Dutch Idioms & Expressions
80 cards · 🇺🇸 English → 🇳🇱 Nederlands
Common Dutch idioms and expressions with their literal and figurative meanings.
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1 / 10It's raining cats and dogs
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- 1It's raining cats and dogsHet regent pijpenstelen (literally: it's raining pipe stems)
- 2To have a finger in the pieEen vinger in de pap hebben
- 3To beat around the bushOm de hete brij heen draaien (literally: to turn around the hot porridge)
- 4To add oil to the fireOlie op het vuur gooien
- 5To fall with the door in houseMet de deur in huis vallen (to get straight to the point)
- 6To have butter on your headBoter op je hoofd hebben (to be guilty of something similar)
- 7To see bears on the roadBeren op de weg zien (to see problems where there aren't any)
- 8Now comes the monkey out of the sleeveNu komt de aap uit de mouw (now the truth is revealed)
- 9That's a different cookieDat is een ander koekje (that's a different matter)
- 10To have a hangover like a night watchEen kater als een nachtwacht hebben
- 11To walk with a wide arc around somethingMet een grote boog om iets heen lopen (to avoid something)
- 12To have seen the ducks swimmingDe eendjes leren zwemmen (to know how things work)
- 13For a apple and an eggVoor een appel en een ei (very cheap)
- 14To have one's heart on the right spotHet hart op de juiste plaats hebben
- 15To break sour applesZure appels breken (to have a difficult time)
- 16As two drops of waterAls twee druppels water (identical)
- 17To throw high eyesHoge ogen gooien (to make a good impression)
- 18To fall into the wellIn de put vallen (to become depressed)
- 19To have a cookie of own doughVan eigen deeg een koekje bakken (to give someone a taste of their own medicine)
- 20That cuts no woodDat snijdt geen hout (that doesn't make sense)
- 21To take someone on the armIemand op de arm nemen (to tease someone)
- 22To have it on your hipsHet op je heupen hebben (to be well-off)
- 23To run like a red thread throughAls een rode draad door iets lopen (to be a recurring theme)
- 24To stand with your mouth full of teethMet je mond vol tanden staan (to be speechless)
- 25To sell cat in the bagDe kat in de zak kopen (to buy something sight unseen)
- 26To look the cat out of the treeDe kat uit de boom kijken (to wait and see)
- 27To have something behind the elbowIets achter de elleboog hebben (to be skilled at something)
- 28With the French manners offMet de Franse slag (quickly and carelessly done)
- 29To have a long toeEen lange teen hebben (to be easily offended)
- 30That's peanutsDat zijn pinda's (that's nothing, insignificant)
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