Category Archives: Vocabulary Intermediate

Het is welletjes geweest

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I’ve had about enough, let’s call it a day/night, it’s time to quit
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[het is wel-le-tjes ge-weest] 

The adjective ‘wel’ translates as ‘well’ (as in ‘feeling well’) or ‘good’ (as in “all’s well”). You often see in colloquial Dutch that adjectives are turned into plural diminutives. Impossible by definition, but common nonetheless 🙂 The adjective that is created this way takes on the meaning of ‘quite/somewhat/rather [original adjective]’. Examples are: ‘magertjes’ (somewhat meagre), ‘povertjes’ (quite poor), ‘stilletjes’ (rather quiet). When you say it has been ‘welletjes’, you are saying that it has been quite enough (or satisfying). You can use it in different ways, see the Examples.

Another common phrase is: “Het is welletjes” or “Het is zo welletjes”. You may even hear: “Het is wel welletjes (zo)” 🙂

Examples:
– “Mensen, het is welletjes geweest, we gaan naar huis want we moeten morgen weer vroeg op.” 
(“People, we’re calling it a night, we’re going home because we have to get up early again tomorrow.”)

– “Massimo, jij nog een biertje?” – “Nee bedankt gozer, het is welletjes geweest, ik moet zo nog rijden.” 
(“Massimo, would you like another beer?” – “No thanks mate/dude, it’s time to stop (drinking), I still have to drive.” Note it’s common to say ‘ik moet nog rijden’, meaning you have to drive a car later that evening.)

– “Nee, ik wil niet doorverbonden worden naar een andere afdeling! Ik ben al vijf keer doorverbonden, het is welletjes geweest, ik eis dat ik nu fatsoenlijk geholpen wordt!!” 
(“No, I don’t want to be put through to a different department! You have put me through 5 times now, I’ve had about enough, I demand that my issue/complaint is properly treated!” Lit.: “I have been put through five times, …, I demand that I’m helped decently!”)

– “Ja dag, het is welletjes geweest. Ik heb je nu een paar keer geholpen, het wordt nu echt tijd dat je het een keer zelf oplost!” 
(“No way, enough is enough. I have helped you out a few times now, it’s about time that you solve it yourself for once.”)

Related words:
– Wel: well, good [adjective].
– Welletjes: quite enough [adjective].
– Goed: good [adjective].
– Genoeg: enough, sufficient [adverb].

Bij lange na niet

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far from it, by no means, not by a long shot
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[bij lan-ge na niet] 

When you are very far from completing something or reaching a desired state, we say that you have ‘bij lange na niet’ completed or reached it. ‘Lang’ means ‘long’, and it basically says that you are a long way from the end goal.

The phrase is also used in the constructions
– ‘bij lange na niet zo [adjective] als …’ (‘not nearly as [adjective] as …’); and
– ‘bij lange na niet [adjective]’ (far from / by no means [adjective]’).

Examples:
– “Zijn jullie al klaar met inpakken? We vertrekken namelijk zo!” – “Bij lange na niet… Maar goed, paspoort en creditcard zijn het belangrijkste zullen we maar aannemen…” 
(“Are you done packing yet? Because we are about to leave!” – “By no means… Anyways, let’s just assume passport and credit card are most important…”)

– “De tennisster heeft bij lange na niet haar droom waargemaakt, want ze strandde reeds in de eerste ronde van het toernooi.” 
(“The tennis player has not made her dreams come true, not by a long shot, because she already failed in the first round of the tournament.” Lit. “… she stranded in the first round”. Note that a male tennis player is a ‘tennisser’.”)

– “Heb je alle huizen al bekeken die aan je eisen voldoen?” – “Bij lange na niet; ik ben pas net begonnen met kijken…” 
(“Have you looked at / visited all the houses that meet your requirements?” – “Far from it; I have only just started looking…” In this example the use of ‘huizen kijken’ is key: looking at houses or looking for houses with the prospect to buy.)

– “Ik zweer het je, de film ‘The Road‘ is bij lange na niet zo goed als het boek, maar dat zie je wel vaker bij een boekverfilming, ja toch?!” 
(“I swear (to you), the movie ‘The Road’ is not nearly as good as the book, but that’s more often the case for movies based on a book, am I right?!” Lit. “… but one sees that more often in case of a ‘book filming’, doesn’t one?!”)

– “Moeten we niet even tanken?” – “Nee hoor, de tank is bij lange na niet leeg.” 
(“Shouldn’t we fill up the car?” – “Nah, that won’t be necessary, the tank is far from empty.” Note the verb ‘tanken’: to fill up (with gas/petrol), to refuel.)

– “Liggen jullie een beetje op schema met de verbouwing?” – “Bij lange na niet, ik denk dat we onze ambitie moeten verlagen en een aantal geplande werkzaamheden moeten schrappen.” 
(“Are you guys a bit on schedule with the renovation/alteration?” – “We’re far from being on schedule, I think we need to lower our ambition and cancel a number of planned acitivities.”)

Expressions:
– “Verre van…”: far from … .

Example:
– “Het is verre van af, maar je begint de contouren al wel te herkennen…”
(“It’s far from finished, but one can see it’s taking shape”. Lit. “one starts to recognize the outlines.”).

– “Onder de maat”: not up to the mark, inadequate, off.

Related words:
– Lang: long, for a long time, at a stretch [adjective].
– Ver: far [adjective/adverb].
– Af: done, finished, ready [adjective].
– Duren: to take/last [verb] [duurde, geduurd].

Overlast

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nuisance, annoyance, inconvenience, harassment
[noun]
[de o-ver-last, <no plural>] 

road-construction-192894_640‘Overlast’ is used for any type of serious inconvenience, e.g. ‘verkeersoverlast’ (traffic related), ‘geluidsoverlast’ (noise pollution/nuisance) or ‘stankoverlast’ (caused by stench).

In general you can say ‘er is overlast van […]’: there is a lot of annoyance/inconvenience caused by […]’. The base noun is ‘last’: nuisance, trouble, inconvenience. The ‘over’ in ‘overlast’ implies that it is really too much 🙂

Examples:
– “Er is in dit gebouw veel geluidsoverlast en dat zou je toch niet verwachten aangezien het recent gebouwd is.” 
(“There is a lot of noise nuisance in this building and that’s not what one would expect given that it was built recently.”)

– “In sommige straten van Den Haag is er verkeersoverlast. De gemeente heeft een nieuw verkeerscirculatieplan geïmplementeerd, maar het blijft behelpen zonder ringweg.” 
(“In some streets in The Hague there is traffic nuisance. The city has implemented a new traffic circulation plan, but without a ring road / beltway it will remain somewhat problematic.” Note ‘het blijft behelpen…’: it will always be suboptimal, it will always remain somewhat problematic…)

– “Wij hebben geen enkele overlast van hangjongeren, maar ik kan me voorstellen dat het in sommige buurten de spuigaten uit loopt.” 
(“We experience no nuisance by loitering teens at all, but I can imagine that things get completely out of control in certain neighbourhoods.”)

– “Bewoners in de regio Rotterdam hebben geklaagd over stankoverlast. Het vermoeden is dat er schadelijke dampen zijn vrijgekomen in de omgeving.” 
(“Inhabitants of the Rotterdam region have complained about stench (nuisance). It is suspected that noxious fumes have been released in the area.”)

– “Er is in de binnenstad veel overlast van wildplassers. Om dat tegen te gaan worden er in steeds meer steden zogeheten ‘plaskruizen’ geïnstalleerd; deze komen ‘s avonds tevoorschijn en verdwijnen overdag ondergronds.” 
(“Urinating in public is a big pest in town centres. In order to fight this nuisance, in many cities so-called ‘plaskruizen’ are installed; these appear in the evenings and disappear underground during the day.” The name ‘plaskruis’ is taken from the shape of the portable version, see picture on the right. A ‘wildplasser’ is a man who urinates in public (‘peeing in the wild’).)

Related words:
– Herrie: (loud) noise [noun [de herrie, <no plural>].
– Last: trouble, nuisance, load [noun] [de last, de lasten].
– Lastpost: troublemaker [noun] [de lastpost, de lastposten].
– Lastigvallen: to harass [verb] [viel lastig, lastiggevallen].
– Asociaal gedrag: rude/antisocial behaviour [noun] [het gedrag, <no plural>].

Tsjonge, jonge, jonge!

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

1862796982_65c6c55803_zThe 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].

Met man en macht

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with great/maximum effort, with might and main, massively
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[met man en macht] 

This expression can only be used in case of a group effort. It is used to emphasize that everybody helped out and gave all they had in order to achieve something.

The expression seems to make sense given the literal translation of ‘with man and power/force’, however its original form dates back to the middle ages and reads: met ‘man en maech’ (with man and his relatives) emphasizing the group aspect more than the effort.

Examples:
– “Met man en macht probeerde de brandweer de brand te blussen maar het mocht niet baten; het pand is volledig afgebrand.” 
(“The fire brigade tried with great effort to extinguish the fire, but it was of no avail; the property burnt down completely.”)

– “Met man en macht is gisteren de hele dag gezocht naar het vermiste meisje.” 
(“Yesterday a huge search party searched all day long for the missing girl.”)

– “De laatste aanhangers van de dictator verdedigden met man en macht hun bolwerk in het midden van de stad.” 
(“The dictator’s last followers massively defended their stronghold in the centre of the city.”)

Related words:
– Man: man (male or person/human) [noun] [de man, de mannen].
– Macht: power [noun] [de macht, <no plural>].

Example:
– “De rebellen hebben de macht overgenomen in het zuiden van het land.”
(“The rebels have assumed power in the southern regions of the country.” Lit.: “.. in the south of the country.”)

– Massaal: massive [adjective/adverb].
– Inzet: effort, dedication [noun] [de inzet, <no plural>]. In case of the translation of ‘stake, wager’, the plural form is ‘de inzetten’.