Buik

belly, stomach, tummy, abdomen [noun] [de buik, de buiken]

"Buik" is used to indicate a region of the body. The organ "stomach" is translated with "maag".

Examples:
– "Die man heeft een dikke buik."
("That man has a fat belly.")

– "Mijn vrouw is zwanger!" – "Wat leuk, wordt haar buik al dikker?"
("My wife is pregnant!" – "How nice, is her belly getting bigger already?")

– "Ik heb buikpijn, misschien heb ik iets verkeerds gegeten."
("My stomach aches / I have a stomachache, maybe it’s something I ate that’s upsetting me." Literally: "Maybe I ate something wrong.")

– "<moeder tegen een kind:> Heb je je buikje lekker rond gegeten?"
("<mother to a child:> Have you eaten your fill?" Literally: "Have you eaten your tummy nicely round?")

Expressions:
– "Schuddebuiken van het lachen": to shake with laughter. This expression is intended  to be used to say that you really really have to laugh hard. Literally so much that your belly is shaking (‘schudden’). However, it is mostly used ironically.

Examples:
– "Het publiek schuddebuikte van het lachen."
("The audience shook with laughter.")

– "Heb je gister die comedy nog gezien op tv?" – <ironisch:> "Ja, het was echt schuddebuiken."
("Did you see that comedy on tv yesterday?" – <ironically:> "Yeah, it was really fun (NOT).")

– "Dat kun je op je buik schrijven.": You can forget about that / that’s not going to happen / no way! Lit.: You can write that on your belly.

– "Daar heb ik mijn buik van vol." I’m fed up with that. Lit.: My belly’s full of that.

– "Vlinders in de buik hebben." To have butterflies in one’s stomach, to be in love.

– "Het zijn twee handen op één buik.": this is said about people that are in agreemeent or take up the same position ("to be hand and glove"). Lit: That’s two hands on one belly.

Related words:
– "buikpijn": stomachache, bellyache.
– "navelpiercing": belly button piercing.
– "wasbordje": washboard.

3 thoughts on “Buik

  1. OK – this completely cracked me up! I knew the definition of Buik but this was great….now I’m off to the gym – all Buiks more than welcome to hunt me down in Canada!
    jessiellery@yahoo.ca

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