🚲 my bike has fast binders 🚲
Welcome to the latest instalment of English and the Dutch, the newsletter with tips and tricks, fun facts, new translations and other good stuff about how Dutch speakers speak English. In your inbox every third Wednesday of the month. (This special edition coming to you on the fourth Wednesday of the month, because I am better at languages than at counting.)
The newsletter is written by me, Heddwen Newton. I’m a half Dutch, half British translator, teacher and linguist. I am also the owner of the website www.hoezegjeinhetEngels.nl.
Quiz
The Dutch speaker isn’t saying what they want to say with these sentences. What are they trying to say? How should they have worded it? And what does the English speaker understand?
Today, I’m going to fitness.
(Pats tummy) I’ve been enjoying the Burgundian lifestyle a bit too much, lately.
I think I’ll spend an hour on my hometrainer.
Dutch roots in English
The English word “lukewarm” (=lauwwarm, handwarm) probably comes from the Dutch word “leuk”.
Well, that doesn’t make much sense, you might say. “Leuk” doesn’t mean “tepid” (= lauw). Except it did, a long time ago. In fact, the word “leuk” only started to mean “funny” in the 1800s, and has only been used in its slightly non-committal “nice” sense since the 1980s! (“Hoe was je etentje?” “Ja. Leuk.”)
Before that, it meant “calm, unemotional” which in turn came from the oldest sense “tepid”. We still see this old meaning in the Dutch words “doodleuk” and “leukweg”, where someone unemotionally does something that (according to the speaker) should have had some emotion attached to it.
Dutch/English in the news
“Rubenesque”; insult or compliment?
A new exhibition in the UK with works by the 17th century Flemish painter Rubens has prompted English journalist Susie Orbach to ask what the current standing is of the word “Rubenesque”. Originally coined in the 19th century to describe a curvy or voluptuous woman in a positive manner, what does it say about women now?
New fashion brand Zomer is garnering international interest
Fashion designers Danial Aitouganov and Imruh Asha met in Amsterdam and are now based in Paris. They called their brand “Zomer” because they love the summer. And perhaps also because they love Dutch?
Comparing the London Underground to the Amsterdam Metro
Londoner Henry Fox has also lived in Amsterdam. In his comparison between the two transportation systems, Amsterdam rates higher on almost all counts. It is cleaner, cheaper, easier - but of course it is also much smaller. In the end, London wins.
Recent translations
nietszeggend
I actually used this article when I was writing the etymology piece above (can you spot it?). I always used to say “nothingy” when I wanted to say “nietszeggend”, but it’s not a very good fit, and not even very good English. Better translations I found were “uniformative”, “non-committal” and the simple “vague”. I also like “it’s just empty words” if you need a bit more oomph. There are a lot more potential translations in the article.
snelbinders
One of those words that’s so Dutch, I never even realised I didn’t know the English translation. Until I wanted to tell an international student that the OV bike she was about to rent didn’t have them. “It doesn’t have, uhm, the elastics on the back,” I ended up saying.
Turns out this was probably a good way of saying it. For native speakers who know about bikes, the correct translation is “bungee cords”. My suspicion is, however, that most English-speaking visitors to the Netherlands won’t know this term. My advice therefore is to use the translation “elastic bike straps”. Much clearer. More here.
ervaringsdeskundige
This has been my most popular article on Google for some time now, but it was an old article without any good translation options, so I decided to rewrite it. This time around, I am happier with my options for this tricky Dutch term. I’m particularly fond of “My job is to say: I’ve been in your shoes. I can help,” though of course this phrase cannot be used in most settings. I’ve also found that the term “expert by experience” is becoming more popular in English-speaking countries, making it the best short translation, though you should be aware many English speakers will think it sounds a bit odd.
(Also, fun times: I completely revamped this article just in time for Google to update its search algorithm, leading to my site plummeting in the rankings and my unique visitor rate to be cut in half. But I promised myself not to grumble about that in my newsletter. Oh. Whoops.)
de praktijk is weerbarstig
I should start with an apology to my Belgian-Dutch speakers, because this phrase is Dutch-Dutch, as I discovered during my research. It means something like “reality on the ground turned out to be more problematic than we had planned for”. It’s tricky to translate, but some variation on that sentence will usually do the trick.
I also like “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.”
I had to ask more than one hundred other translators what they thought of this one, because it turned out there was a completely different reading of “de praktijk is weerbarstig” that I had never heard of, namely “current practices are stubbornly entrenced.” This seemed wrong to me, but then I thought perhaps I was wrong, hence the survey. Thankfully, 111 translators backed me up. The top meaning is correct. More here.
kwakkelwinter
My favourite translation for the untranslatable Dutch word “kwakkelwinter” is “underwhelming winter”. It's not the same, but there simply isn't an English term that properly captures this type of non-wintry wintry climate.
Answers quiz
Today, I’m going to fitness.
The Dutch person meant to say: Vandaag ga ik fitnessen
An English speaker would understand: this is not a correct sentence in English, so mostly it just sounds weird. Literally, it says “Vandaag ga ik lichamelijke gezondheid”. The English speaker would probably think the person is trying to say “Today, I am going to the fitness studio.” or “Today, I’m going to work on my fitness.” Which would be okay. But they might not understand it at all, because it truly does sound very weird.
Should have been: today, I’m going to work out.
(Pats tummy) I’ve been enjoying the Burgundian lifestyle a bit too much, lately.
The Dutch person meant to say: Ik heb iets te veel Bourgondisch geleefd, de laatste tijd. (Lees: ik ben een beetje te dik want ik heb teveel gegeten en gedronken)
An English speaker would understand: English speakers are not familiar with the term “Burgundian” to mean living the good life with plenty of food and drink. Though with the tummy pat, they would probably get the drift (= begrijpen waar het ongeveer om gaat). With Burgundy often referring to wine, I think they’d think you’ve been drinking too much wine.
Should have been: There is no literal translation for “Bourgondisch”. Here are a few options.
(Pats tummy) I’ve been living the good life a bit too much, lately.
(Pats tummy) I’ve been enjoying my dinner a bit too much, lately.
I think I’ll spend an hour on my hometrainer.
The Dutch person meant to say: Ik denk dat ik een uurtje op de hometrainer ga
An English speaker would understand: Ik denk dat ik een uurtje op mijn trainer-aan-huis ga liggen
“Home trainer” is not really a word in English, but an English speaker would understand this as a trainer, i.e. a person who comes to help you work out, who comes to your home. So if you are going to spend an hour ON that person, well….
(To be fair, “to spend an hour on someone” can also mean that you are spending time, as you would spend money, on that person. So perhaps you are taking him out to dinner, or spending time going through their accounts? It’s an ambiguous sentence!)
Should have been: I think I’ll spend an hour on my exercise bike.
And finally…
This deleted Seinfeld scene from about 1997 features Jerry and George trying to figure out the location of a certain little country in northern Europe.
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The number of mistakes in this newsletter is directly proportionate to the number of times my three-year-old woke me up last night.