Skip to content

Advanced Dunglish

Valkuilen voor gevorderden…

  • Home
    • More
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • Popular posts
    • Words to avoid
    • Words you don’t use enough
  • Categories
  • Search
  • About
  • Contact

Category Archives: Valse vrienden

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.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJanuary 14, 2022January 14, 2022Posted inAdvanced, Elementary, Mistranslations, Valse vriendenTags:dunglish, engels, monster2 Comments on Water monsters

Paying attention

An ‘attentie’ in Dutch is a small gift, just a little something to show appreciation. The English word ‘attention’ doesn’t have that meaning.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJune 10, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Mistranslations, Valse vriendenTags:aandacht, attentie, dunglish, engelsLeave a comment on Paying attention

Survival rations

The relative numeric sizes of things are expressed as a ratio, not a ration.

Posted byMike WilkinsonApril 28, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Mistranslations, Valse vriendenTags:dunglish, engels, verhoudingLeave a comment on Survival rations

Hernia

Scientifically, it means an internal body part protruding where it shouldn’t. In everyday speech, however, Dutch uses it for a back problem and English for an abdominal one.

Posted byMike WilkinsonDecember 22, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Mistranslations, Valse vriendenTags:dunglish, engels, hernia, liesbreuk3 Comments on Hernia

Beamer for Christmas?

My brother-in-law was astonished when I said I was getting Clare a beamer for Christmas. An SUV or a soft-top?

Posted byMike WilkinsonDecember 11, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Fake English, Mistranslations, Valse vriendenTags:beamer, dunglish, engels2 Comments on Beamer for Christmas?

Psychic distress

Anything to do with the psyche – the human mind or soul, after the goddess of the same name – has to be referred to as “psychological” or “mental”, not “psychic”.

Posted byMike WilkinsonSeptember 22, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Mistranslations, Valse vriendenTags:dunglish, engels, psychischLeave a comment on Psychic distress

Relations and relationships

Dutch uses the same word for both (relatie), but the meanings in English are distinctly different.

Posted byMike WilkinsonSeptember 9, 2020September 9, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Mistranslations, Overused words, Style, Valse vriendenTags:BZK (ministerie), dunglish, engels, relatieLeave a comment on Relations and relationships

Cowboys and Indonesians

Unusually for European languages, Dutch has retained the word “Indisch” as the demonym for the former East Indies and people are always mistranslating it as “Indian”.

Posted byMike WilkinsonSeptember 4, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Cultural, Mistranslations, Valse vriendenTags:dunglish, engels, Indisch, Indonesisch, VOC1 Comment on Cowboys and Indonesians

Quartermaster

A quartermaster is a low or mid-level military administrator responsible for supplies and equipment, not some kind of high-level official trailblazer for projects.

Posted byMike WilkinsonAugust 5, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Fake English, Mistranslations, Valse vriendenTags:dunglish, engels, kwartiermakerLeave a comment on Quartermaster

Trajectories are for ballistics

The curve taken under gravity by a thrown object, or a metaphorical upward progression such as a career. Not a generic synonym for a route or pathway.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJuly 10, 2020July 14, 2020Posted inMistranslations, Overused words, Style, Valse vriendenTags:dunglish, engels, Eurospeak, traject2 Comments on Trajectories are for ballistics

Posts navigation

1 2 Older posts

Site search

Advanced Dunglish, Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Follow Following
    • Advanced Dunglish
    • Join 99 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Advanced Dunglish
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar