Je zal ze de kost moeten geven!

(a lot) more people than you may think
[phrase]
[je zal ze de kost moe-ten ge-ven] 

college-football-183266_640The noun ‘kost’ is the singular form of ‘kosten’: costs, expenses. In this meaning, the plural form is most common. The singular form ‘kost’ however is more commonly used in the meaning of ‘food’ (that you need on a daily basis). One may ask you for example (informally): ‘Wat doe jij voor de kost?’ (‘What do you do for a living?’).

The expression ‘Je zal ze de kost moeten geven’ translates as: ‘Imagine (/what if) you would have to feed them (on a daily basis)!’, and is used to say that one must not underestimate the number of people who (would) do a particular thing. In other words: ‘A lot more people than you may think!’.

You may also encounter this expression in the form ‘Ik zou ze niet graag de kost willen geven.’ Both examples are often followed by a sentence of the form: ‘…die […]’, see the Examples below.

Examples:
“Je zal ze de kost moeten geven die vergeten uit te checken bij het verlaten van de tram!” 
(“A lot more people than you may think forget to check out when exiting the tram.” This example refers to the use of the ‘OV-chipcard’ in Dutch public transport.)

“Wordt er echt zo veel gestolen op het werk?” – “Wat dacht je! Je zal ze de kost moeten geven die pennen of een pak papier mee naar huis nemen!” 
(“Is stealing at the work floor really common practice?”- “You bet! Don’t underestimate the number of people who take pens or (a pack of) paper home!” Literally: “Is there really that much stealing at work?”)

“Ik zou ze niet graag de kost willen geven die hun goede voornemens voor het nieuwe jaar al na een week op de lange baan schuiven.” 
(“There are really a lot of people who, already after one week (into the new year), postpone (and potentially cancel) their New Year’s resolutions.” Note the expression ‘Iets op de lange baan schuiven’: to postpone (for an implied longer period of time), often leading to cancellation of the plans.)

“Ik vind het ongelofelijk hoeveel mensen links blijven rijden op de snelweg.” – “Nou, je zal ze de kost moeten geven!” 
(“I think it’s incredible how many people keep left on the highway/motorway.” – “Exactly, a lot of people…” In the Netherlands the rule is that one should keep right so that others can overtake; overtaking on the right is not allowed.)

Related words:
– Kost: cost/expense, or ‘daily portion of food’ [noun] [de kost, plural ‘kosten’ only for ‘cost’].
– Eten: common noun for ‘food’ in daily and social context [noun] [het eten, <no plural>].
– Voedsel: synonym for ‘eten’, however used for ‘anything edible in general’ [noun] [het voedsel, <no plural>].
– Mensen: people [noun] [de mensen]. Dutch noun for ‘a people’ is ‘volk’.
– Veel: many/much [adjective].

Things to remember from this DWOTD
– ‘Kost’ in the meaning of ‘cost/expense’ is mostly used in the plural form ‘kosten’. There are many expressions in which ‘kost’ means ‘(daily portion of) food’;
– Difference between ‘eten’ and ‘voedsel’;
– Meaning of the phrase ‘Wat doe jij voor de kost?’.
– Meaning of the expression ‘Iets op de lange baan schuiven’.

Vel over been

scrawny, all skin and bone
[phrase]
[vel o-ver been] 

dog-218110_640Literally ‘vel over been’ translates as ‘skin over bone’. It applies to situations where people or animals are dying of hunger and literally only have skin left. However, it can also be used to say that somebody is very very skinny, or scrawny, basically emphasizing how skinny the person is.

Examples:
“Dat kind moet echt meer eten; ze is vel over been!” 
(“That girl should really eat more; she’s just too scrawny!” Although ‘kind’ translates as child it is often used to denote a girl. In case of a boy, one would more often use the word ‘jongen’.)

“Vorige week is er een man gearresteerd wegens dierenmishandeling. Ze lieten foto’s zien van zijn honden, stuk voor stuk (waren ze) vel over been!” 
(“Last week a man was arrested on charges of animal abuse. They showed pictures of his dogs, each and every one of them was all skin and bone!” Lit.: ‘… because of animal abuse.’)

“De meeste gevangenen die werden bevrijd waren vel over been, en voor sommigen kwam de hulp te laat.” 
(“Most prisoners who were liberated were all skin and bone, and for some help came too late.”)

“Sommige modellen zijn gewoon vel over been. Behalve dat dat helemaal een verkeerd signaal uitzendt naar tienermeisjes, is het ook nog eens superlelijk.”)
(“Some (fashion) models are just scrawny. Apart from the fact that this really sends a wrong signal to teenage girls, it is also extremely ugly!”)

Related words:
– Dun: thin [adjective].
Mager: thin, lean, meagre [adjective].
– Broodmager: very skinny [adjective].
– Skinny: skinny [adjective]. Contrary to ‘fat’ the word ‘skinny’ is sometimes used informally in its English meaning, e.g. “Ik vind haar leuk maar ze is mij een beetje te skinny.” (“I like her but she is a bit too skinny to my liking.” Note the construction ‘[personal pronoun] [conjugation of ‘zijn’] mij te [adjective]’: ‘[personal pronoun] [conjugation of ‘to be’] too [adjective] to my liking.’)
Honger: hunger [noun] [de honger, <no plural>].
– Hongerig: hungry [adjective].
– Verhongeren: to die of starvation, to die of hunger [verb] [verhongerde, verhongerd].
– Uithongeren: to starve (out) [verb] [uithongerde, uitgehongerd].

Het was kielekiele

It was really really close
[phrase]
[het was kie-le-kie-le] 

When something was ‘kielekiele’ in Dutch it means it was a very close call, however with positive result. The present tense form (‘het is kielekiele’) can be used when the result is not yet known and that you can’t just tell yet.

You may also hear: ‘het was op het nippertje‘. The difference is that this expression takes on the meaning of ‘just making it’, ‘being just in time’ or ‘at the very last moment’, whereas ‘het was kielekiele’ is more generally used for a ‘close call’.

Examples:
“Goede vlucht gehad?” – “Ja, maar ik had ‘m bijna gemist. Het was echt kielekiele. Ben zelfs omgeroepen!” – “Nou ja, dat meen je niet!” 
(“Did you have a good flight?” – “Yes, but I almost missed it. It was a very close call. They even announced my name!” – “No way, seriously?!” Lit.: “Was even announced!” – “…, that you don’t mean!”)

“Zo, dat was kielekiele man, waarom haal je zo dicht in??” 
(“Woah, that was close man, why do you overtake so close (to the other car)?”)

“Is de bal over de doellijn of niet?” – “Ik weet het niet, het is kielekiele. Wacht even op de herhaling…” 
(“Did the ball cross the (goal) line?” – “I don’t know, it’s a close call. Wait for the replay…”)

“Het was kielekiele, maar ik heb als één van de laatsten een iPhone 5 bemachtigd!” 
(“It was a close call, but I was one of the last to obtain an iPhone 5!”)

“Myriam, je hebt een 6, maar het was echt kielekiele. De volgende keer moet je je toets echt beter voorbereiden. Afgesproken?” 
(“Myriam, you got a 6, but it was really really close. Next time you have to prepare your test better. Deal?” Dutch test scores are at a scale from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest), with 6 a pass.)

Expressions:
– “Het was net aan”: it was just enough / we just made it.
– “Het was op het randje”: it was close. Lit.: ‘on the edge’, with ‘randje’ being the diminutive of ‘rand’: edge.
– “Het spant erom / het zal erom spannen”: it’s going to be a close call. Compare Spannend.

Related words:
Spannend: exciting, suspenseful [adjective].
– Opluchting: relief [noun] [de opluchting, de opluchtingen].

Example:
– “Wat een opluchting! Ik was bang dat je het niet zou redden!”
(“What a relief! I was afraid you wouldn’t make it!”)

Een teken van leven

a sign of life
[phrase]
[een te-ken van le-ven]

sand-181273_640Hallo allemaal!

I thought I would give you a small sign of life before everybody thinks I decided to quit the DWOTD 🙂 My goal is still to produce 3 posts a week, however the last few months have been completely dominated by major changes in my private life. All positive changes by the way, I started my own business and bought my own place. The latter is being renovated as we speak, and boy it takes a lot of time. And I’m not doing any of the renovation myself, ‘kun je nagaan!’ (‘go figure / imagine that!’).

I’m moving house in a couple of weeks 🙂 I’ll keep the blog alive but it will be a while before I’m able to post more often. And while I’m writing this anyway, I’ll throw in a few example sentences.

Tot snel!

Examples:
“Lieve schat, we hebben al een tijdje niets van je gehoord. Zou je alsjeblieft een teken van leven willen geven? Veel liefs, mamma.”
(“Darling, we haven’t heard from you for a while. Will you please give us a sign of life? (Lots of) love, mom.” Some people write ‘mama’. It is however always pronounced ‘mamma’.)

“Het is nu een week geleden dat de overstroming heeft plaatsgevonden en er zijn in het dorp geen tekenen van leven meer waargenomen.”
(“It’s been a week since the flood took place and no signs of life have been detected/recorded anymore in the village.”)

“Heeft Martijn uiteindelijk nog gereageerd op de e-mail?” – “Nee, geen enkel teken van leven! Dat is niets voor hem, zou er wat aan de hand zijn?”
(“Did Martijn respond to the email after all?” – “No, no sign of life at all! That’s not like him, I wonder if something is wrong.”)

“Eindelijk een teken van leven van Sarah! Wat een opluchting, we begonnen ons ernstig zorgen te maken!”
(“Finally a sign of life from Sarah! What a relieve, we started to get really worried!” Literally ‘(zich) zorgen maken’ is ‘to make worries’.)

Related words:
– Teken: sign [noun] [het teken, de tekenen/tekens]. ‘Tekenen’ is the plural form for ‘teken’ in the meaning of ‘symptom, phenomenon, evidence’. ‘Tekens’ is the plural form in case of symbols.
– Leven: life [noun] [het leven, de levens].

Example:
– “Hoeveel levens heb je nog?” – “Dit is mijn laatste dus het is bijna ‘game over’.”
(“How many lives do you have left?” – “This is my last so it’s almost ‘game over’!”)

– Bericht: message, notice [noun] [het bericht, de berichten].
– Stil: quiet [adjective].
Bezorgd: worried [adjective].

Zie je nu wel!

I told you so! / I knew it!
[phrase]
[zie je nu wel] 

Now that The Netherlands are definitely out of the European (football) Championship tournament, there’s a lot of ‘I told you so’ and ‘I knew (they would not make) it’. An informal way to say ‘I told you so’ or ‘I (just) knew it’ in Dutch is: ‘zie je nu wel’. You may also hear other expressions with similar meaning, such as: “Ik zei het je toch!” or “Ik wist het wel!”.

‘Zie je nu wel’ translates to something along the lines of ‘and now you see that it happens/happened (like we thought it would)’. A softer equivalent is: ‘Zie je wel!’

Examples:
“En, heb je je sleutels al gevonden?” – “Ja, ze lagen op de trap…” – “Zie je nu wel! Je kijkt met je neus! Zoals alle mannen!”
(“So, have you found your keys yet?” – “Yes, they were on the stairs…” – “I told you so! You look with your eyes closed! Like all men!” Lit. “you look with your nose…”)

“Hier, zie je nu wel, hij kan de bal niet eens tussen de palen mikken! Ik zei het toch, zodra Van Persie een oranje shirt aantrekt, is hij een schim van wie hij is in de Engelse Premier League.”
(“There, I told you so, he is not even able to aim the ball between the posts! This proves what I said before, as soon as Van Persie puts on an orange shirt he’s a mere shadow of who he is in the English Premier League.”)

“Zie je nu wel dat ik gelijk heb, en het is ook gewoon voorspeld hè, maar jij wil nooit het weerbericht raadplegen. Nou, dan is dit je verdiende loon!” – “Laat nu maar, de enige die aan het klagen is, ben jij; zeur!”
(“Now you see I’m right, and they even predicted it, but you never want to check the weather forecast. Well, you had it coming!” – “Whatever, the only one complaining is you; (you are such a) whiner!” Lit. “well, this is your deserved pay…”)

“Zie je nu wel dat we het redden! We zijn ruim op tijd!” – “Ja, we zijn ruim op tijd omdat we ruim op tijd vertrokken zijn! Als het aan jou had gelegen stond je je nu nog steeds op te tutten!”
(“I told you we would make it! We have plenty of time left! – “Yeah, we have plenty of time left because we departed way ahead of schedule! Had it been up to you, you would still be getting ready!” Note that the use of ‘optutten’ typically implies the subject is female. ‘Optutten’ is like ‘to get dolled up’ (make-up, clothes etc.))

Expressions:
– “Ik zei het je toch!”: I told you so!
– “Ik wist het wel!”: I knew it!
– “Als ik het niet dacht!”: I knew it! (Used when a suspicion has been proven correct).

Example:
“Als ik het niet dacht, daar loopt de buurjongen met de voetbal van mijn zoon!”
(“I knew it, that’s the neighbour’s boy carrying my son’s football!” Lit. “If I didn’t think it, there walks the neighbour’s boy with my son’s football!”)

– “Een vooruitziende blik hebben”: to know what lies ahead / to know what’s coming. Usually attributed after the fact.

Related words:
– Vooruitzien: to foresee [verb] [zag vooruit, vooruitgezien].
Voorspellen: to predict [verb] [voorspelde, voorspeld]. Not to be confused with ‘voorspel‘.

Example:
– “Ik voorspel dat het de hele zomer gaat regenen!” – “Man, hou je voorspellingen toch voor je, hier heeft niemand toch iets aan!”
(“I predict it’s going to rain all summer!” – “Man, keep your predictions to yourself will you, this is no good to anyone!”)

– Voorspelling: prediction [noun] [de voorspelling, de voorspellingen].
– Achteraf (gezien): with hindsight [adverb].
– Gelijk hebben: to be right [verb] [had gelijk, gelijk gehad].
– Gelijk krijgen: to be proved right [verb] [kreeg gelijk, gelijk gekregen].