The Joy of Languages and Sayings

An batch of language bits to make you laugh

The weather has not been the best this last week and therefore I have not done much exploring outside but have instead delved into a bit of research. I discovered that many of the sayings I obviously used and still use when speaking Dutch make no sense in either Dutch or English if you really think about it. I couldn’t help but give you a few. Each time I give you the English translations first, then the Dutch saying, and lastly where it comes from (when I know - Thank you https://onzetaal.nl/schatkamer/lezen/uitdrukkingen)

Now my wooden shoe breaks!

Nu breekt mijn klomp!

An exclamation of surprise or amazement.

As if a little angel pisses on your tongue

Alsof er een engeltje over je tong piest

An expression of some sort of ambrosial delight 🙂

It shall be a sausage to me

Het zal me een worst wezen

I could not care less

I would like to stick them behind the wallpaper

Ik wil ze wel achter het behang plakken

When someone is so irritating that you want them to be quiet and sort of not there for a bit

He knows where Abraham gets the mustard

Die weet waar Abraham de mosterd haalt

An acknowledgement that someone knows a lot or can do a lot. ‘Om mosterd gaan’ (getting mustard) in the 17th century meant doing business.

Another Abraham one:

Abraham zien (or ‘Sara zien’ if you are a woman)

Seeing Abraham

It means that someone has turned 50 years old. Usually they receive a doll of some sort that is meant to be an old man or an old woman as a sign that they ‘have seen Abraham or Sara’

It goes back to the Bible story of Abraham and Sara who at an advanced age conceived a son. The saying ‘Abraham zien’ could be found in dictionaries as early as 1898. ‘Sara zien’ on the other hand has only been found in dictionaries since 2005. Egality clearly is late in the Netherlands too.

Starting his asparagus beds somewhere

Ergens zijn aspergebedden aanleggen

Someone is settling properly somewhere that they will stay until they die. Asparagus beds take a long time to become productive.

To compress like a plug

Balen als een stekker

Being totally and utterly fed up. ‘Als een stekker’ is a general phrase that magnifies the meaning. The phrase probably started during the second half of the 20th century and is a variation of ‘balen als een stier’. A ‘stier’ is a bull. This in turn comes from ‘het land hebben als een stier’ which comes from ‘het land inhebben’ which is a sailor’s phrase that meant feeling as if you are a sailor on land. The addition ‘als een stier’ was probably added by people who assumed ‘having land’ was a farmer saying. Convoluted, no?

Not having a penny to lack

Geen cent te makken hebben

Being absolutely destitute. The saying comes from the Bargoens which was the secret language of thieves, vagrants, and traveling salesmen. It contained a lot of Yiddish.

Having a dark brown suspicion

Een donkerbruin vermoeden hebben

Being almost totally convinced you know the truth about something (always about something negative).

It started with ‘brown clouds’ as a phrase in the language of sailors which was used to describe rough weather. This meant that ‘brown’ started meaning something that caused concern. (and yes, I know exactly what YOU thought the saying meant….)

On his eleven thirtieth

Op zijn elfendertigst

Very slowly and convolutedly. Something done in a way that causes irritation in others due to the extremely slow way it is being done.

To star with the term elfendertigst meant neat and tidy. The expression comes from a weaving term ‘elf-en-dertig’ which was a comb for very fine textiles. As this type of weaving takes a long time, over time it started to mean slowly.

Giving someone on his headscarf

Iemand op zijn falie geven

Strongly telling someone off or beating them up.

A ‘falie’ was a headscarf that women wore over their shoulders or on their head. It was often worn in the 19th century. Women would wear it on their shoulders but move it up to cover their heads when stepping into church.

Being left with the baked pears

Met de gebakken peren zitten

When you are left with the unpleasant results of earlier happenings. As if you have cooked a wonderful meal but none of the guests turned up.

It is happening Hooks and Cods

Het gaat er Hoeks and Kabeljauws aan toe

It is noisy, quarrelsome, and argumentative.

In 1345 the ‘Hoekse and Kabeljauwse twisten’ conflict started between the followers of Margaretha van Henegouwen and her son Willem V. The first named themselves ‘de Hoeken’ (in midDutch ‘hoec’ means a fishing hook). The others named themselves ‘de Kabeljauwen”, why? no one seems to know. The conflict lasted almost 150 years.

Finishing something with a Johnny from Leiden

Je ergens met een jantje-van-leiden van afmaken

Doing something half-hearted. Jan Beukelszoon van Leiden (1509 to 1536) was a tailor and salesman who had a bad reputation of being able to talk the talk but not walk the walk. He came to a bad end and was put to death in 1536.

Standing with your mouth full of teeth

Met je mond vol tanden staan

Not knowing what to say. When you don’t have an answer.

The idea is that all your mouth has in it are teeth. No words.

Sewing an ear on someone

Iemand een oor aannaaien

Playing a trick on someone or scamming someone.

Children used to be punished at school for being stupid by putting donkey ears on their head (in the 16th century). Donkey ears have long been a symbol for stupidity (look up Ovid’s Metamorphosis).

Having your sheep on the dry

Je schaapjes op het droge hebben

It means that you have enough finances that you no longer have to work.

The saying comes from the 16th century when people would often let their sheep graze on land outside the dikes that would only be dry at low tide (and would flood at high tide). If you remembered to bring the sheep to safety, you did not lose any.

Snapping a little owl

Een uiltje knappen

Having a little nap. It is assumed that instead of owls, the saying talks about a specific butterfly and so in essence it says ‘catching a butterfly’.

A truth as a cow

Een waarheid als een koe

Something very obviously a truth, or a cliche.

Comes from the 19th century when in 1850 a student newspaper a sentence read: “his story showed that there are young people of different mentalities; a truth as a cow as one of my friends would say.” Why a cow, no one knows.

Standing as if a pillar of salt

Er als een zoutpilaar bij staan

Standing stock still (because you had an enormous shock)

It comes from the Bible where Lot was allowed to leave Sodom and Gomorra with his wife and daughters as long as they did not turn around. His wife turned around and turned into a pillar of salt.

I would love it if anyone can tell me some good sayings in their own language (with meaning and origin)!