sideblog!

Here's the video I just watched, "5 mistakes that tourists always make in restaurants in Italy":

Pitäjänmäki > Pitsku

Malminkartano > Maltsu

Pukinmäki > Puksu

Myyrmäki > Myrtsi

Martinlaakso > Martsari

and then sometimes the shortened version is the Swedish translation but made sound Finnish

Kauniainen > Grankulla > Grani

Kauklahti > Köklax > Kökkeli

I found this poem online, so I thought, let’s share it with my followers xD

Men spreekt van één lot, en verschillende loten, maar ’t meervoud van pot is natuurlijk geen poten. Zo zegt men ook altijd, één vat en twee vaten, maar zult u ook zeggen: één kat en twee katen? Laatst ging ik vliegen, dus zeg ik vloog. Maar zeg nu bij wiegen beslist niet: ik woog, want woog is nog altijd afkomstig van wegen, maar is dan ‘ik voog’ een vervoeging van vegen?

Wat hoort er bij ‘zoeken’? Jazeker, ik vlocht?Welnee, beste mensen, want vlocht komt van vlechten. En toch is ik ‘hocht’ niet afkomstig van hechten. En bij lopen hoort ik liep, maar bij kopen geen kiep. En evenmin zegt men bij slopen ‘ik sliep’. Want sliep moet u weten, dat komt weer van slapen. Maar fout is natuurlijk ‘ik riep’ bij het rapen. Want riep komt van roepen. Ik hoop dat u ’t weet en dat u die kronkels beslist niet vergeet.

Dus: kwam ik u roepen, dan zeg ik ‘ik riep’. Nu denkt u: van snoepen, dat wordt dan ‘ik sniep’? Alweer mis, m’n beste. Maar u weet beslist, dat ried komt van raden, ik denk dat u ’t wist. Komt bied dan van baden? Welnee, dat wordt bood. En toch volgt na wieden beslist niet ‘ik wood’. ‘Ik gaf’ hoort bij geven, maar ‘ik laf’ niet bij leven. Dat is bijna zo dom als ‘ik waf’ hoort bij weven.

Zo zegt men: wij drinken en hebben gedronken. Maar echt niet: wij hinken en hebben gehonken. ’t Is moeilijk, maar weet u: van weten komt wist, maar hoort bij vergeten nu logisch vergist? Juist niet, zult u zeggen, dat komt van vergissen. En wat is nu goed? U moet zelf maar beslissen: Hoort bij slaan nu: ik sloeg, ik slig, of ik slond? Want bij gaan hoort: ik ging, niet ik goeg of ik gond. En noemt u een mannetjesrat nu een rater? Dat geldt toch alleen bij en kat en een kater.

U ziet, onze taal beste dames en heren, is, net als ik zei, best moeilijk te leren!

Source: https://novembris.wordpress.com/2006/11/19/de-moeilijke-nederlandse-taal/

Ah my faves, the remains of the cases! I’ve found two lists for you: one on wikipedia and one on onzetaal.nl. The last one is a very trustworthy source and I recommend you also read the explanation above the list, although it’s in Dutch (I think you have to be intermediate to understand it, but as you’re asking for these fixed expressions I assume you’re already there? If you don’t understand, feel free to send a message and I’ll translate it for you!). 

Keep in mind that not all expressions listed on these sites are used. In fact, rather few expressions are used in spoken language. In written language you’ll find more of them, but some people try to avoid them as they’re not always sure how to write them. (If you also face this problem, you can check it on onzetaal.nl or taaltelefoon.be)

Hi!

Sorry for the late reply. I found this ask difficult to answer, because somehow I can’t think of a lot of slang/colloquial language, while I’m sure I use it. Anyway,  I’m just going to list some things that came to mind. Hope you like it!

Brak zijn - to have a hangover

Dat meen je niet! - you don’t say!

Foi foi/foi toch - you say this when something is preposterous or shocking (it’s only used in certain accents tho)

Gast - dude

Hè? - either used as a question tag or when you’re baffled by something.

Ik ben genaaid/ik voel me genaaid - I’m fucked

Lekker - you can basically use this word in relation to anything. When you think something is nice, good, delicious, etc. you can answer with the word lekker.

Top/toppie - great, good

Wouden/wouwen - wilden

We also use a lot of English words/expression like: awesome, nice, cool, you gotta be kidding me, etc. 

Some related posts you might like:

Dutch in spoken language

Filler words

Question tags

Okay so a some of these are probably a bit vulgar I’ll underline those

Spouwen - to throw up

Zot - (lit. crazy), very

Kei- - very

Muilen - French kiss

We use ge/gij instead of je/jij

some parts also gulle/gullie instead of jullie

Some Dutch words don’t have an English equivalent. These are pretty cool!

IJsberen - ( literally: polarbearing). It means ’ to pace around the room in deep thought’ . It originates from captive polar bears in zoos, who often start pacing around their cage if they get too bored or depressed. A bit sad, actually. ( note that ‘de ijsberen’ is also the plural of polar bear. I am talking about the verb here.) 

Uitzieken - (literally: outsicking). Basically, it means ’ to sick it out’ : when you just let the illness run its course and you get some rest until it is over.

Uitwaaien - (literally: blowing out): going outside to stand in the wind to clear one`s thoughts.

Gezellig - (no English translation possible). It is basically a word that captures a broad variety of terms relating to fun-ness and good atmoshphere. If a house is ‘gezellig’, it is cozy and homelike, if an event is 'gezellig’, it is fun and there are probably many people there who you can have a good time with. Chatting with your friends is 'gezellig’, as well as nestling up in front of the fireplace. If someone is on their phone during dinner all the time, they are ’ not being gezellig’. Gezellig is a very nice, positive word ( though it can be used sarcastically!) that is very hard to define with one English word, which is a shame. The noun-version of ’ gezellig’ is ’ de gezelligheid’.

Natafelen - (literally: after tabling). After any meal, you remain seated at the table, having a nice chat with everybody. Normally all the plates and left-overs will still be on the table. This word does exist in Spanish: sobremesa.

Hé Hé -  This is a hearty expression of satisfaction after a job well done or a hard day, for example, removing your shoes or sitting down for the first time in hours.

Afbellen - (Literally off-calling) Modern daters might find this word useful, as the Dutch have a dedicated word for cancelling plans over the phone. Different to cancelling a subscription (afzeggen) or cancelling plans in general (afzeggen).

Oliebollen - (Literally: Oil balls).  A festive dough-based treat. These are actually just doughnuts, but in ball-form, usually with powdered sugar on top.

Because Dutch people use weird words and learners of the language should be aware of it. 

Dutch - Flemish - English Aangelijnd - aan de leiband - on a leash De afstandsbediening - het kaske - the remote control De bank - de zetel - the sofa De basisschool - de lagere school - the elementary school De bijbaan - de studentenjob - the student job  Hoor - ze - (interjection) Kamers - kot - student room De magnetron - de microgolf - the microwave De mobiel - de GSM - the mobile phone Pinnen - met de kaart betalen - to pay by card De scheikunde - de chemie - the chemistry Sneu - zielig - sad, pityful Zodadelijk, zometeen - seffens, sewwes, sebiet*- in a minute, soon

(It is my first vocab list, if you miss anything or have suggestions for other vocab lists, please contact me!)

Het jaar = the year De maand = the month De week = the week De dag = the day Het uur = the hour De minuut = the minute De seconde = the second

Hoe laat is het? = What time is it? Het is zes uur = It is six o’clock Het is half vier = It is half past three (lit. it is half four) Het is kwart over één = It is a quarter past one Het is kwart voor acht = It is a quarter to eight

Maandag = Monday Dinsdag = Tuesday Woensdag = Wednesday Donderdag = Thursday Vrijdag = Friday Zaterdag = Saturday Zondag = Sunday

Januari = January Februari = February Maart = March April = April Mei = May Juni = June Juli = July Augustus = Augustus September = September Oktober = October November = November December = December

Vandaag = Today Morgen = Tomorrow Gisteren = Yesterday Overmorgen = The day after tomorrow Vanochtend = This morning Vanmiddag = This afternoon Vanavond = Tonight

There were a lot of other things I wanted to add but I couldn’t find translations so please if you don’t see something in this list and you know the English term, let me know!

Nouns

Het breiwerk - the knitting-work De dikte - the thickness De draad; het garen - the thread De (brei)naald - the (knitting) needle Het kabelpatroon - the cable pattern De naalddikte - the size of the needle Het patroon - the pattern De rij; de priem - the string (?) De rondbreinaald - the circular knitting neelde De steek - the stitch De wol - the wool

Adjectives

Averecht - left Recht - right

Verbs

Draad in the context of knitting (the object, the yarn or the string) is de draad. Het draad only refers to a type of (metal) material. http://woordenlijst.org/#/?q=draad

Averechts is purl.

Suggestions are welcome, as always!

Nouns

De antagonist - the antagonist De auteur - the author Het boek - the book De cover; de omslag - the cover  De fictie - the fiction De flaptekst - the blurb Het genre - the genre Het hoofdpersonage - the main character Het hoofdstuk - the chapter De klassieker - the classic De leeslamp - the reading lamp De non-fictie - the non-fiction Het personage - the character De plot - the plot De protagonist - the protagonist De schrijfster - the writer (f.) De schrijver - the writer (m.) De serie - the series De titel - the title De verfilming - the screen adaptation  Het verhaal - the story De verhaallijn - the story line Het woord - the word De zin - the sentence

Adjectives

Meeslepend - thrilling, touching Waargebeurd - true story

Verbs

Essential vocabulary for every person that has periods, amiright

Nouns

Het bloed - the blood De buikpijn - the stomach ache De cyclus - the cycle De eisprong, de ovulatie - the ovulatie De hoofdpijn - the headache De kramp - the cramp Het maandverband - the pad De menstruatiecup - the menstrual cup De regels, de maandstonden - the period De stemmingswissel - the mood swing De tampon - the tampon

Expressions

Ongesteld zijn (NL), je regels hebben (BE) - to be on your period  Over tijd zijn - to be overdue Slechtgezind zijn - to be in a bad mood

Verbs

Bloeden - to bleed (Door)lekken - to leak

Adjectives

🐱Cats - katten

Maak dat de kat wijs! 

lit.: tell it the cat

Meaning: sth that’s so unbelievable, no one will believe it

De kat bij de melk zetten

lit.: to put the cat close to the milk

Meaning: to provoke

Zo vals als een kat zingen

lit.: to sing as off-key as a cat

Meaning: to sing very off-key

De kat uit de boom kijken

lit.: to watch the cat out of the tree

Meaning: waiting to see what will happen, not doing anything

De kat de bel aanbinden

lit.: to bind the bell on the cat

Meaning: to be the first to start talking about a difficult topic

Als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen.

lit.: if the cat’s away from house, the mice dance

Meaning: if the cat’s away, the mice will play; when there’s no one to watch, you can do whatever you want

Zijn kat sturen

lit.: to send one’s cat

Meaning: to not show up

Als kat en hond

lit.: as cat and dog

Meaning: they can’t stand each other

Een kat in een zak kopen

lit.: to buy a cat in a sack

Meaning: to do a bad purchase

Een vogel voor de kat zijn

lit.: to be a bird for the cat

Meaning: to be an easy prey

🐄Cows - koeien

Een waarheid als een koe

lit.: a truth as a cow

Meaning: there is no doubt this is true

Oude koeien uit de sloot halen

lit.: getting old cows out of the canal

Meaning: to start talking about things that happened a long time ago

🐶Dogs - honden

Iemand als een hond behandelen

lit.: to treat someone as a dog

Meaning: to treat someone badly

De gebeten hond zijn

lit.: to be the bitten dog

Meaning: to get all the blame

Wie bij de hond slaapt, krijgt zijn vlooien

lit.: who sleeps with the dog, gets his fleas 

Meaning: if you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas; if you are around bad people a lot, you’ll take their habits

Zo ziek als een hond

lit.: as sick as a dog

Meaning: to be very sick

Zo trouw als een hond

lit.: as loyal as a dog

Meaning: to be very loyal

Als twee honden vechten om een been, gaat de derde ermee heen

lit.: if two dogs fight for a bone, the third one will run off with it

Meaning: if two people/parties fight, a third will benefit from it

🐘Elephants - olifanten

Als een olifant in een porseleinkast/porseleinwinkel

lit.: as an elephant in a porcelain closet/porcelain shop

Meaning: to be rude, tactless

Van een mug een olifant maken

lit.: to make an elephant out of a mosquito

Meaning: to make a big deal out of nothing

Een olifantengeheugen hebben

lit.: to have an elephant’s memory

Meaning: to have a very good memory

🐎Horses - paarden

De prins op het witte paard

lit.: the prince on the white horse

Meaning: an ideal man

Honger als een paard

lit.: hunger as a horse

Meaning: to be very hungry

Je moet een gegeven paard niet in de bek kijken

lit.: you must not look into the mouth of a given horse

Meaning: don’t criticise something you’ve received

Het paard achter de wagen spannen

lit.: to put the horse behind the cart

Meaning: to do sth illogically 

These are obviously not all, there are way too much idioms and sayings to put into one post. I might make a second part if anyone would like that.

Geeft niks. = No problem.

This is a usual answer to someone’s excuses, you will often hear it if you stepped on someone’s foot or spilled coffee on someone’s table. Not to be confused with “Geeft niets”, as in “doesn’t care”.

Maakt niet uit. = Doesn’t matter.

When you are offered an alternative, but you don’t care which option to use, just casually say it. Very casual and simple say of saying “nevermind”.

Zullen we vandaag of morgen afspreken? - Maakt niet uit.

Should we agree to meet today or tomorrow? - Doesn’t matter.

Dat scheelt. = It saves, it makes a difference.

There is a common belief that Dutch adore economizing on things and actions, this is also manifested in the language. You will hear this phrase often in everyday use. 

Dat scheelt me een hoop tijd. It saves me a lot of time.

Dat scheelt me een ritje naar supermarkt. It saves me a trip to supermarket.

What I find unusual is that it is often used as a reaction. Imagine you boast about a good route home that saves you a lot of time, or a good deal for your kid’s swimming lessons, in reply as an approval you will just hear “Dat scheelt.” without saying what it saves.

Wat is er gebeurd? = What happened?

Simple question to ask when you see the consequences and want to know what led to it. It can be rhetorical and very emotional, like if you see a broken window and a company of kids with a ball nearby, or a cat near trashed flower pots. One popular Dutch rap formation group has a single with a slang version of this phrase, that equals to a question “what’s up?”. Really not a good advise to watch it, because even native speakers don’t fully understand the lyrics. 

Dit slaat nergens op. = This makes no sense.

After you’ve heard the answer to the previous question, you think that the story is not convincing enough, all the excuses (smoesjes) are just ridiculous (belachelijk), so you can use this phrase, to conclude all your feelings. “Dit” can be substituted by “dat, het”.

Dat is niet de bedoeling.. = That is not meant to..

This one is certainly a way that Dutch people express criticism. It almost equals to just saying “You shouldn’t”. If someone is being too clever to use his position in his profit, nobody in the Netherlands will be too shy to point it out.

When you learn a new language you pass all the phases that equal the stages of a baby acquiring a language. Most helpful in the earliest period is listening and imitating what you hear. Most difficult is trying to figure out where one word ends and a new word starts. However there are such words that are very easy to sign out in the speech. They are usually very brightly coloured with emotion, but independently from the context they do not express anything. 

Hoera!

Let’s start positive, it is a cry of happiness, following a positive or very happy and successful occasion. Used in a birthday song for example, multiplied by onomatopoeic reiteration, such as “hieperdepiep hoera!”

Tjongejongejonge…

This one is the funniest for me, even though it actually expresses discontent or disappointment in someone’s stupid actions. Like when you clumsily spill a glass of wine on the table. It is basically a negative wow, also often used to support sarcasm.

Bah!

Another of basic emotions, disgust, you say it when you encounter something dirty, unpleasant, stinky or just inattractive. Like dog poop on the grass in the park.

Jeetje!

This one is used as a compassionate reply to a very unpleasant, scary or difficult situation. If something is irritating and annoying like a noisy party in the garden of your neighbors: “Jeetje, wat een lawaai!” = Jesus, such a noise! “Jeetje” is indeed a diminutive derived from the word Jesus, which is also a popular interjection here. Older people often say “Jeetje mina”, a morbid version for those people who do not want to offend religion, equals saying “potverdori” instead of using “Gotverdomme”.

Huplakee, Huppetee.

An encouraging exclamation, as if you are helping a kid to tie up laces and then show with pride, look how easy it is, look how successful you are. A group of kid artists has made a song even for one of the las king’s birthdays with this title.

Helaas

This one is not so jolly, it is very recognizable through English language (Alas). It expresses pity. I used it always to distinguish a negative answer on my cover letter from a positive one. If you see Helaas when you scan a letter through, it means you are not invited for a job interview:) Though this word has a funny story to add. Kids have a simple rhyming teaser-addition to it, closing all the questions and explanations: Helaas Pindakaas.

Hatsikidee

Finishing this row of an unplanned H-letter benefice will be this funny wording, famous for the fox from a tv-programme called “fabeltjeskrant”. This is usually a remark following some unexpected or fast action, though it seems that now you can use it just anywhere you like. Such an absurdly cute exclamation it is.

I recently saw a post (sorry I don’t have your @) about what a good idea it is to keep a diary in your target language. It will help you realize what words you don’t know, you need, and want to learn! Plus it’s great practice!

So I thought I’d drop some ideas/prompts for you to try once a day, or at your own pace.

Keys

Underline words you use often, so you can later look up synonyms!

Write words you aren’t sure you’re using correctly in a different color.

Put a * next to words you’re having trouble memorizing, and put definitions of that word at the bottom of the page. 

Prompts

Introduce yourself!

Introduce your family. 

How many siblings do you have?

What are they like? (Try to use at least three adjectives!)

What do you like to do?

What are your favorite foods?

When you go to a restaurant, what do you like to order?

What year are you in school?

What subjects did you take in school?

What is your favorite season?

Why is it your favorite?

What don’t you like? 

Say something about one of your friends!  (Try to use at least three adjectives!) 

Name a memory with your friend.

What’s your favorite color/animal?

Introduce your pets!

What are they like?

Name a memory with your family!

What is your favorite thing to wear?

What is your favorite type of weather?

What is your favorite holiday?

What do you look like? 

Where do you work?

What do you do there?

What did you have for dinner last night? Who was there?

What is your favorite book/show/movie?

What’s it about?

Recite a poem or quote in your target language! 

What is your house like? (Ex: My house is small. / I have a brown couch.)

How are you feeling?

What was the last thing you read/watched?

 How was it?

What was the last thing you read/watched in your target language?

Do you have any hobbies?  (Ex: sports, knitting)

Who did you last see?

What did you guys do?

Where is the last place you went?

How was your day?

Who is your favorite celebrity? 

Describe something you saw today. 

What did you do yesterday/last week?

What do you hope to do in the future? (Ex: “There’s a concert next week..”)  

You can use this words to react positively on someone’s work or action, describe weather, person or occasion. These words you will hear often as Dutch people are very generous to give encouragement or appraisal.

Mooi - beautiful.

Wat een mooi weer! What a beautiful weather!

Lekker - tasty and in general pleasant.

Lekker ding - hottie, for an attractive woman.

Knap - smart.

Je spreek al zo goed Nederlands, zo knap van je! You speak Dutch so well already, smart!

Leuk - pleasant, fun.

Ik vind het leuk here. I like it here.

Keurig - neat.

Je hebt dat keurig gedaan. You did it well. Neat job!

Geweldig - awesome.

Geweldig resultaat! A great result!

Gezellig - cozy and socially pleasant.

Dat was een gezellig weekend. That was a nice weekend.

Gaaf - cool.

Ik heb zo'n gaaf cadeau gekregen! I got such a cool present!

Tof - cool.

Toffe gast - cool guy.

Prima - fine, great.

The following expressions are remnants of old Dutch that are still used. I figured it might be useful since you often don’t learn words like ten and den, because grammatical cases aren’t used anymore in modern Dutch.

🔹te allen tijde - at all times 🔹ten aanzien van - with regard to 🔹in allerijl - quickly, fast 🔹ter attentie van - for the attention of (I’m not sure about this translation tbh) 🔹ten bate van - on behalf of, for the benefit of 🔹ter beantwoording van - to answer, replying to 🔹slecht ter been zijn - to have difficulties walking, infirm 🔹in den beginne - in the beginning 🔹ten behoeve van - on behalf of 🔹ter bekostiging van - to finance, to pay for 🔹in koelen bloede - in cold blood 🔹uit den boze - out of the question 🔹ter controle - to verify, to check 🔹heden ten dage - nowadays 🔹op den duur - in the long run 🔹ter ere van - in honour of 🔹te gast zijn (bij) - to be a guest (of) 🔹ter gelegenheid van - on the occasion of 🔹in groten getale - in large numbers 🔹ten gevolge van -  as a consequence of, due to 🔹ter grootte van - the size of 🔹ten gunste van - in favour of 🔹mijns inziens - in my opinion 🔹in de loop der tijden - over the course of time 🔹ten onder gaan (aan) - to go down, to come to grief, to be the victim of (for example: your own succes) 🔹ten onrechte - unjustly 🔹ten opzicht van - compared to, with reference to 🔹ter plaatse - on the spot 🔹ter plekke - on the spot 🔹ter sprake komen - to be brought up (in a conversation) 🔹op staande voet - right away, immediately 🔹ten strengste verboden - absolutely forbidden 🔹ten strijde trekken - to go into battle 🔹ten tijde van - at the time of, during 🔹dat ben/is jij/hij/zij ten voeten uit. - That is typically you/him/her. 🔹ter ziele gaan - the demise of a company 🔹van de zotte - insane 🔹’s ochtends/’s middags/’s avonds - in the morning/in the afternoon/in the evening 🔹hoe…des te - the…the (as in “the easier, the better”)