338. Druk

1. busy, crowded [adjective/adverb] [‘druk‘]

This is a popular word, and you will often hear it when people discuss work or their lives in general:

"Hoe gaat het met je?" – "Nou, druk druk druk!" 🙂

In addition to the adjective or adverb ‘druk’, there are two common applications of the noun ‘druk’, see 2 and 3 below.

Examples:
– "Hij heeft een heel drukke baan; hij werkt dag en nacht."
("He has a very busy/demanding job, he works day and night.")

– "De vakantiebeurs was erg druk, met het hoogste aantal bezoekers ooit."
("The holiday fair was very busy/crowded, with the highest number of visitors ever".)

– "Je kunt haar beter niet storen, ze is druk aan het werk."
("You’d better not disturb her, she is busy working").

– "Ga je de deadline halen?" – "Ik hoop het, ik ben druk aan het schrijven!"
("Are you going to meet the deadline? – "I hope so, I’m busily writing / focussed at writing!")

Expressions:

– "Het druk hebben": to be busy.
– "Druk zijn met": to be busy with.
– "Druk zijn": to be busy. But: this is incorrect Dutch as "druk zijn" actually has the meaning of being boisterous, lively or even hyperactive (in an annoying way).

Example:
– "Heb je het buurjongetje al ontmoet? Wat een druk kind!"
("Have you met the boy next door? What a boisterous child!")

– "Een druk leven hebben": to lead a busy life.

– "Zich niet druk maken": to not be worried, upset or get excited.

Example:
– "Maak je niet druk, je krijgt nog wel een kans!"
("Don’t worry, you’ll get another chance!")

– "Druk druk druk!": an expression often heard when people are in general busy in their lives.

Related words:
– "Bezig zijn": to be (currently) busy with.
– "Sorry! Geen tijd!": I’m sorry, no time!
– "Afgeladen vol": completely full/packed. Used for bars or any other place where people gather.

2. pressure [noun] [de druk] [‘druk‘]

This can be literal or figurative pressure. The expression "iemand onder druk zetten" is quite common: to put someone under pressure.

Examples:
– "De lerares zette haar leerling onder druk te liegen over hun relatie".
("The teacher put pressure on her pupil to lie about their relationship.")

– "Als de druk op het wegdek te groot wordt, zal de brug instorten."
("If the pressure on the road surface becomes too high, the bridge will collapse.")

– "Lucht beweegt van hogedrukgebieden naar lagedrukgebieden."
("Air moves from areas of high pressure towards areas of low
pressure.")

– "De belastingdruk in Zweden is hoog".
("The tax burden in Sweden is high".)

Related word:
– "Drukken": to put pressure on. This verb is also used in child language to say well, "do number two", or something 🙂

3. print, edition [noun] [de druk] [‘druk‘]

In this context the verb "drukken" translates to "to print".

Example:
– "Khalid Hosseini‘s eerste boek ‘De vliegeraar’ is al aan de
tweede druk toe."
("Khalid Hosseini’s first novel ‘The kite runner’ is already in its second print".)

One thought on “338. Druk

  1. Do you know the sentence: “Hij is er maar druk mee, zeg!” Which means that he is busy doing something but it is questioned why he is so busy (we are not, we observe him from our lazy chair). It’s more like being a little bit too busy.
    A related verb is also bankdrukken, used in the fitness world (benchpressing)…

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