boy oh boy / oh my!
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[tsjon-ge, jon-ge, jon-ge] 

The base noun in the phrase ‘tsjonge, jonge, jonge’ is ‘jongen’: boy. You use the phrase when you are amazed about something but it depends on the intonation what the underlying emotion is. There are multiple variants of this phrase; the more ‘jonge’ you add, the less ‘wow’ and the ‘more’ annoyance 🙂 See the examples for different applications.
(Photo: Roadsidepictures (flickr.com) – some rights reserved.)

You may also hear: “Sjonge, jonge, jonge!”

Examples:
– “Mamma, ik had vandaag een 9 voor mijn repetitie rekenen!” – “Goed hoor! Tsjonge, een negen! Ik ben trots op je!” 
(“Mom, today I got a 9 for my calculus test!!” – “Well done! Wow, a nine! I’m proud of you!” Note that in Dutch schools grading is done numerically from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. The noun ‘repetitie’ is typically used in schools whereas at university ‘tentamen’ is used.)

– “Tsjonge jonge, wat een opkomst! Ik had niet verwacht dat er zó veel mensen zouden komen; het is nu al een succes!!” 
(“Oh my, what a turnout! I did not expect that so many people would come; it’s already a success (and we just got started)!”)

– “Hoe lang staat u al te wachten op de bus?” – “Nou, al bijna 20 minuten!” – “Tsjonge, jonge jonge, dit kun je toch geen wereldstad noemen als je 20 minuten moet wachten op de bus!” 
(“How long have you been waiting for the bus?” – “Well, already almost 20 minutes!” – “Boy oh boy, and this is what they call a capital of the world, one where you have to wait 20 minutes for the bus!”)

– “Tsjonge, jonge jonge, het is toch niet te geloven dit. Tsjonge jonge jonge. Tsjo-nge, jo-nge, jo-nge!!” 
(“Wow, this is truly unbelievable, unbelievable. Oh my. Boy oh boy oh boy!!”)

Expressions:
– “Van de ene verbazing in de andere vallen: to go from one surprise to the next / to be amazed again and again.

Example:
– “Ik val hier van de ene verbazing in de andere! Het lijkt me beter als je nu gewoon je mond houdt!”
(“I’m going from one surprise to the next here! I think you had better just shut your mouth!”)

Related words:
– Verbazing: amazement, surprise, astonishment [noun] [de verbazing, de verbazingen].
– Uitroep: exclamation [noun] [de uitroep, de uitroepen].
– Ongelofelijk!: unbelievable! [exclamation].
– Wauw!: wow! [exclamation].