About 6 months ago, I wrote a post entitled 30 Amusing Dutch Words. It was shared, A LOT, so I guess you were mildly interested in it.
Laura Frame, my partner in crime for that post, has come up with some more cute illustrations of Dutch words. It would therefore be a shame not to share some more!!
This post shows you why it’s a bad idea to directly translate Dutch words into English…
1. Eekhoorntjesbrood
Eekhoorntjesbrood – literally translated as ‘little squirrel’s bread’ it actually means porcini mushrooms. Leuk, hè?
2. Luipaard
Means leopard, but is literally translated as ‘lazy horse’.
3. Koevoet
This is the word for a crow bar, but the literal translation is ‘cow foot’. Tskkkkk.
4. Papegaaiduiker
Yuh huh, you got it – ‘parrot diver’. It actually means puffin.
5. Tuinslang
Continuing the animal theme… we have ‘garden snake’ – which is actually just a garden hose.
6. Brandslang
And for real emergencies… a ‘fire snake’!! Ok, ok… it’s really just a fire hose.
7. Gordeldier
Gordeldier means armadillo, but the literal translation is ‘belt animal’ 😀
8. IJsbeer
The direct Dutch translation for polar bear is ‘ice bear’. (IJs can also mean ice cream! Even better!)
9. Paardenbloem
Crossing animal/flower genres, we have the ‘horse flower’. Which is actually a dandelion.
10. Madelief
Literally meaning ‘loveable maggot’ – madelief is the word for a daisy.
11. Vingerhoedskruid
A foxglove is literally translated as ‘finger hat herb’. (Also an ideal candidate for a funny English word illustration!!)
12. Bloemlezing
‘Flower reading’ is the way you say anthology in Dutch.
13. Pindakaas
Literally meaning ‘peanut cheese’, pinkakaas is the word for peanut butter.
14. Toiletbril
Where did I put my toilet glasses??? ‘Toiletbril’ means toilet seat!
15. Stofzuiger
‘Dust sucker’! Thankfully it means vacuum cleaner!!
16. Stembanden
Stembanden, meaning vocal chords. The literal translation is ‘voice tyres’.
17. Schoonmoeder
Definitely one of my person favourites!! Mother-in-law is literally translated as ‘clean mother’. Schoon can also mean beautiful.
18. Feestneus
Are you a ‘party nose’? You might be better known as a party animal.
19. Buitenbeentje
A misfit or ‘being an outsider’ is literally translated from Dutch to English as a ‘ little outside leg’.
20. Brandweer
“Quick, call the fire weather!” Brandweer is the word for fire brigade…
(In this instance, weer comes from weren which means to avert. So ‘Brandweer’ means fire defence or fire aversion. And yes, that’s a map of Belgium – the illustrator has ties with Belgium.)
If you have any more suggestions of amusing Dutch words for Laura to illustrate – please comment below! And if you want to give Laura some love (and congratulate her on her awesome drawings) here’s her Facebook Page.
So, what have been your biggest fails so far whilst learning Dutch? (Or any language?) Ondernemer was a personal highlight of mine – I thought it meant undertaker, but it’s actually entrepreneur!! Plus “Ik heb mijn benen uit.” Totally normal to say that in English, but in Dutch it would insinuate that I have prosthetic limbs. Oops!
Hayley x
Ik heb er weer enorm van genoten
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Of course, calling a horseflower a dandelion (‘lion’s tooth’) is perfectly normal and okay. 😉
The etymology of ‘Madeliefje’ has nothing to do with maggots. It might come from ‘maden’ (mowed meadows) or ‘Maagde’, refering to the Virgin Mary. There is also apperently a really old Dutch word ‘mate’, which just means small.
http://www.etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/madeliefje
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There are more far-fetched ones. Like ‘brandweer’. Brand obviously means fire, but ‘weer’ comes from ‘weren’ which means ‘to avert’.
The same for ‘stembanden’. OP uses ‘tires’ as a translation for ‘banden’, but it could also be ‘bands’ which Google defines as: “a flat, thin strip or loop of material put around something.” Which isn’t so weird when you look at them.
And ‘slang’ is just a translation for ‘hose’. It doesn’t necessarily mean ‘snake’.
Still: Nice drawings.
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Some of them are a bit far fetched…
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I’d translate “vingerhoedskruid” as “thimbleweed” — “vingerhoed” is the Dutch word for “thimble”.
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Over 25 years ago, during a vacation in England, I went to get loose tobacco. In Dutch you would ask for “een pakje shag” so that was what I asked for…a package of shag. Back then I didn’t really understood why everybody laughed at me. Now I do 🙂
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I moved to the Netherlands in 1984. First week, I am in a small Dutch bar and a pretty young girl asked me if I wanted a shag……. the misunderstanding was soon cleared up and we had a good laugh about it.
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Our phone was making a very strange noise. When my husband’s friend called, he asked what the noise was. I answered, “Ik weet het niet, maar het komt van mijn kont.” I meant to say KANT, not kont. What I meant to say was, “I don’t know, but it’s coming from my side.” What I ACTUALLY said was, “I don’t know, but it’s coming from my ass.”
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My two favorite words are “meisje” (maybe because it sounds a little like “messy”? not sure) and–always and forever–aardbeien.
I just love saying it! Aardbeien, aardbeien, aardbeien! 😀
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Reblogged this on Notes from the Novel and commented:
These drawings are even better than last time!
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Great sketches! Mierenneuker is my all-time favorite!
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Or should ‘brandweer’ be translated as ‘fire again’?
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Always funny these lists… One thing I don’t think madelief is actually a combination of ‘made’ and ‘Lief’but rather a single word with no additional meaning (at least in my life I have never, ever heard this explanation for the wprd). Madelief is an acceptable girls name too.
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Madelief is more likely to derive from lieve meid, lovely girl, hence it is such an acceptable name for a girl 👧!
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I love the Pindakass one 🙂 I’ve always found that word a weird one.
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When peanutbutter was introduced in The Netherlands, “butter” was a protected name to distinguish real butter from margarine. Since they had to call it something, it was called peanutcheese, after liver cheese (also something to put on bread, but doesn’t contain any cheese).
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Interesting! But then why is Nutella and the like called chocoladepasta? Why not call peanut butter pindapasta? Or even pindamoes? It seems like there are plenty of other Dutch words for purees and spreads that fit better than cheese!
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I love this page. I want to continue learning your fabulous language. Danku wel.
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And you yourself don’t think some of the English translations are funny by themselves? I mean ‘crow bar’ translates to ‘kraaien staaf’ and foxgloves translates to ‘vossen handschoenen’
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Of course they do! Every single language has words that are funny when you break them down. Feel free to do on one English. I would love to read it! First entry: pony tail. 😀
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Enjoying your post (and Laura’s drawings) as always!
Possible addition: kunstof (plastic) — is it derived from kunst (art) and stof (substance)?
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Kunst means; artificial as in not real. It also means art. Stof does mean material. It can also mean stuff, stuff to think about, or dust, stoffer en blik, or dust as in dust sucker(stofzuiger) a vacuum cleaner…
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Lovely post and lovely art as well! Will definetely be following you!
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Has it never occurred to any of you expats, that the last 3 letters on British number plates quite often offend the unassuming dutchie’s mother?
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More pics like that here: https://instagram.com/p/1P1Xqzl795/ 🙂
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Please please please make an illustration of “knorrig”! God, I had so much fun when I learnt this one (actually I still do)!
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I wonder what the english word is for “basterdsuiker” basterdsugar.
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What no Monkey tail (at) ??? @ haha
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If you ever do an episode 3 then be sure to include Wentelteefjes 🙂
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Tandvlees. Literally: toothflesh Meaning: gums
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Translating dutch, I once tried to explain that there needs to be a “stut” under the bed. It sounds quite English. Support would have been a better translation.
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What about hagelslag? Hail blow? 🙂
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Or “Hail Hit”. But that’s 3 letters away from disaster
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i miss the “ezelsbruggetje” (little donkey bridge – mnemonic) and the ezelsoren (donkey ears – dog-ears in book)
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I might have a funny one for you! ‘Wachtwoord’ is the Dutch word for ‘password’, but when literally translated it’s ‘wait word’ XD
Btw, hilarious page. I’m Dutch and looking at normal words from an English perspective is hilarious!
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“foxglove” You don’t even have to translate that one and you’ll make a good drawning! 😉
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Heheh, very funny.
As a party pooper; another translation for ‘banden’ could be ‘cords’, also used similarly in ‘aan banden leggen’.
But this is funnier 😉
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