Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Learn Dutch Proverbs – 250 Dutch Proverbs – Lesson 13

Welcome to my video course "250 Dutch Proverbs". I made a selection of proverbs and sayings

that anyone who learns Dutch should know. The course consists of 25 lessons. In each

lesson, I explain the meaning of 10 proverbs or sayings.

Subtitles are available for each lesson. You just push the CC button in YouTube. The transcript

of the lesson you find on Learndutch.org. And here you see another drawing of Kata

from Hungary. It represents 1 of the 10 proverbs of this video. By the end of the

lesson, I show you the drawing again. Your task to guess which proverb it is.

Lets start with lesson 13, containing proverbs 121-130.

Proverb 121 in de doofpot stoppen

The doofpot used to be a type of stove, where you not necessarily needed to burn all

the fuel, because the stove could be closed airtight - so the fire would stop burning

as no oxygen was supplied. Nowadays, the word

has another meaning; we use it to describe a cover-up. So if people, with a

certain authority, conceal evidence of wrongdoing.

Proverb 122 een wassen neus

Literally: a nose of wax. The meaning: if you say something is very big, very important;

but in fact it appears to be nothing. The expression comes from the theatre in the past,

when actors used wax to make their face look different especially by deforming their

nose. Proverb 123

poolshoogte nemen I start with the meaning of the expression.

Poolshoogte nemen, is exploring the situation on the spot. So, to go there and

have a look. You can use it to explore the situation in the beginning, but also if you

go somewhere to identify the progress of a project. For example, a company is building

your house. You go there once in awhile to check the construction phase. Then you

can say: ik ga even poolshoogte nemen. Ok, now the literal and original meaning.

With poolshoogte is actually meant the angle of pole star to the horizon. If you

know this, you can calculate on which latitude you are. So in the past, this method was used

on ships to determine the position. Proverb 124

iemand een poot uitdraaien Literally: to unscrew ones leg. The meaning

is to let someone pay too much. Proverb 125

de puntjes op de i zetten Literally: to put the dots on the i. It looks

like the English expression: dot the i's and cross the t's. But I think there is a slight

difference in the meaning. The Dutch expression is used to stress the fact that the major

job has been done, and now it is just a matter of the finishing touch. Where as the English

expression stress a job to be done with the greatest care and attention for each minor

detail. Proverb 126

een rib uit mijn lijf Literally: a rib from my body. You use it

to express something is very expensive. The origin is the bible, where God created Eve

by taking a rib out of Adams body. Although the origin of the saying suggests that it

is also worth it, it is not necessarily the matter in the Dutch expression. You can use

it when something is expensive and worth its high cost, but also when you bought a kat

in de zak (as explained in lesson 9).

Proverb 127 rust roest Literally: rest rusts. Or: if you rest, you

rust. The meaning: if you do nothing, your capacities decline. So, you use it to tell

someone he has to stay active. Proverb 128

als er een schaap over de dam is, volgen er meer

Literally: when there is one sheep over the dam, more will follow. You use this proverb

to describe a situation where you are waiting for the first one, and expect that then the

others will see that and follow. For example; a nice day, but the terrace of a cafe is empty.

People walk by. But once the first customers take place on the terrace, you will see that

then much more easily other people also take a seat. It refers to the social behaviour

what we in Dutch call: kuddegedrag. Kudde is a group of

animals, for example sheep. Gedrag is behaviour. People tend to do something only

after they see other people doing it as well. Proverb 129

het schip ingaan Literally: to go into the ship. The meaning

is to loose your money, usually after some risky deal. The origin of this proverb, is

that in earlier centuries, it was hard to find a

crew for the ships. There were recruiters who went to the pubs, who tried to persuade

drunk people to work on the ship, promising a nice future. Of course, it appeared not

to be that profitable at all. Proverb 130

naast zijn schoenen lopen Literally: to walk next to his shoes. We use

this expression to stress someone got conceited and arrogant. Someone who lost a sense of

his own reality. The Dutch especially think it is very important that when someone

gets famous he still remains the same normal person. Where in other countries, people admire

their heros; in the Netherlands it is the opposite. The Dutch admire people who got

famous but do like ordinary people. If in a supermarket a famous person stands in the

line, no Dutch would ever think of letting him pass because he is famous. A typical sentence

in interviews with famous people is ik ben gewoon gebleven. The Dutch society

puts so much pressure on this issue that the famous people themselves need to stress again

and again that they are normal human beings. So, thats it for today. Again you know

10 more Dutch proverbs.

Here you see the drawing again. One of the proverbs of this lesson. I hope you understand

which proverb is represented here. If you, just like Kata, are also a creative

person, and you want to show your skills to the audience of learndutch.org. Feel free

to contact me with your ideas ! Dont walk next to your shoes. Continue

studying because rest rusts. Do not forget to share this video on social

media, and to put thumbs up in YouTube. See you back in lesson 14 of 250 Dutch Proverbs.