goodness gracious/me
[Dutch phrase
of the week]

Probably not used much by today’s youth, this somewhat old-fashioned expression allows you to express your amazement or discomfort in a decent way. It is composed of "mensen" (people) and "kinderen" (children). Perhaps it was originally used to address the people around you before sharing your amazement with them Why the two words are now combined into one I don’t know.

Examples:
- "Mensenkinderen wat een weer!" 
("Goodness me, this weather is crazy!")

- "Mensenkinderen, moet je die rij zien!" 
("Oh my, look at that queue!")

- "Mensenkinderen…" 
("Goodness gracious…")

- "Mensenkinderen… Dit is toch niet te geloven… Sterker nog, het is te bezopen voor woorden!" 
("Goodness me… I can’t believe it… No wait, it is insane!!" Literally: ‘This is not to be believed… To put it stonger…’ Note the expression "te bezopen voor woorden": ‘bezopen’ is the state of being drunk.)

Related words:
- Hoofdschuddend: shaking one’s head [adverb].
- Verbazing: amazement, surprise [noun] [de verbazing, <no plural>].
- Ongelofelijk: unbelievable [adjective/adverb].
- Jeetje: oh my [interjection]. This is actually derived from ‘Jezus’. You will also hear ‘Jee’, but as you know, we turn (almost) anything into a diminutive