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To all the native speakers, translators and Anglophiles reading this site: here are the terms I most need your help with

Geplaatst op 18 maart 202316 maart 2023 door Heddwen
This is not me (my house is way messier)

People always cite “gezellig” as being the ultimate Dutch untranslatable word, but I’m not too fussed about “gezellig”. There are ways to get around “gezellig”.

The word that gets my neurons in a frizz is “inhoudelijk“. Especially in the following sentence: “Ik heb een inhoudelijke vraag”. I have a question about… “The contents”? That’s not right. “The nitty gritty”? Ugh. “The subject matter”? Not really something we say, and I worry people would misunderstand. Do you have a better idea? Click here to help me out!

That’s not the word that most people look up, though. In terms of popularity, the number-one untranslatable word on this website is “ervaringsdeskundige“. Have a look at the article and see if you have a good idea for a translation. Kind of in the same genre is “hulpvraag“, which I have also never been able to find a satisfactory translation for.

Another popular one is “keuzestress“. A lot of Dutch people would be very grateful for a good translation, so your help would be appreciated!

Then we have “twijfelen“. There’s plenty of ways to translate “twijfelen”, but which one is the best? I am in doubt, I’m conflicted, and I’m on the fence about it. Perhaps there’s one perfect translation I just haven’t come up with yet? Click here.

“Verdieping” in the sense of “laten we de verdieping opzoeken” is another tricky one, and so is “uitstraling“ in the sense of a person who is not beautiful per se, but has great presence.

My untranslatable Dutch idioms are “een stok achter de deur“, “een sigaar uit eigen doos“, “je ogen uitkijken” and “ik ben er echt heel erg aan toe“.

There’s more, but let’s stick with these for now. It would be great if you could do some “meedenken” – ah, that’s another one! Ideas, thoughts, commiserations… they’re all very welcome, just click on the word you’d like to help me with and leave a comment under the article with your remark. Thank you ❤️

Heddwen Newton is an English teacher and a translator from Dutch into English. She thinks about languages way too much, for example about how strange it is that these little blurb things are written in the third person.

Heddwen has two children, two passports, two smartphones, two arms, two legs, and two email newsletters.

English and the Dutch examines all the ways Dutch speakers interact with the English language. It has almost 1500 subscribers and is growing every day. Sign up here.

English in Progress is about how the English language is evolving and how it is spoken around the world. It has more than 2300 subscribers and is growing every day. Sign up here.

Meer lezen? GA NAAR EEN WILLEKEURIG ARTIKEL

Disclaimer: deze site is geen woordenboek. Mijn vertalingen zijn de meningen van één mens, en mijn voorbeelden zijn zelfverzonnen. Meer weten? Kijk dan bij de veelgestelde vragen.

Bron foto: Yan Krukau, Pexels

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  • Hoe zeg je “confronterend” in het Engels? 9 mei 2025
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  1. Petra op Contact21 mei 2025

    Hi Heddwen, ik gebruikte onlangs een Nederlandse uitdrukking over iemand die zich "Roomser dan de Paus" opstelde (maar later bijtrok…

  2. Gerald Braithwaite op Hoe zeg je “doemdenken” in het Engels?20 mei 2025

    So, 'daunting' as a gerund-form of 'to daunt', instead of as an adverb ... ehm ... quite innovative thinking.

  3. Frederik de Haan op Hoe zeg je ‘zo gezegd, zo gedaan’ in het Engels?20 mei 2025

    Erg mooi bedacht, deze website! :-)

  4. Frederik de Haan op Hoe zeg je “doemdenken” in het Engels?20 mei 2025

    'Daunters' are what 'the doom and gloom thinking peeps' are called in the midwest US states. :-)

  5. Sarah Turley op Hoe zeg je “confronterend” in het Engels?15 mei 2025

    ‘Confronting’ is een word dat ik bijna nooit gebruik in het Engels. Het klinkt een te formeel, te klinisch, misschien…

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