Kat in het bakkie

child's play, straightforward, piece of cake Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[Kat in het bak-kie]

KatInHetBakkie With "bak" meaning "bin, can, container, tray" this expression makes you think it's about getting the cat in the (cat's) box, which in fact can be very difficult (unless the cat wants to of course 🙂 ). However, "kat" in this expression may in fact mean "money" and the original meaning could be "bringing in the cash" (read more here (in Dutch) ). These days however, you will use it to say that something is very easy, or can be 'considered done!'

You will also hear "Dat/het is/was kat in 't bakkie!"

Examples:
– "Hoe ging je sollicitatiegesprek?" – "Het was kat in het bakkie, ik word zeker uitgenodigd voor een tweede gesprek!" 
("How was your job interview?" – "Piece of cake, I'm sure that I'll be invited to the second round!" Lit. "Surely I'll be invited for a second interview".)

– "Ga je de deadline nog halen denk je?" – "O man, kat in het bakkie. Ik heb het al lang af, maar nu denkt de manager dat ik keihard aan het werk ben 😉 " 
("Do you think you will be able to meet the deadline?" – "Most definitely! I've already completed it a long time ago, but this way the manager thinks I'm really working hard 😉 .")

– "De kat moet naar de dierenarts en ik krijg hem niet in zijn mandje!" – "Pff, dat is zeker geen kat in het bakkie! Vat je hem, kat in het bakkie?! Ha ha!" – "Ik vat hem Sander, maar het is niet grappig!" 
("The cat has to go to the vet and I can't get it to go in the carrier/cage!" – "Pff, that's definitely no 'kat in het bakkie'! Do you get it, 'kat in het bakkie'?! Ha ha!" – "I get it Sander, it's not funny, that's all!")

Expressions:
– "Eitje": piece of cake.
– "(Het was/is een) Makkie!": very easy to complete or do. Derived from "gemakkelijk": easy.

Related words:
– Kat: cat [noun] [de kat, de katten].
– Bak: container, bin [noun] [de bak, de bakken]. Diminutive: "bakje" or "bakkie" (informal).
– Kattenbak: cat's box/tray [noun] [de kattenbak, de kattenbakken].