My Favourite Dutch Words
One of the missionaries askedβ¦.βWhat are your favourite Dutch words?”
Here are my top 5 for the moment!
πππ€π€ππ« β The adjective lekker, denotes several positive attributes including nice, appealing and high-quality. Tasty food is commonly called lekker. However, the word extends well beyond food! For example it is often applied to nice looking people, well-made clothes, nice weather and even a good nightβs sleep.
πππ³ππ₯π₯π’π π‘ππ’π – This is a fascinating word – it is often equated to cosiness but means even more than that. For the Dutch, I think gezelligheid represents a much broader spectrum of fun, joviality or even amicable situations that are all united by a warm sense of personal comfort and togetherness. Its just a lovely word!
-ππ£π – The Dutch use diminutives much more often than we English speakers do. They make words sound smaller, cuter or friendlier by adding the suffix βtje. For example, a small dog is a hondje, a wee nap is a dutje.
ππ§π ππ°π’π€π€ππ₯π β I just love the word for complicated, every time I use it, it just simply sounds much better in Dutch than it does in English!
ππ¨π©ππ₯π¨π¨π¬ β Anyone who knows me well, will know that my favourite Dutch word of all time is this one. It simply means hopeless! And for many years it was a perfect description of my Dutch itself!!
Do you have any favourite foreign language words?