Wijf

woman, broad [noun, derogatory] [het wijf, de wijven] [‘wijf‘]

Obviously, the Dutch "wijf" has the same origin as the English
"wife". It is however not used in that translation anymore, other than in biology where its diminutive translates to "female". In old Dutch, "wijf" did not have the derogatory meaning as it has now.

"Wijf" is also very suitable as a term of abuse, usually with an adjective of choice, translating to bitch/cow etc., see the Related words. The official Dutch word for "bitch" is "teef", which is also sometimes used as a term of abuse.

In recent years, and maybe influenced by shows like the "Jerry Springer show" that aired in the nineties, the English "bitch" has become common use in Dutch as a term of abuse for women. Of course it is pronounced the Dutch way: "bitsj" 🙂

Examples:
Flodder_affiche_1
– "Kijk Johnnie: lekkere wijven!!"
("Johnnie look: hot babes!!" This is a classical line from the Dutch eighties movie "Flodder", used
when two of the main characters, Johnnie and Kees, pass a tennis court. The film is about an antisocial family "promoted away" to a villa neighbourhood, who then of course heavily disrupt the quiet life. There is also a tv-series still running. In Dutch "Johnny" is usually spelled "Johnnie" and pronounced "Sjonny".)

– "Hee wijffie, ga je met me mee vanavond?"
("<slang:> Hey baby, will you come with me tonight?" Note: here "wijffie" is synonymous to "moppie".)

– "Mijn buurvrouw is echt een kutwijf! Ze heeft de muziek vaak nog tot laat heel hard staan…"
("My neighbour is really a bitch! She often plays loud music until late in the evening…" Lit.: "She often has the music on loudly till very late"… Mind the word "kut"; this is foul but common language and a synonym for vagina.)

– "Met betrekking tot de biologie kan "female" in het Nederlands ook met het verkleinwoord van wijf worden vertaald: wijfje."
("With respect to biology, in Dutch "female" can also be translated with the diminutive of "wijf": wijfje.")

Related words:
– "Kutwijf": as per the example above.
– "Rotwijf": bitch, an equivalent of the male "bastard". Less strong than "kutwijf". "Rot" in generally can be used as an adjective to say that something was lousy or unpleasant like "rotavond" (a bad/unpleasant evening).
– "Pokkenwijf": bitch, derived from the disease smallpox.
– "Takkenwijf": like "pokkenwijf" but origin unknown ("takken" are the branches of a tree).
– "[fill in your favourite disease in Dutch]wijf": we don’t want to make this DWOTD too brutal, so have a look in the dictionary.
– "Viswijf": literally fishwife, usually used for rude (scolding) common women.
– "Manwijf": mannish woman.