Klokslag

stroke of a clock Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de klok-slag, de klok-sla-gen]Bigben

"Klokslag" is composed of "klok" and "slag", which respectively translate to "clock" and "strike/stroke/blow. "Klokslag" is therefore the stroke of a clock.

You will encounter "klokslag" mostly though in the idiom "klokslag [t] uur" or "klokslag half [t]", where t can be any hour of the day. It is best translated with "at exactly [t] o’clock".

The English idiom "at the stroke of midnight" cannot be literally translated with "klokslag middernacht". This would be "precies om middernacht".

Examples:
– "Dat is gek, het is nu drie uur, en ik hoor vier klokslagen…" 
("That’s funny, it’s three o’clock now, and I hear four strokes now…")

– "Om klokslag zes uur zal een zwarte auto het geld oppikken. Volg deze niet." 
("At exactly six o’clock a black car will pick up the money. Do not follow.")

– "Precies om middernacht verandert Frank in een kikker." 
("At the stroke of midnight, Frank will change into a frog.")

Expressions:
– "Haastige spoed is zelden goed": haste makes waste.

Related words:
Horloge: watch [noun] [het horloge, de horloges].
– Wijzer: pointer [noun] [de wijzer, de wijzers].

Example:
– "Als de grote en de kleine wijzer samenvallen, is het twaalf uur."
("If the hour and the minute pointer are aligned, it’s twelve o’clock.")

– Klok: clock [noun] [de klok, de klokken].
– Slag: strike, blow [noun] [de slag, de slagen].

3 thoughts on “Klokslag

  1. A small error:
    It is “and I hear four strokes now…” instead of “and I here four strokes now…” 🙂

  2. I often use the phrase “on the dot” to mean exactly 6 ‘o’ clock. Thus:
    “I’ll be there at 6, on the dot.”
    or
    “Please be here on the dot.”
    I assume this comes from the dots on a clock/watch face.

Comments are closed.