Although it’s valid English, it’s not all that common a phrase and often not the most natural equivalent of the Dutch “onder andere”.
Category Archives: Overused words
Ambition
Ambition isn’t always purely about positive goals. There can be overtones of being hell-bent on achieving them: being greedy, self-serving and unscrupulous.
They seek him here, they seek him there
To ‘seek’ is another of those words that are very similar to a much more everyday Dutch equivalent. It therefore gets heavily overused in Dunglish.
Well-equipped
This mask is equipped with an elastic band. This playground is equipped with a slide. This jacket is equipped with large pockets. What’s wrong with “has”?
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.
So-called
Watch the overtones: it’s not only telling you a term is used but also implying that it’s incorrect. A so-called expert or so-called friend is not to be trusted!
Insights… preferably not.
One of the worst offenders in the list of words overused by Dutch authors, because ‘inzicht’ is hugely more common.
Adequate
Would you want to be operated on by a surgeon whose skills are adequate? Or would you rather have one who’s good?
Citizens
Citizen is a perfectly good word when the context is about nationality. Overuse elsewhere can sound as if you’re talking about the French Revolution or writing a dystopian novel.
It ain’t necessarily so
It’s an everyday word in Dutch that’s in every toddler’s vocabulary: nodig. The nearest single equivalent in English (necessary) isn’t.
Advanced Dunglish 