Dat belooft wat!

that sounds promising! / this will be exciting! Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week] Gelukkig2011

Best wishes to all of our readers!! May 2011 become a year of many Dutch Word of the Days that will help you understand Dutch and the Dutch even better than in 2010. And now…gaan met die banaan!

"Dat belooft wat" literally translates to "that promises something", in other words: "that sounds promising!"

The other way around: the literal translation of "that sounds promising" is "dat klinkt veelbelovend",  which can be used synonymously to "dat belooft wat". Sometimes you may hear "dat belooft heel wat": that sounds very promising.

Examples:
– "We hebben in 2010 veel bereikt met de Dutch Word of the Day, maar 2011 wordt nog beter!" – "Dat belooft wat!" 
("Way have achieved a lot with the Dutch Word of the Day in 2010, but 2011 will be even better!" – "That sounds promising!")

– "Frank was vanochtend erg chagrijnig." – "Dat belooft wat voor de vergadering vanmiddag…" 
("Frank was very grouchy this morning." – "That sounds promising for the meeting this afternoon…")

– "Hoe zal Ed reageren op de afwijzing van Tina? Dat belooft heel wat…blijf kijken, terug na de reclame!" 
("How will Ed react to Tina dismissing him? This will be very exciting….stay tuned, back after the commercial break!")

Related words:
– Beloven: to promise [verb] [beloven, beloofde, h. beloofd].

Example:
– "Iemand gouden bergen beloven."
("To promise someone the sun and the moon. Literally "to promise someone golden mountains".")

– Veelbelovend: promising [adjective].

Example:
– "Frank was ooit een veelbelovende advocaat, maar omdat hij in de rechtszaal meerdere keren gefaald heeft, is hij nu werkloos."
("Frank was once a promising lawyer, but because he messed up in court several times, he's currently unemployed.")