1995 - The UnDutchables
Page 11
Chapter 16
THE DUTCH LANGUAGE
The Dutch language, in its written form, looks like someone sat on a typewriter!
—The Dutch Courier, Australia
Like most nationalities, the Dutch insist that their tongue is a difficult one. It is the 6th language of Western Europe and is spoken by some 30 million people worldwide.
This includes two very similar languages: Flemish (Vlaams) in Belgium and Afrikaans in South Africa.
Dutch is basically a form of German which borrows heavily from English and French, although most native speakers will vehemently deny this. If you speak German, you will have an easy time with Dutch. From a grammatical viewpoint, it is easier than German.
Dutch is rarely encountered abroad. Basically, there is no need for it outside of the country, especially since the Dutch are so proficient with languages. Conversely, if you spend more than half a year in Holland without learning the language, your Dutch acquaintances will appear offended that you have not learned their wonderful language.
If you take a course in the Dutch language and finally progress enough to dare to utter some sentences in public, the person you speak to will inevitably answer you in what they detect to be your native European tongue. They love to show off the fact that they have learned one or more other languages.
The more you try to learn Dutch, the more the Dutch refuse to speak Dutch to you and the more they complain that you haven’t learned it.
The abundant use of many vowels (including double vowels), as well as the construction of long words (as in German), gives the written language the appearance of being difficult. However, Dutch is very regular in its pronunciation and grammar.
Foreigners may be surprised to discover that several dialects are spoken within the borders of tiny Holland. They include Gronings (from Groningen), Volendams (from Volendam) and Brabants (from, believe it or not, Brabant). Lesser known (and lesser pronounceable) varieties include Drents, Saksisch, Gelders and Zeeuws. There is also a separate language, Fries, in the northern province of Friesland.
Throat Disease (pronunciation)
There are only a few difficult sounds: the gutturals (represented by the letters ‘ch’ and sometimes by ‘g’’), the ui, ij or ei; and the single versus double ‘a’ (man, maan). If you have never encountered the language but are tempted to experiment with these examples, try reciting the list of ingredients from a soup can, with your mouth half-full of syrup.
During World War II, the military’s secret test of the Dutch nationality was to have an individual pronounce the name of the town of Scheveningen. Foreigners failed when they pronounced it along the lines of ‘Shave-a-Nigger.’ Imagine the outcome of ‘Groningen.’
It takes some time for outsiders to grow accustomed to the sight and sound of the native’s names, as they are long and numerous. Although you will probably be asked to use a one-syllable, vowel-happy forename (Huub, Jaap, Riet), the birth name is invariably a formal one, followed by 1-5 middle names and a surname. In the case of married women, the maiden name is attached with a hyphen.
Examples…
Peter Johannes Theodorus Gustav Arnoldus de Jong
Hubertus Cornelis Johann Maria van Dijk
Wilhelmina Johanna Carola Petra Van Leeuwen-Waterdrinker.
For obvious reasons, the official combinations rarely appear anywhere except on larger legal documents.
Parents can decide if their children bear the last name of the mother or the father. If the parents are not married, a civil servant or registrar will decide which last name the child gets. This is an important decision since it is extremely difficult to have one’s name changed in the country. Names are usually only changed by royal consent after a long process. The only exception is if the name is embarrassing.
Grammar
There are two genders: neuter and a combined masculine/feminine. The masculine-feminine merge (or noun ‘lib’) happened years before gay- and women’s ‘lib.’
Nowadays there are three forms of ‘you.’ U is polite, formal and used in business and with elders. The use of this form of ‘you’ shows respect. U is used less and less these days. If its use deteriorates in proportion to the national lack of respect, it will soon be extinct. Either jij or je can be used for the singular familiar form; jullie is the plural form (not a girl’s name).
The character of a people is reflected in its language. An example of this is seen in the compulsive-obsessive use of diminutives in daily speech. As a Dutch physician explains, ‘Everything has to bear the stamp of the small-scale complacency, which personally I consider to be one of our most typical features.’
The suffix -je is the most common way to exercise this. The Dutch drink een kopje thee (a little cup of tea), take little strolls (gaan een straatje om) and take little journeys around the world (reisje om de wereld).
Trend Setters
Hallo
Don’t let what appears to be friendliness fool you when you first arrive in Holland. When someone says hallo to you, this is most likely not a greeting but rather an explicit expression of contempt to draw your attention to something stupid you have done. It is generally used to embarrass. This is most effective with non-Netherlanders.
Sorry
Common form of lip service, often used in combination with ‘whore,’ as in ‘Surrey whore’ (sorry, hoor).
SVP
The French ‘silver plate’ (spelled s’il vous plait) is often used in its abbreviated form, SVP, on signs and in letters as a replacement for its direct Dutch equivalent AUB (in full, als het u blieft) or ‘(if you)please.’
Spelling Corruptions
Much of the population likes to use modern or progressive spellings which are not yet official, such as buro for bureau or Odeklonje for eau de cologne. The latter also exemplifies the battle between traditionalists, who prefer to leave ‘c’ as ‘c,’ and those who consider themselves progressive, preferring to replace a hard ‘c’ with ‘k.’ This struggle is resolved in some dictionaries by a blanket statement, ‘If not found here, look under ‘c’(‘k’).’
Intrinsic Idioms
Predictably, Dutch idioms show an overall obsession with the three ‘W’s’ (windmills, wooden shoes and water), as well as flowers and Bicycles. Try these phrases out on your Dutch colleagues and take note of their reaction and facial expressions as you do.
WINDMILLS…
een klap van de molen hebben
(lit., get hit by the windmill)
to be crazy
dat is koren op zijn molen
(lit., that is wheat to his mill)
a strong point of a person’s argument
iemand door de molen halen
(lit., run someone through the mill)
to scrutinize someone’s character
met molentjes lopen
(lit., walk with toy windmills)
to be silly
WOODEN SHOES…
blijf met de klompen van ‘t ijs
(lit., keep your clogs off the ice)
keep out of it; mind your own business
met de klompen op het ijs komen>
(lit., go on the ice with wooden shoes)
to butt in, rush headlong into business
Nou breekt mijn klomp!
(lit., now my clog breaks!)
Good Lord! What next?
op je klompen aanvoelen
(lit., feel it with your clogs)
to be obvious
WATER, CANALS, DITCHES, ETC…
ouwe koeien uit de sloot halen
(lit., get old cows from the ditch)
to talk of things past
met de hakken over de sloot
(lit., with the heels over the ditch)
to make it by the skin of one’s teeth
bang zich aan water te branden
(lit, afraid to be burned in water)
to be/become timid or fearful
zo vlug als water
(lit., as fast as water)
> as fast as lightning
hij loopt in geen zeven sloten tegelijk
(lit., he doesn’t walk in seven ditches simultaneously)
He can look after himself; no harm will come to him
aan de dijk zetten
(lit., place on the dike)
to dismiss, fire
water naar de zee dragen
(lit., carry water to the sea)
to perform unnecessary actions
(iemand) van de wal in de sloot helpen
(lit., help someone from shore into the ditch)
to make things worse
de druppel die de emmer doet overlopen
(lit., the drop that makes the bucket overflow)
the straw that broke the camel’s back
het water stoat mij tot de lippen
(lit., I am up to my lips in water)
I am up to my neck (in difficulties, etc.)
recht door zee gaan
(lit., go straight through the sea)
to be frank
spijkers zoeken op laag water
(lit., look for nails at ebb tide)
to find fault, nit-pick
FLOWERS…
de bloemetjes buiten zetten
(lit., put the little flowers outside)
to paint the town red
de bloemen staan op de ruiten
(lit., the flowers are standing on the window panes)
the windows are frosted over
iemand in de bloemetjes zetten
(lit., place someone in the little flowers)
to treat someone like a king/queen
BICYCLES…
doorfietsen
(lit., cycle through)
to flip or thumb through
voor elkaar fietsen
(lit., manage to cycle)
to wrangle, manage
ga fietsen stelen op de Dam
(lit., go steal bikes at Dam Square)
Drop dead!
wat heb ik nu aan mijn fiets hangen?
(lit., now what’s hanging on my bike?)
What kind of mess am I in now?
Chapter 17
FOOD FOR THOUGHT—Culinary character
…you’ve never been able to forget us, just like hagelslag and drop.
—KLM Royal Dutch Airlines advertisement, 1992
Some Traditional Dishes
The international respect bestowed upon the Dutch cuisine is reflected in the abundance of Dutch restaurants found in London, Paris, Berlin, New York or Baghdad.
Culinary orgasmic delights such as stamppot (mashed potato with cooked vegetables/meat/fruit stirred in—as the concoction is pounded almost into a pulp, nobody is quite sure what the featured ingredient is) somehow do not entice the gentry as do coq au vin a la bourguignonne or scaloppeine di vitello al Marsala. And Edam kaas (cheese) is no match for Capricedes Dieux or Swiss Gruyere.
Appelgebak (Dutch apple pie) differentiates itself from other countries’ traditional versions by the ritual around which it is consumed. Preferably accompanied by close friends in a gezellig cafe, the appelgebak (with or without slagroom—whipped cream) and cups of fresh, hot coffee, are slowly consumed, each mouthful garnished by deep and meaningful social intercourse.
Erwtensoep is Holland’s ceremonial centre-piece, succulent starter, majestic main course…whatever. It consists of a delicious, thick pea soup infested with lumps of ham and vegetable(s). It is served with spoon and bib and is available in kit-form at specialist shops and in canned- and powdered-form at supermarkets. It’s as close as you can get to a national dish—or national bowl.
Hutspot (mashed potato with onions, carrots and a suggestion of meat, swimming in a rich gravy) is a hearty dish, about as exciting as such a stew can be. It is most popular in the winter months.
Uitsmijter (ham/cheese and two or three semi-fried eggs on untoasted toast) is mainly adopted as a lunch time treat when even the Dutch cannot face the standard fare (see below).
There are, in general, little or no regional differences in the way traditional dishes are prepared, although some areas sport local traditional delicacies such as Balkenbrei (North Brabant): flour, pigs’ blood and lard, cooked and served with fried bacon.
Midday Morsels
The standard lunch time piece de resistance is a tantalizing choice between open- or closed-sandwiches. Cloggy bread, which is rather dry and bland to the point of seeming stale, is lightly smeared with unsalted butter or unsalted margarine and topped with translucent slithers of processed ham or processed cheese. The unsalted lubricant is probably an attempt to counteract the effect of the highly salted topping. (Edam cheese is salted during manufacture in order to give it a bit of taste.)
Their salt sandwiches are invariably eaten with a knife and fork, and are washed down with coffee or fruit juice to avoid dehydration.
The final course is typically one apple, pear or orange, peeled with the same knife that was used to dissect the main course. For an experience of poetry in motion, observe the way the Dutch peel their fruit:
With apples and pears, a helical peel length is attempted: whether it is achieved or not is largely irrelevant, unless you are superstitious. It is the style of execution that matters. The (blunt) knife blade careens around the fruit from stalk to stub in a continuous, poetic, lethal motion—a combination of Marcel Marceau and Jack the Ripper. For the superstitious, tradition dictates that if you hold the peel above your head, then drop it, the shape of the peel that falls to the deck spells the initial(s) of the peeler’s next lover. Apparently ours are GIG and SCCJG.
With oranges, the top (and possibly the bottom) is first circumcised. A surgical incision is then made at what is left of the stalk-end, and the knife is drawn down to the ex-stub. Successive movements are made at roughly 30-degree intervals to divide the peel into regular segments. This done, the consumer manages, somehow, to split all segments in turn, and the inner sanctum of the deflowered fruit is laid naked for ingestion.
Consumption is secondary to the display of conquest, as the frockless fruit lies helpless in the hands of the rapist, like a British politician at a European monetary convention.
So from where does this exclusively Dutch characteristic stem? The most rational and likely explanation is the Dutch potato passion, the favourite recipe being whole, boiled potatoes, known as boiled potatoes. There is only one way to peel a cooked potato while keeping it intact and that is to use the spiraling-down technique, in one continuous stroke from the north- to the south-pole of the potato. This style of skinning spuds subsequently spread to the peeling of round fruits.
Restaurants
Foreign restaurants are popular social gathering points in towns and cities. Italian, Greek, Chinese and Indonesian eating establishments are commonplace. Turkish, Indian and Mexican are breeding fast. Unfortunately, the dishes served are often corrupted by substitutes for certain unobtainable original ingredients, as is the case in all European countries.
Dutch traditional restaurants also exist. They serve some or all of the dishes previously mentioned, and soup-up the attraction by including other European classics, such as Wienerschnitzel, Jagerschnitzel, steak (biefstuk)—child’s portion—and Tartar (minced, raw steak, tartaartje).
More important than the food is the ambiance that permeates the place. Basically, the cosier the climate, the more popular the establishment. If the milieu is to their liking, the Dutch do not mind forking out a little more than usual. The incredible atmosphere of many of the restaurants is reflected in the overall decor, due to a melange of all those wonderful and typical features touched upon in this work, such as flowers, plants, coffee, apple pie, cleanliness, music, friendliness of staff and price range. Lighting, furniture, architecture and style of dishware (porcelain, etc.) are also important. Political, religious, or ‘good cause’ affiliations are often used to lure customers; in these eating houses, posters and propaganda flavour the scene.
Whatever the locale, there is a definite etiquette that is
followed when the meal arrives. Before commencing your meal, wish your companion(s) bon appetit by uttering one of the following: eet smakelijk, smakelijk eten or eet ze. And observe the ‘paying protocol.’
The ‘paying protocol’ prescribes that if you are invited out for a meal, you pay for yourself (‘go Dutch’). If someone else pays for your meal, reciprocate as soon as possible.
Snack Bars
Snack bars introduced themselves in Holland long before the concept of ‘fast food’ infested western culture.
Banks of coin-operated hatches (automaten) set in walls announce the presence of gastronomic goodies such as over- or under-cooked chicken (kip) wings, hamburgers, potato croquettes (kroketten) and fascinating noodle slabs (bami-bal). Together with the compulsory salted French Fries (swimming in mayonnaise), this type of convenient meal provides just the thing for a healthy jogger to feast on after a strenuous workout.
Perhaps more popular are the relatively new shoarma snack bars which identify themselves by the presence of a vertical grilling device (containing a rotary spit, heavily loaded with thin, wide slices of lamb) strategically located at the front of the ex-shop. These establishments assemble the Middle East version of hamburgers, consisting of dissected pita bread loaded with hackings from the spit, weeping green-salad components and a hot sauce, guaranteed to mask any natural flavour.
Tipp(le)ing
Most restaurants throughout Europe automatically include a 15 percent tip in the bill. Standard Dutch practice is to leave an additional coin or two on the table to express gratitude to the staff and thereby avoid appearing Dutch. That extra 10-cent tip is considered a tremendous token of appreciation by Dutch restaurant clientele. We doubt this sentiment is shared by the restaurant staff.
For those who prefer their sustenance in liquid form and a little stronger than milk, Dutch bars are also places of intense social discourse and atmosphere. Some are open 24 hours a day, some daytime only, some evenings ⁄ nights.
If you drink alone, there is no chance of boredom as most bars provide a monumental display of curiosities and collections on their walls. If the bar has a history, you’ll find it on the walls; if the owner has a history, you’ll find it on the walls; if its name suggests a theme, you’ll find it on the walls; and so on. If you find a bell hanging from a rope, or a rope hanging from a bell, don’t ring it, despite possible encouragement from the locals. By doing so, you’re agreeing to buy all present a drink of their choice. Be cautious when using the phrase, ‘Let’s have a drink’ (borrel or borreltje), as it can easily be interpreted as, ‘The drinks are on me.’