De hele reutemeteut

the whole lot, everything, the whole shebang 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[de he-le reu-te-me-teut]

De_hele_reutemeteut You can use this informal phrase to indicate that you mean 'the whole lot'. It can cover things and people. In case of things, it's usually 'rubbish' or 'junk'. "Reutemeteut" is derived from "reut" ('jumble', 'bunch') which in its turn is related to the old Dutch noun 'rot', meaning 'row of soldiers'. German readers may recognize the word 'Rotte'. The original phrase was 'de hele reut', but both this phrase and 'reut' are not used anymore.

Examples:
– "Met wie was jij op Koninginnedag?" – "O, met Marieke, Roel, Bart-Jan, je weet wel, de hele reutemeteut." 
("Who were you with on Queen's day?" – "Oh, with Marieke, Roel, Bart-Jan, you know, the whole lot.")

– "We gaan het restaurant verbouwen." – "Wat ga je doen dan?" – "We gaan alles vernieuwen; de keuken, de tafels, nieuw behang, de hele reutemeteut." 
("We are going to renovate the restaurant." – "Well, what are you going to do?" – "We are going to renew everything; the kitchen, the tables, new wallpaper, the whole shebang.")

– "We moesten ons allemaal melden bij de directeur. Het ondersteunend personeel, de hogere managementlagen, het kantinepersoneel, de hele reutemeteut!" 
("We all had to report to the director. The supporting personnel, the higher management layers, the cantine staff, everybody!")

– "Schiet het op met het leegruimen van het huis?" – "Niet echt, we moeten van alles uitzoeken, maar het liefst zou ik de hele reutemeteut het raam uitgooien!" 
("Are you making progress cleaning out the house?" – "Not really, we have a lot to go through, but I would really like to just throw everything out of the window!")

Expressions:
– "De hele mikmak": like 'de hele reutemeteut' but then for things.
– "Alles en iedereen": one and all, all and sundry. Lit. "everything and everybody".

Related words:
Troep: mess, junk, rubbish [noun] [de troep, <no plural>].
– Rommel: junk, rubbish [noun] [de rommel, <no plural>].