Bij lange na niet

far from it, by no means, not by a long shot
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[bij lan-ge na niet] 

When you are very far from completing something or reaching a desired state, we say that you have ‘bij lange na niet’ completed or reached it. ‘Lang’ means ‘long’, and it basically says that you are a long way from the end goal.

The phrase is also used in the constructions
– ‘bij lange na niet zo [adjective] als …’ (‘not nearly as [adjective] as …’); and
– ‘bij lange na niet [adjective]’ (far from / by no means [adjective]’).

Examples:
“Zijn jullie al klaar met inpakken? We vertrekken namelijk zo!” – “Bij lange na niet… Maar goed, paspoort en creditcard zijn het belangrijkste zullen we maar aannemen…” 
(“Are you done packing yet? Because we are about to leave!” – “By no means… Anyways, let’s just assume passport and credit card are most important…”)

“De tennisster heeft bij lange na niet haar droom waargemaakt, want ze strandde reeds in de eerste ronde van het toernooi.” 
(“The tennis player has not made her dreams come true, not by a long shot, because she already failed in the first round of the tournament.” Lit. “… she stranded in the first round”. Note that a male tennis player is a ‘tennisser’.”)

“Heb je alle huizen al bekeken die aan je eisen voldoen?” – “Bij lange na niet; ik ben pas net begonnen met kijken…” 
(“Have you looked at / visited all the houses that meet your requirements?” – “Far from it; I have only just started looking…” In this example the use of ‘huizen kijken’ is key: looking at houses or looking for houses with the prospect to buy.)

“Ik zweer het je, de film ‘The Road‘ is bij lange na niet zo goed als het boek, maar dat zie je wel vaker bij een boekverfilming, ja toch?!” 
(“I swear (to you), the movie ‘The Road’ is not nearly as good as the book, but that’s more often the case for movies based on a book, am I right?!” Lit. “… but one sees that more often in case of a ‘book filming’, doesn’t one?!”)

“Moeten we niet even tanken?” – “Nee hoor, de tank is bij lange na niet leeg.” 
(“Shouldn’t we fill up the car?” – “Nah, that won’t be necessary, the tank is far from empty.” Note the verb ‘tanken’: to fill up (with gas/petrol), to refuel.)

“Liggen jullie een beetje op schema met de verbouwing?” – “Bij lange na niet, ik denk dat we onze ambitie moeten verlagen en een aantal geplande werkzaamheden moeten schrappen.” 
(“Are you guys a bit on schedule with the renovation/alteration?” – “We’re far from being on schedule, I think we need to lower our ambition and cancel a number of planned acitivities.”)

Expressions:
– “Verre van…”: far from … .

Example:
“Het is verre van af, maar je begint de contouren al wel te herkennen…”
(“It’s far from finished, but one can see it’s taking shape”. Lit. “one starts to recognize the outlines.”).

– “Onder de maat”: not up to the mark, inadequate, off.

Related words:
– Lang: long, for a long time, at a stretch [adjective].
– Ver: far [adjective/adverb].
– Af: done, finished, ready [adjective].
Duren: to take/last [verb] [duurde, geduurd].