What’s happening, what’s all this? [Dutch phrase of the week]
You all know how the Dutch love their bikes. Since bikes are such a large part of everyday Dutch life, many references to it exist in the Dutch language. A few months ago, we explained "Op die fiets". "Wat heb ik nou aan mijn fiets hangen" literally means: "What is hanging from my bike now?" and it can be used in this sense when you find for instance a flyer attached to your bike (see picture). Most often however, it is used figuratively to express one’s astonishment: "What’s happening to me now?" or "What’s all this?".
Examples:
-"Hij stond om drie uur ‘s ochtends aan te bellen! Ik dacht ‘Wat heb ik nou aan mijn fiets hangen?’."
("He was ringing my doorbell at three o’clock in the morning! I didn’t understand what was happening." Lit.: "… I thought ‘What’s going on?")
-"Vertel je me nu dat je me op staande voet ontslaat? Wat heb ik nou aan mijn fiets hangen?"
("Are you telling me that you are firing me on the spot? What’s all this?" Please note that ‘op staande voet’ is an expression meaning "at once", or "on the spot". )
– "Ik gaf de zwerver een euro, en toen zei hij: "Één euro maar? Heb je niet meer?" Ik dacht ‘Wat heb ik nou aan mijn fiets hangen?". "
("I gave the tramp a euro, and he said to me: "Only one euro? Is that all you have?" I thought ‘What’s all this?’")
Related words:
– Fiets: bike, bicycle [noun] [de fiets, de fietsen].
– Hangen: to hang [verb] [hing, gehangen].
I looked at the stock market tv channel today and I thought: Wat heb ik nou aan mijn fiets hangen?! I love DWOTD!