Tsjonge, jonge, jonge!

boy oh boy / oh my!
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[tsjon-ge, jon-ge, jon-ge] 

1862796982_65c6c55803_zThe base noun in the phrase ‘tsjonge, jonge, jonge’ is ‘jongen’: boy. You use the phrase when you are amazed about something but it depends on the intonation what the underlying emotion is. There are multiple variants of this phrase; the more ‘jonge’ you add, the less ‘wow’ and the ‘more’ annoyance 🙂 See the examples for different applications.
(Photo: Roadsidepictures (flickr.com) – some rights reserved.)

You may also hear: “Sjonge, jonge, jonge!”

Examples:
“Mamma, ik had vandaag een 9 voor mijn repetitie rekenen!” – “Goed hoor! Tsjonge, een negen! Ik ben trots op je!” 
(“Mom, today I got a 9 for my calculus test!!” – “Well done! Wow, a nine! I’m proud of you!” Note that in Dutch schools grading is done numerically from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. The noun ‘repetitie’ is typically used in schools whereas at university ‘tentamen’ is used.)

“Tsjonge jonge, wat een opkomst! Ik had niet verwacht dat er zó veel mensen zouden komen; het is nu al een succes!!” 
(“Oh my, what a turnout! I did not expect that so many people would come; it’s already a success (and we just got started)!”)

“Hoe lang staat u al te wachten op de bus?” – “Nou, al bijna 20 minuten!” – “Tsjonge, jonge jonge, dit kun je toch geen wereldstad noemen als je 20 minuten moet wachten op de bus!” 
(“How long have you been waiting for the bus?” – “Well, already almost 20 minutes!” – “Boy oh boy, and this is what they call a capital of the world, one where you have to wait 20 minutes for the bus!”)

“Tsjonge, jonge jonge, het is toch niet te geloven dit. Tsjonge jonge jonge. Tsjo-nge, jo-nge, jo-nge!!” 
(“Wow, this is truly unbelievable, unbelievable. Oh my. Boy oh boy oh boy!!”)

Expressions:
– “Van de ene verbazing in de andere vallen: to go from one surprise to the next / to be amazed again and again.

Example:
“Ik val hier van de ene verbazing in de andere! Het lijkt me beter als je nu gewoon je mond houdt!”
(“I’m going from one surprise to the next here! I think you had better just shut your mouth!”)

Related words:
– Verbazing: amazement, surprise, astonishment [noun] [de verbazing, de verbazingen].
– Uitroep: exclamation [noun] [de uitroep, de uitroepen].
Ongelofelijk!: unbelievable! [exclamation].
– Wauw!: wow! [exclamation].