Buitenspel

offside [adverb] [‘bui-tun-spel‘] Iconspeaker_klein_2Buitenspel_2

Euro 2008 has begun, and how! A 3-0 victory for Holland against Italy yesterday evening!!! Let’s do a soccer-related word 🙂

"Buitenspel" is the Dutch word for "offside". It is composed of "buiten" and "spel", which translate to "outside" and "game" respectively. As we all know, a soccer player is in offside position when he is in front of the opponent’s  defender at the moment the ball is played by one of his team (provided that the goalkeeper is still in his goal). The idiom "buitenspel staan" (lit.: "to stand offside") is frequently used for "to be (in) offside (position)".

"Buitenspel" can also be used figuratively, often in combination with the verb "zetten" ("to put"), in the context of sidelining someone or shunting someone off. See the last of the Examples.

Examples:
– "Die eerste goal van Van Nistelrooy was buitenspel, toch?" 
("That first goal by Van Nistelrooy was offside, right?")

– "Die speler stond buitenspel!" – "Echt niet! Hij stond gelijk met de laatste man!"
("That player was offside!" – "No way! He was level with the sweeper!")

– "Frank vindt dat hij vaak buitenspel wordt gezet door zijn manager."
("Frank feels he’s being sidelined a lot by his manager.")

Related words:
– "Buiten": outside, out, out of.
– "Spel": game. See also "spelletje".

Extra:
Since you will probably hear a lot of people talk about soccer these days, we’ll provide you with some basic soccer vocabulary 🙂

– "Voetbal": soccer, football (the sports).
– "Voetbal": (foot)ball (the ball).
– "Scheidsrechter": referee. Often abbreviated to "scheids" (: "ref").
– "Speler": player.
– "Keeper": (goal)keeper.
– "Verdedigen": to play defense, to defend.
– "Aanvallen": to attack.
– "Middenveld": midfield.
– "Aftrap": kickoff.
– "Vrije trap": free kick.
– "Hoekschop": corner.
– "Strafschop": penalty. Often the English "penalty" is used, pronounced with Dutch accent and emphasis 🙂
– "Hands": hands, handball.
– "Overtreding": foul, offense.
– "Uit": out.
– "Inwerpen/ingooien": to throw in.