But not really! / …not! [Dutch phrase of the week] 
"Maar niet heus" is often used jestingly or to emphasize an ironic statement. The word "heus" means "real", "true". It is not used that often, but you will hear it in expressions such as: "is het heus?" ("is it really the case / true?") or "heus niet!" ("no, honestly!, "really not the case!").
Examples:
– "Ja, ik heb er echt veel zin in… maar niet heus!"
("Yeah, I really feel like it / I am really looking forward to it… not!")
– "Ik moet dit weekend naar mijn schoonouders, dat wordt weer gezellig! … Maar niet heus!"
("This weekend I’m visiting my parents in law, it will be fun! … Not!")
– "Vorige maand ben ik wezen schaatsen. Ik kon het nog net zo goed als 15 jaar geleden … maar niet heus."
("I went ice skating last month. I was just as good (at it) as I was 15 years ago… but not really.")
I’m having a bit of trouble working out how to use the word wezen. It seems to mean four things!
1. a person (lit. being?)
2. orphaned
3. past tense of wijzen
4. something to do with zijn and geweest, such as here above.
I don’t get why the above sentence “Vorige maand ben ik wezen schaatsen” isn’t “Vorige maand ben ik schaatsen geweest.” Is this spreektaal or official Dutch?
It looks to me that it literally translates as the English ‘been’, so “I have been skating,” but then isn’t ‘geweest’ also ‘been’, i.e. the past participle of ‘to be’?
I’m confused. Would this warrant it’s own word of the day?
What about this expression found in a Dutch video?
“Het is heus niet altijd een lolletje.”
Simon, ‘wezen’ is a defective verb which even native Dutch speakers have trouble explaining grammatically. It is defined as a ‘to be’ verb, but it clearly means ‘to go’ in this construction. The best thing to do is just process the construction ‘zijn’ + ‘wezen’ + action verb as ‘went.’ It is used to describe the recent past (vandaag), or a past event or series of events.
Zaterdag ben ik wezen zwemmen met Ulla. Zondag ben ik weer wezen walvis spotten. ‘s Avonds zijn Jan, Heidi en ik wezen bowlen. De volgende dag ben ik met Saara en haar zoontje Jelmer wezen shoppen. Saturday I went swimming with Ulla. Sunday I went whale watching again. That evening Jan, Heidi and I went bowling. The next day I went shopping with Sara and her little boy Jelmer.