lion’s share, bulk
[noun]
[het leeu-wen-deel, de leeu-wen-de-len]
‘Leeuwendeel’ is composed of ‘leeuwen’ (the plural of ‘leeuw’: lion) and ‘deel’ (share). Its usage is similar to the English equivalent “lion’s share”. You will only encounter the word together with the article: ‘het leeuwendeel’. There is also a plural form but it is not commonly used.
Examples:
– “Goed, ik zal het leeuwendeel op me nemen, maar ik verwacht van jou wel maximale inzet, afgesproken?”
(“Alright, I will take the lion’s share, but I do expect maximum commitment/effort from you, agreed?”)
– “Het leeuwendeel van de DWOTD-lezers bevindt zich in Nederland en België.”
(“The bulk of the DWOTD readers is located in the Netherlands and Belgium.”)
– “Moeten we nog inkopen doen voor het feest?” – “Ik heb het leeuwendeel van de boodschappen al gedaan, alleen het dessert moet ik nog regelen, of heb jij daar tijd voor?”
(“Do we still have to go shopping for the party?” – “I have already done the bulk of the shopping (/bought the bulk of the groceries), I only have the dessert left to arrange, or do you have time to take care of that?” Note that in Dutch ‘boodschappen doen’ almost always implies going to the supermarket but it can also mean ‘run a few errands’. Literally ‘inkopen doen’ translates as ‘to do purchases’.)
– “Ik heb gehoord dat je op een luxe cruise gaat! Heb je soms geld te veel?” – “Nee, de ouders van mijn vriendin zijn rijk en hebben aangeboden het leeuwendeel te betalen.” – “Zo hé, mazzelaar!”
(“I heard you are going on a luxury cruise! Do you have too much money or what?” – “No, my girlfriend’s parents are rich and have offered to pay the lion’s share.” – “Wow, you lucky [insert favourite noun; note that ‘mazzelaar’ is positive]! .”)
– “Ik heb een verre tante die opeens uit het niets het leeuwendeel van de erfenis opeist, geloof jij dat nou? Niemand heeft ooit van dat mens gehoord!”
(“I have a distant aunt who suddenly, out of the blue, demands the lion’s share of the inheritance, can you believe that? No one has ever heard of this woman!” Note that ‘mens’ in general means ‘human’, but it is strangely enough also used to refer to women (as in a derogatory ‘that woman’!) ).
Related words:
– Deel: part, portion, share [noun] [het deel, de delen].
– Aandeel: share, contribution [noun] [het aandeel, de aandelen].
– Merendeel: greater part, majority [noun] [het merendeel, <no plural>].
– Leeuw: lion [noun] [de leeuw, de leeuwen].
– Leeuwin: lioness [noun] [de leeuwin, de leeuwinnen].
– Welp: cub [noun] [de welp, de welpen].