Advanced Dunglish… the blog
- Click the heading to read the blog post
- After opening a post, you can:
- select various categories such as Punctuation or US-UK issues to find related posts
- select tags to find other items about the same specific topic
- leave comments (kan ook in het NL, uiteraard)
Social and societal
For some reason, Dutch writers love correcting “social” into “societal”.
0.5 tons
English use of plurals with numeric (decimal) fractions is peculiar, particularly in the spoken form.
Symbol for an average
There isn’t one in English. However, German and Dutch speakers sometimes misuse the technical one for “diameter” because the word is the same.
Making do
Making a jigsaw in English would mean cutting the puzzle pieces out, not putting them together. One of many occasions where Dutch uses “make” but English prefers “do”.
Water monsters
No, we’re not talking Nessie or ichthyosaurs: a water monster in Dutch also has a second, more common and prosaic meaning: a water sample.
Security and safety
Dutch authors can be a bit woolly about security (protection against threats) and safety (eliminating risks and hazards), or blur the lines between them.
The Dunning-Kruger effect
Applicable to many people’s opinion of how good their English is: the cognitive bias of overestimating your skills because you aren’t fully aware of your shortcomings.
Insulation and isolation
Both are ‘isolatie’ in Dutch, so it can cause confusion. Especially as there are cases where both get used in English (e.g. electrics).
Scooters and mopeds
A scooter is usually more of a child’s unpowered toy, whereas a moped has a small internal combustion engine.
Twins
A twin is a single person, who happens to have been born alongside another. That’s different from Dutch, in which “a twin” refers to the identical twosome.
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Advanced Dunglish 