Nijlpaard

hippo(potamus) [noun] [het nijlpaard, de nijlpaarden] [‘nijl-paart’] Iconspeaker_klein

"Nijlpaard" literally translates to "nile horse". However, since there are no horses swimming in the river Nile, you may figure out that "nijlpaard" is actually a hippo or hippopotamus 🙂 We admit that there really isn’t much of a resemblance in appearance between the two….

Sometimes, "nijlpaard" is used in a derogatory way to refer to a fat woman.

Examples:
– "Een nijlpaard is een zoogdier."
("A hippopotamus is a mammal.")

– "Mam, mogen we de nijlpaarden voeren?" – "Nee liefie, dat mag niet."

("Mom, can we feed the hippos?" – "No sweetie, you can’t.")

– "Franks vriendin is een nijlpaard…" – "Sorry, maar dat kun je echt niet zeggen."
("Frank’s girlfriend is a hippo…" – "I’m sorry, but you really can’t say that.")

Related words:
– "Nijl": (the river) Nile.
– "Paard": horse.
– "Neushoorn": Rhino(ceros).

2 thoughts on “Nijlpaard

  1. Hi Veronica,
    Indeed it is reprehensible to use “nijlpaard” for that purpose. Words that you can use for a man are “vetzak” or “dikzak” – in case he is fat – or “zwijn/varken” (“swine/pig”) in case appearance or behaviour call for this word 🙂
    And obviously there are many more… But let’s make a modest start 😉
    Sander

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