marble [noun] [de knikker, de knikkers]

Unless you are still a child (that doesn’t like computer games) you will probably not shoot or play marbles anymore. There are however a few good expressions with "knikker" or the verb "knikkeren", see below.

Mind the pronunciation: in ‘kn’ the ‘k’ is always pronounced.

 Examples:
– "Ik ben gisteren bijna gevallen omdat er een knikker op de vloer lag in de keuken."
("Yesterday I almost fell because there was a marble on the floor in the kitchen.")

– "Knikkers? Nee volgens mij verkopen we die niet, is dat de naam van een Nintendo-spel?"
("Marbles? No I don’t think we sell those, is that the name of a Nintendo game?")

– "De namen die kinderen aan knikkers geven, verschillen per regio."
("The names that children give to marbles differ per region.”)

Expressions:
– "Er is stront aan de knikker": we’re in trouble, there is trouble, the shit hits the fan etc. Lit.: "there is shit/crap on the marble", but my guess is that "knikker" might have a different meaning here.
– "Zo kaal als een knikker": literally "as bald as a marble", this says you are really bald.
– "Het gaat om het spel, niet om de knikkers": it’s not winning that counts, but taking part. Lit.: "It’s about the game, not about the marbles." There are several variations to this expression.
– "Ik heb nog met hem geknikkerd": I know him from when we were young, lit.: "I used to play marbles with him".
– "Iemand eruit knikkeren": to chuck somebody out. Usually out of a group activity, a team, job position etc.

Example:
– "Na de slechte prestatie van het afgelopen jaar is de manager eruit geknikkerd."
("Due to the bad performance of the past year the manager was chucked out.")

Related words:
– Knikkeren: to play/shoot marbles [verb] [knikkerde, geknikkerd].
– Knikkerspel: game of marbles [noun] [het spel, de spelen].
– Potje: game [noun] [het potje, de potjes]. Also "pot", this is an informal synonym for "spel".

Example:
– "Zullen we nog een potje knikkeren?"
("Shall we play another game of marbles?")

– Knikkerzak: marbles pouch/bag [noun] [de zak, de zakken].