Te gek om los te lopen

too ridiculous/absurd for words  Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]Tbs

Because it’s the DWOTD Summer Schedule, here’s a Dutch Phrase of the Week on Friday 🙂

"Te gek om los te lopen" literally translates to "too crazy to walk loose". You may also see the more literal equivalent "te gek voor woorden" or "te zot voor woorden".

Examples:
– "Gisteren is een vrouw op klaarlichte dag neergestoken. Dat is toch te gek om los te lopen??" 
("Yesterday, a woman was stabbed in broad daylight. That’s too absurd for words, isn’t it??" Note that "toch" is translated with "…, isn’t it??")

– "Frank heeft afgelopen maand met vier vrouwen tegelijkertijd gedate."  – "Dat is te gek om los te lopen!"
("Frank has dated four women at the same time last month." – "That’s too ridiculous for words!")

Expressions:
– "Te gek/zot voor woorden": too absurd for words.

Related words:
Gek/Zot: crazy [adjective].
– Lopen: to walk [verb] [liep, gelopen].
– Los: loose [adjective].
– Ontoerekeningsvatbaarheid: insanity defence [noun] [de ontoerekeningsvatbaarheid, <no plural>]. See Extra

Extra:
"Ontoerekeningsvatbaarheid" (tongue breaker alert 🙂 ) is a Dutch juridical term, which more or less translates to "insanity defence" in English. It means that when a person commits a crime which can be related to a mental disorder or illness, this person receives a declaration of insanity, which may lead to a less severe sentence, or no sentence at all. A person is then "ter beschikking gesteld aan de regering" (lit.: placed at the disposal of the government). This procedure is called "T.B.S." Someone who is subjected to T.B.S. is called a "T.B.S.-er". T.B.S.-ers are treated under coercion in a "T.B.S. kliniek" (a penitentiary clinic).

In 2008, the Dutch movie "TBS" was released, in which a T.B.S.-er, convicted for killing his own father and sister, escapes from a T.B.S. clinic and tracks down his mother in order to prove his innocence.

2 thoughts on “Te gek om los te lopen

  1. Interesting about the TBS. It reminds me of our “5150”, which is an involuntary psychiatric hold. Not the same, but sort of. I love DWOTD for info like this, as well as the great words and phrases. Dank U duizend maal!

  2. I have to say that the pic u have selected is quite sexy… 🙂
    Groetjes uit Griekenland en bedankt for jullie geweldig site

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