an extra day, so the sun has time to catch up with us a bit. This leap day was introduced in 45 Before Christ (BC) by Julius Caesar. He pasted a day to the last and shortest month of the Roman year: February. An end to the squabbling? Well, for sure! (<em>Wel Caesar, maar!\u00a0<\/em>is a pun for\u00a0<em>Wel zeker, maar!<\/em>, which is how I translated it). But with one leap day every four years, we are still not entirely on schedule. That&#8217;s why century years are no leap years. Unless they are divisible by 400, of course. And even then, our year is on average a bit too long. So if you let the corks pop exactly 27 seconds before midnight on New Year&#8217;s Eve, you are actually quite the astronomer. (literally: astronomisch<em> bezig zijn\u00a0<\/em>&#8211; to be engaged in\u00a0astronomy).<\/p>\n<h3>2.\u00a0<em>Waar\u00a0komt de naam &#8220;schrikkeljaar&#8221; vandaan?\u00a0<\/em>(Where does the name &#8220;<em>schrikkeljaar<\/em>&#8221; come from?)<\/h3>\n<div style=\"width: 545px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/a9SK17\" aria-label=\"6007643138 9782d782bc B\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\"  alt=\"\" width=\"535\" height=\"401\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/7\/6024\/6007643138_9782d782bc_b.jpg\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scricken in Amsterdam! (Image by Jerrick Perone at Flickr.com under license CC BY SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Schrikken\u00a0<\/em>is not anymore a used Dutch word, but\u00a0<em>schrikkeljaar\u00a0<\/em>remains. The word is <em>Middelnederlands\u00a0<\/em>(Middle Dutch), a precursor to the current Dutch language, spoken in the late Middle Ages in the Netherlands. S<em>cricken\u00a0<\/em>means\u00a0to jump\u00a0or walk\u00a0with large steps. Like the English translation of\u00a0<em>schrikkeljaar<\/em>, leap year, there is a notion of jumping. But jumping what exactly? Well, the purpose of the leap day is to\u00a0leap back a bit, as the video above explains, to be in line again with the earth in its orbit around the sun. I think that could make sense.<\/p>\n<p>However, back in the Middle Ages, people were not so much concerned with Earth&#8217;s orbit &#8211; they didn&#8217;t even know about it. Instead, they were concerned with their Christian religion and the Christian holidays. Because of this extra day, many holidays also jumped one day forward! And so this is where the\u00a0name\u00a0<em>schrikkeljaar\u00a0<\/em>comes from.<\/p>\n<h3>3.\u00a0<em>Is er iets speciaals aan een schrikkeldag?\u00a0<\/em>(Is there anything special about a leap day?)<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1452457807411-4979b707c5be?ixlib=rb-0.3.5&amp;q=80&amp;fm=jpg&amp;crop=entropy&amp;w=1080&amp;fit=max&amp;s=7a92227792ffdd453a658361bd2b4c2c\" aria-label=\"Photo 1452457807411 4979b707c5be\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\"  alt=\"\" width=\"535\" height=\"357\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1452457807411-4979b707c5be?ixlib=rb-0.3.5&amp;q=80&amp;fm=jpg&amp;crop=entropy&amp;w=1080&amp;fit=max&amp;s=7a92227792ffdd453a658361bd2b4c2c\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There sure is! First of all, February 29 is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rarediseaseday.org\/\">International Rare Disease Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Second of all, and more locally, it is said to be the day where girls ask the boys out, and not the other way around. There is even an old rhyme\u00a0about it:<\/p>\n<p><em>Heeft februari negenentwintig dagen, dan mogen de meisjes de jongens vragen<\/em> (Has February twenty-nine days, then the girls may ask the boys).<\/p>\n<p>This has been extended even to marriage proposals! On this day, it is not the man that asks his girlfriend to marry, but the other way around!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is there anything special about leap days in your country? Let me know in the comments!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/02\/6007643138_9782d782bc_b-350x263.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/02\/6007643138_9782d782bc_b-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/02\/6007643138_9782d782bc_b-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/02\/6007643138_9782d782bc_b.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Every four years &#8211; except century years, unless they are divisible by 400 &#8211; we have a\u00a0schrikkeljaar (leap year). 2016\u00a0is\u00a0one! Today, it is one of the rare\u00a0schrikkeldagen\u00a0(leap days), and this has implications of course! Also in the Netherlands&#8230; 1.\u00a0Waarom houden we schrikkeljaren? (Why do we have leap years?) I think this video explains perfectly why&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/het-schrikkeljaar-3-questions-answered-about-the-dutch-leap-year\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":4439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[60713,3590],"tags":[358682,406628,406623,200746,111894,207256,406621,406627,406622],"class_list":["post-4009","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-2","category-dutch-language","tag-dutch-culture","tag-every-4-years","tag-leap","tag-leap-day","tag-leap-year","tag-schaltjahr","tag-schrikkelen","tag-schrikkeljaar","tag-schrikken"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009","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\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4011,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009\/revisions\/4011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}