I don’t believe a thing of it!
[Dutch phrase of the week]
Let’s stay in the category Animals a little bit longer with the phrase of this week. "Maak dat de kat wijs!" literally means "make the cat believe it", and really means: "I don’t believe a thing of it!" The verb is "iemand iets wijsmaken" ("make somebody believe something"). It’s not the only expression in which cats play a role, see "De kat uit de boom kijken" and "Als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel".
Examples:
– "Ben jij op de maan geweest, in je dromen zeker! Maak dat de kat wijs!"
("Have you been to the moon, sure, in your dreams! I don’t believe a thing of it!")
– "Mijn buurman had dit jaar bijna de Nobelprijs voor de Vrede gewonnen." – "Geloof je het zelf? Maak dat de kat wijs!"
("My neighbour almost won the Nobel Peace Price this year." -"You must be kidding! I don’t believe a thing of it!" Lit.: "Do you believe it yourself? …")
– "Heb je maar twee uur slaap per nacht nodig? Maak dat de kat wijs!"
("You only need two hours of sleep per night? I don’t believe a thing of it!")
Related words:
– Wijs: wise [adjective/adverb].
– Wijsmaken: to make believe [verb] [maakte wijs, heb wijsgemaakt].
– Kat: cat [noun] [de kat, de katten].
– Katten: to snarl [verb] [katte, heb gekat].
– Kater: 1. tom cat 2. hangover [noun] [de kater, de katers].
Another great post!
Would wijsmaken be better translated as “to deceive” (since “make believe” is more like “fantasie” or “voor de schijn”)?
Hi Rastan,
Thanks for your remark!
Although strictly speaking, the verbs have the same meaning, “wijsmaken” has a less negative connotation than “to deceive” (“misleiden”, “bedriegen”).
Best,
Laura
Maak dat de kat wijs actually just means ‘Yeah right!’
and I don’t think deceive would be a good word, make believe doesn’t really mean anything like fantasy, it has nothing to do with that and it difinetely has nothing to do with ‘voor de schijn’ because that means you are acting like nothing’s wrong while something actually IS wrong but you don’t want anyone to know.
I’m dutch you know.