That is still in the future
[Dutch phrase of the week]
Another Dutch phrase to impress your friends and colleagues with: "dat is (nog) toekomstmuziek", meaning that something is not (yet) possible. Its literal meaning is: "that is future music for the time being". You can guess that the phrase relates to something positive that might happen in the future, rather than pointing to negative future occurences.
Examples:
– "Rond de wereld vliegen op zonne-energie? Dat is voorlopig nog toekomstmuziek."
("Flying around the world on solar energy? That is not possible for the time being.")
– "Kun je de iPhone 4 opladen met waterstof of is dat nog toekomstmuziek?"
("Is it possible to charge the iPhone 4 with hydrogen or is that still in the future?")
– "Ik heb in de wandelgangen gehoord dat het bedrijf weer in de zwarte cijfers zit. Klopt dat of is dat nog toekomstmuziek?"
("I informally heard that the company is making a profit again. Is that true or is that still in the future?")
– "Wanneer studeer je nou eindelijk eens af?" – "Nou, voorlopig is dat helaas nog toekomstmuziek."
("When are you finally going to graduate?"- "Well, unfortunately that will take some more time.")
Expressions:
– Dat klinkt me als muziek in de oren: it/that's music to my ears, I totally agree with that [literally: "that sounds like music in my ears"].
Example:
– "Een paar weken vrij? Dat klinkt me als muziek in de oren!"
("A couple of weeks off? That sounds great!")
Related words:
– Toekomst: future [noun] [de toekomst, <no plural>].
– Muziek: music [noun] [de muziek, <no plural>].