{"id":6042,"date":"2019-05-20T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T08:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=6042"},"modified":"2019-10-16T19:52:15","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T19:52:15","slug":"spreekwoorden-en-uitdrukkingen-sayings-and-expressions-9-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/spreekwoorden-en-uitdrukkingen-sayings-and-expressions-9-rocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Spreekwoorden en Uitdrukkingen (Sayings and Expressions) 9 – Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

I visited the\u00a0grotten\u00a0<\/em>(caves) of Maastricht last weekend. They are entirely human-made, as the mergel\u00a0<\/em>(marl) in the Sint-<\/em>Pietersberg\u00a0<\/em>(“Saint Peter’s Mountain”) has many uses. It is used as\u00a0bouwmateriaal\u00a0<\/em>(construction material), ingredient for\u00a0cement\u00a0<\/em>(concrete),\u00a0veevoer\u00a0<\/em>(fodder),\u00a0kleurstof\u00a0<\/em>(coloring) and\u00a0kalkmeststof\u00a0<\/em>(agricultural lime). While there is no\u00a0spreekwoord\u00a0<\/em>(saying) related to mergel<\/em>, there is an\u00a0uitdrukking <\/em>(expression). I found a fitting\u00a0spreekwoord\u00a0<\/em>though!<\/p>\n

For other sayings and expressions in this series, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Een goede ziel weet van stenen brood te maken<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Image by Wesual Click at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

A good soul knows how to make bread from stones<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Making brood\u00a0<\/em>(bread) from stenen <\/em>(stones) – impossible! Stenen\u00a0<\/em>are useless –\u00a0brood\u00a0<\/em>is amazingly nutritious. The idea behind this\u00a0spreekwoord\u00a0<\/em>is that you should be happy with what you get. Even if you are given something useless, you can be happy with it, you can figure it out.<\/p>\n

The exact\u00a0herkomst\u00a0<\/em>(origin) of this\u00a0spreekwoord\u00a0<\/em>I could not find, but it appears to have a biblical herkomst<\/em>. It probably refers to a lesson to avoid being\u00a0gretig\u00a0<\/em>(greedy). The Dutch generally have a culture that is, let’s say, suspicious of\u00a0gretigheid\u00a0<\/em>(greed).<\/p>\n

Use<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have not heard this\u00a0spreekwoord\u00a0<\/em>a lot in everyday use, probably because the same message can be passed on with fewer words and in a less cryptic way. I could imagine it being used in the following way:<\/p>\n

Wat moet ik met dit ding? Het is bijna 10 jaar oud, daar kan ik niet mee werken!<\/em><\/p>\n

– Een goede ziel weet van stenen brood te maken<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(What am I supposed to do with this thing? It is almost 10 years old, I can’t work with this!
\n– A good soul knows how to make bread from stones.)<\/p>\n

It does have a rather negative connotation, as you basically tell somebody that they are being greedy or ungrateful for what they have. If you want that undertone, however, it is an excellent\u00a0spreekwoord<\/em>. On to the\u00a0uitdrukking<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Uitgemergeld zijn<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Mergel <\/i>(marl) (Image by jdegraaf at Flickr.com under license CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

To be starved<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uitgemergeld zijn\u00a0<\/em>(to be starved) is an expression that relates to a body being just skin and bone due to honger <\/em>(hunger),\u00a0ziekte\u00a0<\/em>(sickness) or uitputting <\/em>(exhaustion). It is especially related to a detrimental process that led to this condition. It is not a good state to be in, to say the least.<\/p>\n

But where does it come from, how is\u00a0mergel\u00a0<\/em>related to this? Is it at all?<\/p>\n

There are different theories, actually.<\/p>\n

The most widespread is that it is indeed related to the material mergel<\/em>. As I said in the introduction, the stuff is used as\u00a0kalkmeststof<\/em>.\u00a0Kalk\u00a0<\/em>(lime) is an important ingredient for well-fertilized soil. However, using too much\u00a0mergel\u00a0<\/em>to fertilize is going to lead to unusable soil, as it does not contain any other\u00a0voedingsstoffen\u00a0<\/em>(nutrients). This process of slowly draining the soil of nutrients it requires to be “alive” translates well to the meaning of the\u00a0uitdrukking<\/em>. So it does make sense!<\/p>\n

However, other theories emphasize the German equivalent\u00a0ausmergeln\u00a0<\/em>and how that came about. That word simply came from the Old German\u00a0merg, marg\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0Mark<\/em>, which means “power, energy”. So with\u00a0uitmergelen\u00a0<\/em>– “out-marling”, you would literally take the power out of somebody.<\/p>\n

Use<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0uitdrukking\u00a0<\/em>fits in all social settings, both formally and informally. You would not use it lightly, though – it does not just mean skinny, it really means skin and bone.<\/p>\n

Na haar chemotherapie is ze hard achteruit gegaan. Ze is helemaal uitgemergeld.<\/em><\/p>\n

(After her chemotherapy, she quickly deteriorated. She is just skin and bone now.)<\/p>\n

What do you think of these two? Have you heard them before? Do you have equivalents in your language? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

I visited the\u00a0grotten\u00a0(caves) of Maastricht last weekend. They are entirely human-made, as the mergel\u00a0(marl) in the Sint-Pietersberg\u00a0(“Saint Peter’s Mountain”) has many uses. It is used as\u00a0bouwmateriaal\u00a0(construction material), ingredient for\u00a0cement\u00a0(concrete),\u00a0veevoer\u00a0(fodder),\u00a0kleurstof\u00a0(coloring) and\u00a0kalkmeststof\u00a0(agricultural lime). While there is no\u00a0spreekwoord\u00a0(saying) related to mergel, there is an\u00a0uitdrukking (expression). I found a fitting\u00a0spreekwoord\u00a0though! For other sayings and expressions in this series, click…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":6045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3590,27711],"tags":[358422,445086],"class_list":["post-6042","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dutch-language","category-dutch-vocabulary-2","tag-sayings-expressions","tag-spreekwoorden-en-uitdrukkingen"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t