Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Dunglish shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Dunglish offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Dunglish at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Dunglish? Wrong! If the Dunglish is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Dunglish then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Dunglish? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Dunglish and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Dunglish wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Dunglish then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Dunglish site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Dunglish, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Dunglish, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
Dunglish is a
portmanteau of
Dutch and
English, a name for
Dutch English. The word is often used pejoratively to refer to the mistakes native
Dutch language speakers make when speaking
English language. Both languages are closely related Germanic languages, and the Dutch are taught English in elementary school. Dutch-speaking Belgians are usually taught English at the age of 12. In addition, English-spoken movies are subtitled instead of dubbed in
the Netherlands and in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of
Belgium, as are all foreign-language films.
The Dutch word for the poorest form of Dunglish is
Steenkolenengels (
"Coal English"). This term goes back to the early twentieth century when Dutch port workers used a rudimentary form of English to communicate with the personnel of English coal ships.
Errors occur mainly in
pronunciation,
word order and the meaning of words. Former Dutch ambassador and prime minister
Dries van Agt supposedly once said "I can stand my little man" (
ik kan mijn mannetje staan, a Dutch saying meaning roughly "I can stand up for myself"). Another example of inappropriate English was phrased by the former leader of the Dutch liberal party, Frits Bolkestein. When talking about economic prospects he kept referring to them as "golden showers". In Dutch this phrase does not have the second, more dubious connotation.
Two American counterparts to Dunglish were once common: Jersey or
Bergen County Dutch, a pidgin Dutch spoken in parts of
New Jersey and a remnant of the days of Dutch possession of the area in the mid
17th century. In the Midwest, a separate pidgin Dutch was used by immigrants who came from
the Netherlands in the 19th century, primarily in Western Michigan where the largest group of Dutch immigrants in the U.S. lived.
Jersey Dutch (meaning
New Jersey, not
Jersey) apparently had quite a long life despite the Dutch disappearing as colonizers early on, and was reputed to have lasted into the
20th century. Yankee Dutch persists to this day, with a few speakers still living, although the likelihood of the pidgin surviving much past the next five to ten years is unlikely. The persistence of both pidgins was attributed to the use of Dutch in church services. It was the anti-German sentiment of
World War I that was probably the biggest force in the demise of both pidgins, as the language was mistaken for German by those from outside the communities where the pidgins were spoken.
Common errors
Incorrect meaning of words
Errors often occur because of the
false friend or false cognate possibility: words are incorrectly translated for understandable reasons. Examples are:
- Undertaker as a translation of ondernemer ("onder" meaning "under" and "nemer" meaning "taker") meaning entrepreneur, a mistake made by then prime-minister Joop den Uyl, who remarked that "the Dutch are a nation of undertakers".
- The verb solicit (solliciteren) in Dutch means applying for a job, which can lead to very embarrassing situations when someone mentions they have come to solicit.
- The interject hoor, literary listen but used without real meaning, is used at the end of a sentence and is pronounced similar to whore, leading to sentences like "I've already sent the letter to you, hoor." In this case the word hoor actually indicates the speaker is showing an indignation, caused by a previously made statement. It often also signifies that the sentence is an assertion. In this case the meaning of hoor could be interpreted as really but with a partially ironic or sarcastic connotation, for example "I've given him the money, really", which would be in Dutch: "Ik heb hem het geld gegeven, hoor."
- The word eventueel in Dutch means possibly (like eventuel in French language) and not eventually, which would be uiteindelijk in Dutch. This mistake caused a row between the Scottish and Belgian football associations when the Belgian football association invited delegates from various associations over for the "eventual qualification of the Belgian national football team" before the play-offs against Scotland started. While the Scottish federation accused the Belgians of sheer arrogance, the Belgian association would only hold the drink after a "possible qualification".
Word order
English and Dutch don't always follow the same word order. While English is an SVO language Verb Object, Dutch is a partly
Subject Verb Object and partly
Subject Object Verb language: in sentences with modal auxiliary verbs the perfect participle is placed at the end of the phrase, and in sub-clauses, the order gets reversed, see
V2 word order. English, on the other hand, has a particular usage of creating periphrastic sentences with the word "do" (a rare feature cross-linguistically), something Dutch lacks, instead reversing to Verb Subject Object in simple questions. However, many Dutch speakers make sentences in English with exactly the same word order as Dutch. This creates errors such as:
- "I did that already yesterday" instead of "I already did that yesterday".
- "What mean you?" instead of "What do you mean".
Verb conjugation
English and Dutch are both
Germanic languages, some words/verbs are very similar and sometimes cause speakers of Dutch to conjugate English verbs using
Dutch grammar.
- "We kisse(n) her." (kussen means to kiss in Dutch and in Dutch grammar the nominative case of a plural pronoun is equal to the infinitive which (in most cases) has an en-ending)
- "What do you now? ("What are you doing?" is "Wat doe je nu?" in Dutch)
Errors in pronunciation
- Words like third and the are commonly mispronounced by Dutch speakers as turd and duh.
- Many Dutch speakers have trouble distinguishing between bat, bad, bet and bed.
- Native Dutch speakers often experience difficulties with the sound (as in "duck"), pronouncing it like or instead.
- Some pronounce the word idea without the ending sound, making "Do you have an idea?" and "Do you have an ID?" sound the same.
Overtranslation
Certain Dutch users have a tendency to overtranslate Dutch terms causing a literal, sometimes incomprehensible, translation of the Dutch term into English. For example the English and Dutch know the famous Amsterdam church as the
Westerkerk. The term "Western Church" used to help English tourists locate this tourist attraction can cause more confusion than neccessary. (However, English users have readily adopted "Dam Square" instead of "Dam", the original form of this Amsterdam open space)
For the Dutch, the prestige of the American English variety over the British English variety can cause other overtranslation issues. Whereas the Dutch and British both use the same word
lift, the Dutch, to a British user will helpfully suggest using the
elevator. A flat means the same thing in British English and Dutch but most Dutch will suggest 'apartment' as the English form.
Other examples
"Welcome in Amsterdam"Should be: "Welcome to Amsterdam" (in Dutch: "Welkom in Amsterdam")
"That can"Instead of: "that's possible", "sure" or "of course" (in Dutch: "Dat kan")
"Thank you for your reaction"Instead of: "Thank you for your reply" (in Dutch: "Bedankt voor uw reactie")
"I hate you all very welcome"Instead of: "I welcome you all" (in Dutch: "Ik heet u allen zeer welkom")
"They hardly worked...."Should be: "They have been working very well" (in Dutch: "Ze hebben hard gewerkt")
"Gas out of our bottom"Should be: "Gas from our soil/ground" (in Dutch: "Gas uit onze bodem")
"I learn you..."Should be "I will teach you..." (in Dutch: "Ik leer je...")
"I fok horses"Should be "I breed horses" (in Dutch: "Ik fok paarden")
"I first have to look the cat out of the tree."Should be "I have to wait and see which way the cat jumps" (in Dutch: "Ik moet eerst de kat uit de boom kijken")
Arthur Numan to the British press after his transfer from PSV to Glasgow Rangers. (Supposedly)
"How late is it?"Should be "What time is it?" (in Dutch: "Hoe laat is het?").
"What is there on the hand?"Should be "What is going on?" (in Dutch: "Wat is er aan de hand?").
"Go your gang."Should be "Do your thing" (in Dutch: "Ga je gang").
"Put your mobiles out."Should be "Turn off your mobile phones" (in Dutch: "Zet je mobieltjes uit").
"I always make craft of the unit circle."Should be "I always use the unit circle." (in Dutch: "Ik maak altijd gebruik van de eenheidscirkel").
"When I'm walking over this line..."Should be "When I'm following this line..." (with finger) (in Dutch: "Wanneer ik over deze lijn loop").
"I'm sitting on this line."Should be "I am on this line pointing at a line" (in Dutch: "Ik zit op deze lijn").
"I want you out of it."(when sending someone out of the classroom) (in Dutch: "Ik wil je uit het klaslokaal.").
"Are you shore of this?"Should be "Are you sure of this?" (confusion because of the pronunciation) (in Dutch: "Ben je hier zeker van?")
Jocular reverse use
One can also observe the opposite of Dunglish: the pseudo-stupid literal borrowing of English terms in Dutch. Usually, the speaker doing this will be well aware of his error and wanting to achieve a comical effect, somewhat like a
pun. The most famous example of this may be:
"Worst-Kaas scenario"Refers to "worst case scenario" (literally: "sausage-cheese scenario"). This expression uses the Dutch words that most closely resemble their English counterparts. Amusingly, they are snacks, often served together alongside drinks (at a "borrel"), so that the term worst-kaas scenario may well be used to describe a situation in which snacks are or will have to be served. E.g. "If we continue to drink beers at this rate, this may well develop into a worst-kaas scenario..." - at which the addressed person should normally respond by ordering snacks without further ado.
Worst Teacher Award
There is an ongoing debate in many Dutch universities on whether, given the increasing number of foreign exchange students, classes should be taught in English rather than Dutch. A common counterargument is that a significant number of professors are not fluent enough to teach classes in English at a university level. In this light, the Student Union (VSSD) of
Delft University of Technology has established the "Worst Teacher Award", given yearly to the most heinous mistake in English made by a professor. Since 'worst' is the Dutch word for 'sausage', the prize awarded is a large sausage. Some examples:
Don't let them eat the cheese off your bread. (Jacques Berenbak)Dutch: Laat je de kaas niet van het brood eten.
Meaning: Don't lose your competitive edge.
You have to screw up the number.Dutch: Je moet de waarde opschroeven.
Meaning: You have to increase the number.
This college goes over ramps.Dutch: Dit college gaat over rampen.
Meaning: This lecture is about disasters.
I tried to lead you around the garden.Dutch: Ik probeerde je om de tuin te leiden.
Meaning: I tried to deceive you.
I have an equation picked from the skyDutch: Ik heb een vergelijking uit de lucht gegrepen.
Meaning: I took a random equation.
You have to meet this with your latDutch: Je moet dit meten met je lat.
Meaning : You have to measure this with your ruler.
See also
Dunglish is a
portmanteau of
Dutch and
English, a name for
Dutch English. The word is often used pejoratively to refer to the mistakes native
Dutch language speakers make when speaking
English language. Both languages are closely related Germanic languages, and the Dutch are taught English in elementary school. Dutch-speaking Belgians are usually taught English at the age of 12. In addition, English-spoken movies are subtitled instead of dubbed in the Netherlands and in
Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, as are all foreign-language films.
The Dutch word for the poorest form of Dunglish is
Steenkolenengels (
"Coal English"). This term goes back to the early twentieth century when Dutch port workers used a rudimentary form of English to communicate with the personnel of English coal ships.
Errors occur mainly in
pronunciation,
word order and the meaning of words. Former Dutch ambassador and prime minister Dries van Agt supposedly once said "I can stand my little man" (
ik kan mijn mannetje staan, a Dutch saying meaning roughly "I can stand up for myself"). Another example of inappropriate English was phrased by the former leader of the Dutch liberal party, Frits Bolkestein. When talking about economic prospects he kept referring to them as "
golden showers". In Dutch this phrase does not have the second, more dubious connotation.
Two American counterparts to Dunglish were once common: Jersey or Bergen County Dutch, a pidgin Dutch spoken in parts of New Jersey and a remnant of the days of Dutch possession of the area in the mid
17th century. In the Midwest, a separate pidgin Dutch was used by immigrants who came from the Netherlands in the
19th century, primarily in Western Michigan where the largest group of Dutch immigrants in the U.S. lived.
Jersey Dutch (meaning
New Jersey, not Jersey) apparently had quite a long life despite the Dutch disappearing as colonizers early on, and was reputed to have lasted into the
20th century. Yankee Dutch persists to this day, with a few speakers still living, although the likelihood of the pidgin surviving much past the next five to ten years is unlikely. The persistence of both pidgins was attributed to the use of Dutch in church services. It was the anti-German sentiment of World War I that was probably the biggest force in the demise of both pidgins, as the language was mistaken for German by those from outside the communities where the pidgins were spoken.
Common errors
Incorrect meaning of words
Errors often occur because of the
false friend or false cognate possibility: words are incorrectly translated for understandable reasons. Examples are:
- Undertaker as a translation of ondernemer ("onder" meaning "under" and "nemer" meaning "taker") meaning entrepreneur, a mistake made by then prime-minister Joop den Uyl, who remarked that "the Dutch are a nation of undertakers".
- The verb solicit (solliciteren) in Dutch means applying for a job, which can lead to very embarrassing situations when someone mentions they have come to solicit.
- The interject hoor, literary listen but used without real meaning, is used at the end of a sentence and is pronounced similar to whore, leading to sentences like "I've already sent the letter to you, hoor." In this case the word hoor actually indicates the speaker is showing an indignation, caused by a previously made statement. It often also signifies that the sentence is an assertion. In this case the meaning of hoor could be interpreted as really but with a partially ironic or sarcastic connotation, for example "I've given him the money, really", which would be in Dutch: "Ik heb hem het geld gegeven, hoor."
- The word eventueel in Dutch means possibly (like eventuel in French language) and not eventually, which would be uiteindelijk in Dutch. This mistake caused a row between the Scottish and Belgian football associations when the Belgian football association invited delegates from various associations over for the "eventual qualification of the Belgian national football team" before the play-offs against Scotland started. While the Scottish federation accused the Belgians of sheer arrogance, the Belgian association would only hold the drink after a "possible qualification".
Word order
English and Dutch don't always follow the same word order. While English is an SVO language Verb Object, Dutch is a partly
Subject Verb Object and partly Subject Object Verb language: in sentences with
modal auxiliary verbs the
perfect participle is placed at the end of the phrase, and in sub-clauses, the order gets reversed, see
V2 word order. English, on the other hand, has a particular usage of creating periphrastic sentences with the word "do" (a rare feature cross-linguistically), something Dutch lacks, instead reversing to Verb Subject Object in simple questions. However, many Dutch speakers make sentences in English with exactly the same word order as Dutch. This creates errors such as:
- "I did that already yesterday" instead of "I already did that yesterday".
- "What mean you?" instead of "What do you mean".
Verb conjugation
English and Dutch are both
Germanic languages, some words/verbs are very similar and sometimes cause speakers of Dutch to conjugate English verbs using Dutch grammar.
- "We kisse(n) her." (kussen means to kiss in Dutch and in Dutch grammar the nominative case of a plural pronoun is equal to the infinitive which (in most cases) has an en-ending)
- "What do you now? ("What are you doing?" is "Wat doe je nu?" in Dutch)
Errors in pronunciation
- Words like third and the are commonly mispronounced by Dutch speakers as turd and duh.
- Many Dutch speakers have trouble distinguishing between bat, bad, bet and bed.
- Native Dutch speakers often experience difficulties with the sound (as in "duck"), pronouncing it like or instead.
- Some pronounce the word idea without the ending sound, making "Do you have an idea?" and "Do you have an ID?" sound the same.
Overtranslation
Certain Dutch users have a tendency to overtranslate Dutch terms causing a literal, sometimes incomprehensible, translation of the Dutch term into English. For example the English and Dutch know the famous Amsterdam church as the
Westerkerk. The term "Western Church" used to help English tourists locate this tourist attraction can cause more confusion than neccessary. (However, English users have readily adopted "Dam Square" instead of "Dam", the original form of this Amsterdam open space)
For the Dutch, the prestige of the American English variety over the British English variety can cause other overtranslation issues. Whereas the Dutch and British both use the same word
lift, the Dutch, to a British user will helpfully suggest using the
elevator. A flat means the same thing in British English and Dutch but most Dutch will suggest 'apartment' as the English form.
Other examples
"Welcome in Amsterdam"Should be: "Welcome to Amsterdam" (in Dutch: "Welkom in Amsterdam")
"That can"Instead of: "that's possible", "sure" or "of course" (in Dutch: "Dat kan")
"Thank you for your reaction"Instead of: "Thank you for your reply" (in Dutch: "Bedankt voor uw reactie")
"I hate you all very welcome"Instead of: "I welcome you all" (in Dutch: "Ik heet u allen zeer welkom")
"They hardly worked...."Should be: "They have been working very well" (in Dutch: "Ze hebben hard gewerkt")
"Gas out of our bottom"Should be: "Gas from our soil/ground" (in Dutch: "Gas uit onze bodem")
"I learn you..."Should be "I will teach you..." (in Dutch: "Ik leer je...")
"I fok horses"Should be "I breed horses" (in Dutch: "Ik fok paarden")
"I first have to look the cat out of the tree."Should be "I have to wait and see which way the cat jumps" (in Dutch: "Ik moet eerst de kat uit de boom kijken")
Arthur Numan to the British press after his transfer from PSV to Glasgow Rangers. (Supposedly)
"How late is it?"Should be "What time is it?" (in Dutch: "Hoe laat is het?").
"What is there on the hand?"Should be "What is going on?" (in Dutch: "Wat is er aan de hand?").
"Go your gang."Should be "Do your thing" (in Dutch: "Ga je gang").
"Put your mobiles out."Should be "Turn off your mobile phones" (in Dutch: "Zet je mobieltjes uit").
"I always make craft of the unit circle."Should be "I always use the unit circle." (in Dutch: "Ik maak altijd gebruik van de eenheidscirkel").
"When I'm walking over this line..."Should be "When I'm following this line..." (with finger) (in Dutch: "Wanneer ik over deze lijn loop").
"I'm sitting on this line."Should be "I am on this line pointing at a line" (in Dutch: "Ik zit op deze lijn").
"I want you out of it."(when sending someone out of the classroom) (in Dutch: "Ik wil je uit het klaslokaal.").
"Are you shore of this?"Should be "Are you sure of this?" (confusion because of the pronunciation) (in Dutch: "Ben je hier zeker van?")
Jocular reverse use
One can also observe the opposite of Dunglish: the pseudo-stupid literal borrowing of English terms in Dutch. Usually, the speaker doing this will be well aware of his error and wanting to achieve a comical effect, somewhat like a
pun. The most famous example of this may be:
"Worst-Kaas scenario"Refers to "worst case scenario" (literally: "sausage-cheese scenario"). This expression uses the Dutch words that most closely resemble their English counterparts. Amusingly, they are snacks, often served together alongside drinks (at a "borrel"), so that the term worst-kaas scenario may well be used to describe a situation in which snacks are or will have to be served. E.g. "If we continue to drink beers at this rate, this may well develop into a worst-kaas scenario..." - at which the addressed person should normally respond by ordering snacks without further ado.
Worst Teacher Award
There is an ongoing debate in many Dutch universities on whether, given the increasing number of foreign exchange students, classes should be taught in English rather than Dutch. A common counterargument is that a significant number of professors are not fluent enough to teach classes in English at a university level. In this light, the Student Union (VSSD) of Delft University of Technology has established the "Worst Teacher Award", given yearly to the most heinous mistake in English made by a professor. Since 'worst' is the Dutch word for 'sausage', the prize awarded is a large sausage. Some examples:
Don't let them eat the cheese off your bread. (Jacques Berenbak)Dutch: Laat je de kaas niet van het brood eten.
Meaning: Don't lose your competitive edge.
You have to screw up the number.Dutch: Je moet de waarde opschroeven.
Meaning: You have to increase the number.
This college goes over ramps.Dutch: Dit college gaat over rampen.
Meaning: This lecture is about disasters.
I tried to lead you around the garden.Dutch: Ik probeerde je om de tuin te leiden.
Meaning: I tried to deceive you.
I have an equation picked from the skyDutch: Ik heb een vergelijking uit de lucht gegrepen.
Meaning: I took a random equation.
You have to meet this with your latDutch: Je moet dit meten met je lat.
Meaning : You have to measure this with your ruler.
See also
