The Delightful Charm of Dutch Words: A Stroopwafel Lover's Guide to Quirky Phrases

Dutch expressions are like a well-made stroopwafel: layers of meaning wrapped in something sweet and slightly unexpected. Translate them literally into English and most of them sound completely unhinged. Learn what they mean and they start to feel like the most sensible phrases in the language.

Here are the ones our Dutch family actually uses.

Words English simply doesn't have

  • Uitbuiken — literally "to belly out." The act of sitting back after a large meal and letting your stomach settle. English needs a whole sentence for this; Dutch has a verb.
  • Gezellig — the warm, convivial feeling of good company in a good room. It's the most Dutch word there is, and it's genuinely untranslatable. We wrote a whole guide to gezellig.
  • Lekker — tasty, but stretched far beyond food. A good night's sleep is lekker. So is the weather.
  • Toiletbril — the toilet seat, literally "toilet glasses," because bril means spectacles and the seat is a ring you look through. Once you see it you cannot unsee it.

Expressions that make no sense until they do

  • Nu komt de aap uit de mouw — "now the monkey comes out of the sleeve." Used when the truth finally emerges. Rather like discovering that "just one more stroopwafel" meant the whole bag.
  • Nu breekt mijn klomp — "now my clog is breaking." Complete astonishment. Reserved for genuinely surprising news.
  • Met de deur in huis vallen — "to fall with the door into the house." To get straight to the point without preamble, which is a very Dutch way to conduct a conversation.
  • Over koetjes en kalfjes praten — "to talk about little cows and calves." Small talk. The diminutives do the work.
  • Voor een appel en een ei — "for an apple and an egg." Dirt cheap.
  • Helaas pindakaas — "unfortunately, peanut butter." An entirely serious way of saying "oh well, too bad," which rhymes and therefore cannot be argued with.

The one about not overdoing it

Our favourite is a proverb: lekker is maar één vinger lang — "tasty is only one finger long." It means good things don't last, so enjoy them while they're here. We respectfully disagree where stroopwafels are concerned, but we admire the sentiment.

Practise on a stroopwafel

The Dutch approach to language mirrors their approach to food: plain ingredients, arranged with unexpected cleverness. A culture that turned "toilet seat" into "toilet glasses" is the same one that worked out how to seal warm caramel between two paper-thin waffles.

So put the kettle on, rest a 3Bros stroopwafel on top of your cup for a minute, and try a few of these out loud. Just swallow first — we'd hate to be responsible for flying kruimels (crumbs).

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