Dat is ook weer zo wat

that’s quite something, that’s a bit too much Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

Snurken_3
With "wat" translating to "what", "something" or "a bit" and the ambiguous use of words such as "ook", "weer" and "zo" comes the possibility to create phrases that are difficult to understand for you and difficult to translate for me 🙂

"Dat is ook weer zo wat" is close to "dat is ook wat". The latter is used to express a mild astonishment or disbelief, a bit like "oh my" or "oh dear" or "what about that". The variant "dat is ook weer zo wat" (or "dat is ook zo wat") can be used in the same way but is also typically used to indicate that a suggested course of action might not be optimal with respect to convenience, suitability or appropriateness.

As always an example might help, see below. If you need more, try Google (that kindly provided me with the last example).

Examples:
– "Snurken is irritant, maar om iemand daarom te vermoorden, dat is ook weer zo wat!" 
("Snoring is annoying but to kill somebody because of it, that’s not right / that’s just too much…")

– "Ik moet eigenlijk studeren voor mijn examen maar om met dit mooie weer de hele dag binnen te zitten, dat is ook weer zo wat." 
("I’m supposed to study for my exam, but to stay inside the whole day with this beautiful weather, that is overdoing it a bit / that is not very appealing / that would be too much…")

– "Mijn buren draaien vaak harde muziek. Maar om daar nu elke dag over te gaan klagen, dat is ook weer zo wat." 
("My neighbours often play loud music. But to go and complain about that every day, well come on… / I wouldn’t go that far…")

– "Esmé vonden ze een mooie naam, maar om me nu naar een liedje van ‘Acda en de Munnik’ te noemen, dat is ook weer zo wat.
("They liked the name Esmé, but to name me after a song by ‘Acda and de Munnik’, that’s overdoing it a little / that’s quite something / that’s stretching it …" The author of this sentence refers to the song "Dag Esmee" by the popular Dutch pop (and cabaret) duo "Acda en de Munnik".)