Zagen


to saw Iconspeaker_3 Zaag

[verb]
[za-gen, zaag-de, h. ge-zaagd]

"Zagen" translates to "to saw". Related noun is "zaag": a saw. There are different kinds of "zagen" (saws), see the Related words. A small variation on "zagen" is "afzagen": to saw off.

Sometimes you may hear the idiom "over iets zagen": to harp on a subject. There’s also "doorzagen", which has two meanings: 1. (literal) to saw through (e.g. a log), 2. (figurative) to keep on harping on a subject, or: – in case of "iemand doorzagen – to question a person thoroughly,

And last but not least: "zagen" is also used as a synonym for "snurken".

Examples:
– "Pas op voor je handen als je gaat zagen." 
("Be careful with your hands if you’re going to saw.")

– "Ken je de film ‘Saw’ ? Verschrikkelijk…iemand moet zijn eigen been afzagen om te ontsnappen aan de moordenaar." 
("Do you know the movie ‘Saw‘ ? Awful, somebody has to saw off his own leg to get away from the killer.")

Expressions:
– "De poten onder iemands stoel zagen": to undermine someone’s position. Lit.: to saw the legs from under one’s chair.

Related words:
Hamer: hammer [noun] [de hamer, de hamers].
– Afgezaagd: dull, boring, dreadful, tedious, dreary, lit.: sawed off [adjective].

Example:
– "Die film heeft bij mij een gevoelige snaar geraakt…" – "Kom op, die film was ongelofelijk afgezaagd!"
("That movie has touched a nerve with me…" – "Come on, that movie was incredibly dull!")

– Kettingzaag: chainsaw [noun] [de kettingzaag, de kettingzagen].
– Cirkelzaag: circular saw [noun] [de cirkelzaag, de cirkelzagen].
– Figuurzaag: fretsaw [noun] [de figuurzaag, de figuurzagen].
– Houthakker: lumberjack, lit.: woodchopper [noun] [de houthakker, de houthakkers].
– Timmerman: carpenter [noun] [de timmerman,de timmermannen].

Extra:
From 1990 to 2005, the show "Jiskefet" was broadcast on the Dutch
television. It was a show with various humoristic and absurdistic
sketches. One of the recurring sketches was "Debiteuren Crediteuren", in which the boring life at the (Dutch) office was ridiculed. There’s one sketch that introduces "Zaagmans, die de week doormidden komt zagen": Mr. Saw, who comes to saw the week in half…Check out the clip (@ 1m35s, in Dutch) at YouTube.

One thought on “Zagen

  1. Don’t forget also that zagen is the plural past tense of zien. In this way it exactly mimics the English!
    Wij zagen twee zagen op de grond liggen.
    We saw two saws lying on the ground.

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