‘Unfortunately Peanut Butter’ and 14 Other Typically Dutch Expressions
Source: pexels.com
In this article will go through and explain some of the most prominent Dutch idioms and expressions. These typically Dutch idioms and expressions reflect the culture, lives, history, and environment of native speakers. As such, getting to know these expressions will give you an insight into the depths of minds and lives of the Dutch.
Using these idioms yourself is a great way to connect to locals and an important part of truly learning a language. But at first glance, when confronted with these expressions as someone who is just learning the language, they can seem completely unintelligible and bizarre when you translate the sentence word for word. So, with this blog it’s time to truly uncover and master this exciting and hidden part of the Dutch language. About idioms
Idioms are expressions that have a different meaning to the literal words in the sentence. For instance, the English expressions ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’ does not mean that cats and dogs are falling out of the sky. The expression is actually meant to describe heavy rain. In this article we will go into idioms like this that are particular to the Dutch language.
15 Dutch expressions & what they mean
Het regent pijpenstelen
Literal translation: ‘It’s raining pipe stems’
Meaning: this expression is used to describe heavy rain.
Het loopt in de soep
Literal translation: ‘It’s turning into soup’/ ‘It walks in into the soup’
Meaning: this expression is used to describe a situation is going horribly wrong and is becoming a failure or disaster.
Zo gek als een deur
Literal translation: ‘As crazy as a door’
Meaning: this expression is used to express that someone is completely crazy. This expression does not always mean ‘crazy’ in the negative sense. For instance, a dog or a loved one can be ‘zo gek als een deur’ and mean something more like ‘fun crazy’.
Nu komt de aap uit de mouw
Literal translation: ‘Now the monkey comes out of the sleeve’
Meaning: this expression is used to express that the truth is finally coming to light about a situation or someone’s character.
Met je neus in de boter vallen
Literal translation: ‘Falling with your nose into the butter’
Meaning: this expression is used when someone comes into a situation at exactly the right time or to be lucky in a certain situation.
De kat uit de boom kijken
Literal translation: ‘To watch the cat out of tree’
Meaning: this expression is used to describe when someone waits to see how things develop before jumping into a situation. They first observe and then act. Often used to describe a shy or introverted person.
De handdoek in de ring gooien
Literal translation: ‘To throw the towel in the ring’
Meaning: this expression means to give up. It comes from the sport boxing: when the trainer sees the boxer can’t go on, he throws a towel onto the podium to stop the fight.
Helaas pindakaas
Literal translation: ‘Unfortunately, or regrettably peanut butter’
Meaning: this expression means something along the lines of ‘tough luck’ or ‘too bad’. Often used to make a situation a little bit lighter.
Iemand een hart onder de riem steken
Literal translation: ‘To insert someone’s heart under the belt’
Meaning: this expression means to say (or do) something encouraging and supporting to someone who is in a tough situation.
Met de deur in huis vallen
Literal translation: ‘To fall with the door in the house’
Meaning: this expression is used to describe being blunt and straightforward. It’s often used to indicate that you will say something very direct and often not very pleasant to the receiver of the information.
Ieder dubbeltje drie keer (moeten) omdraaien
Literal translation: ‘To (have to) turn each dime three times’
Meaning: this expressions in used to indicate that someone has to very frugal or careful with how they spend their money, especially when they don’t have a lot.
Een appeltje met iemand te schillen hebben
Literal translation: ‘To have an apple to peel with someone’
Meaning: this expression is used when someone is upset or angry with someone and wants to confront that person to let them know how you truly feel about them or the situation.
De knoop doorhakken
Literal translation: ‘To cut through the knot’
Meaning: this expression means to (finally) take a decision. Mostly used to describe a decision someone’s thought about for a long time and eventually forces a decision because the one ‘right ‘choice is not apparent.
Het paard achter de wagen spannen
Literal translation: to put the cart before the horse
Meaning: this expression is used when someone does something in an illogical way that is not conducive to reaching the intended goal. Often when things aren’t done in the right order.
Dat is andere koek
Literal translation: that is a different cookie
Meaning: this expression is used to describe when something is completely different. But it can also mean to describe when something is very impressive or very difficult, in the sense of the English ‘that’s a whole different ball game’.
Closing notes
I hope you enjoyed learning about these typically Dutch idioms and expressions in this article. And that it inspired you to dig a little deeper into the Dutch language than simply learning vocabulary and grammar. Languages indicate so much about the culture, history and people of a country, and that’s what makes learning a language so exciting.
We would love for you to share a bit about your culture and language by sharing your favourite expressions from the list and one from your native language with the community. You can let us know on the forums via this link.
Keep practicing
To really improve your language skills long-term it’s important to keep practicing the new things you’ve learnt like these Dutch expressions. With the material below, you can practice the expressions you’ve learnt above:
Until next time!
Marieke, OLS Community Manager - Dutch
Source: pexels.com