Overlast

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>].

Jennen

to tease, pester, badger, annoy
[verb]
[jen-nen, jen-de, ge-jend

The alphabetical overview tells me that we have not covered many words starting with ‘J’. So, to improve the situation, today’s word is ‘jennen’. The verb ‘jennen’ in general is less serious than ‘pesten’ which can take the meaning of ‘to bully’. Also, ‘jennen’ is used when you are teasing somebody with the objective to annoy, as opposed to ‘pesten’ which you can also use to tease somebody about say a physical characteristic. A synonym of ‘jennen’ is ‘plagen’ however I have the feeling that the ‘annoyance factor’ is bigger for ‘jennen’.

Examples:
“Waarom hebben ze de linkerrijstrook afgesloten? Er is niets aan de hand! Het is gewoon om ons te jennen zeg ik je!” 
(“Why did they close off the left lane? There is no reason at all! They do it merely to annoy us I say!”)

“Hou op met je zus te jennen en help je moeder met de afwas!” 
(“Stop badgering your sister and help your mother wash up / do the dishes.”)

“Het kind van de buren is zo irritant, het zit constant te jennen en kan niet normaal met anderen spelen.” 
(“The neighbour’s child is so annoying, it’s constantly teasing and is unable to play with others.”)

Related words:
– Plagen: to pester, annoy, torment, bully [verb] [plaagde, geplaagd].
– Treiteren: to torment, provoke [verb] [treiterde, getreiterd].

Example:
– “Ze hebben die arme man net zo lang getreiterd totdat hij is verhuisd.”
(“They have kept tormenting that poor man until he moved.”)

– Pesten: to pester, badger [verb] [pestte, gepest].
Lastigvallen: to bother, harass [verb] [viel lastig, lastiggevallen].

Lastigvallen

to bother, to trouble, to harass 
[verb]
[las-tig-val-len, viel las-tig, las-tig-ge-val-len]

Lastigvallen The noun "last" translates as 'burden, trouble, inconvenience'. It can also refer to 'weight' or 'cost'. The adjective is 'lastig', which can also mean 'tricky, hard, difficult'. Whatever the translation, 'lastigvallen' is probably a nuisance! Depending on the intensity, the meaning of 'lastigvallen' ranges from 'to bother/disturb', to 'to trouble/pester/annoy' and even 'to harass'.

Examples:
– "Val me niet overal mee lastig! Los een keer zelf je problemen op!" 
("Don't bother me with everything! Solve your own problems for once!")

– "Ik heb er een hekel aan wanneer mensen mij continu lastigvallen als ik probeer te werken." 
("I really hate it when people continuously bother me when I'm trying to work.")

– "Het meisje beweerde dat de man haar meerdere malen had lastiggevallen, maar er waren geen getuigen." 
("The girl claimed that the man had harassed her several times, but there were no witnesses.")

– "Heeft deze man u lastiggevallen?" – "Nee hoor, hij maakte gewoon een praatje. U daarentegen valt mij wel lastig!" 
("Has this man been bothering you?" – "Oh no, he was just striking up a conversation. You on the other hand, are bothering me." Note we often use the word 'wel' to emphasize the contrary.)

– "Waarom vraag je het niet aan Sander?" – "Ik wil hem niet lastigvallen, hij heeft al genoeg aan zijn hoofd." 
("Why don't you ask Sander about it?" – "I don't want to trouble him, he already has plenty on his mind.")

– "Pardon, mag ik u even lastigvallen, weet u de weg naar het Kurhaus?" – "O, u valt mij totaal niet lastig hoor, het is hier rechts om de hoek, u bent al vlakbij!" 
("Excuse me, may I bother you just one sec, do you know the way to the Kurhaus?" – "Oh, not a bother at all, it's here around the corner to your right, you are already close by.")

Expressions:
– "Iemand tot last zijn": to bother someone, to be an annoyance to someone.

Related words:
– Lastig: difficult, tricky, awkward, troublesome, inconvenient [adjective/adverb].
– Storen: to disturb [verb] [stoorde, gestoord].

Example:
– "Mag ik even storen? Ik heb een korte vraag…"
("May I interrupt just one second? I have a short question.")

– Onderbreken: interrupt [verb] [onderbrak, onderbroken].
– Last: burden, trouble, cost [noun] [de last, de lasten].