Expression USED Frequently BY young people
A casual greeting. Its origin may come from "fine" in English.
"Fayen mani, quoi de neuf"
"Hey bro, what's up"
Submitted January 2024 by anonymous
Expression USED Frequently BY young people
A casual greeting. Its origin may come from "fine" in English.
"Fayen mani, quoi de neuf"
"Hey bro, what's up"
Submitted January 2024 by anonymous
Word USED Very frequently BY Everybody
(a french bread) • It's the way many Belgians refer to a "baguette".
"Un pain français et deux croissants, s'il vous plaît."
"A french bread and two croissants, please."
Submitted January 2024 by anonymous
Dutch
Belgium and the Netherlands
Name USED On Occasion BY angry and annoyed people
Pipo is a name for someone that is acting stupid or ridiculous. Pipo is a clown name, so you're calling someone a clown.
"Goed gedaan Pipo, diesel in een benzine-auto."
"Nice going Pipo, you put diesel in a gasoline car."
Submitted February 2024 by anonymous
Dutch
| Flemish
Flanders,
Belgium
Expression USED On Occasion BY Almost Everyone
(As crazy as a back door) • used to refer to someone who is very crazy, or behaving like they are.
"Caligula was zo zot als een achterdeur: hij benoemde zelfs zijn paard tot consul!"
"Caligula was as crazy as a back door: he even made his horse consul!"
Submitted April 2021 by paulinemeganck
Word USED On Occasion BY Almost Everyone
(adjective) • (ladder drunk) • Very drunk.
"Hij is echt ladderzat, hij heeft heel de wc ondertussen al ondergekotst"
"He is really ladderdrunk, in the mean time he already threw up all over the bathroom"
Submitted April 2021 by paulinemeganck
Word USED Frequently BY Everyone
(noun) • (french fry shed) • This is a place where you would buy french fries, as well as the additional snacks like a gehaktbal or a curryworst.
“Ik ga vanavond naar het frietkot voor een vers pak friet!”
“Tonight I'm going to the french fry shed to get some fresh fries!”
Submitted February 2021 by anonymous
Expression USED Frequently BY Everybody
(as crazy as a door/backdoor) • Used when someone is completely out of their mind, doing something stupid or just acting really crazy. Also, in old Dutch ‘deur’ meant something as ‘fool’, so it doesn’t actually refer to a door, although no one really uses it that way anymore.
“Heb je gehoord wat hij vorig weekend heeft gedaan?” “Ja, hij is echt zo zot als een achterdeur!”
“Did you hear what he did last weekend?” “Yeah, he really is as crazy as a backdoor!”
Submitted January 2021 by xander
Word USED Very frequently BY Everyone
(noun) • When you are in the mood for something to eat or drink, sometimes for something specific, sometimes for food in general. Could also be used in an explicit sense.
"Ik heb goesting in een goei stuk chocolat."
"I am in the mood for a big piece of chocolate."
Expression USED On Occasion BY Everyone
(the ass of pluto) • Literally 'In the ass of Pluto' It means in the middle of nowhere
"Hij woont echt in het hol van Pluto!"
"He really lives in the ass of Pluto!"
Reference USED On Occasion BY Almost Everyone
A name for an obscure, far away country in your language.
"Ik weet niet exact waar deze gebeurtenis plaatsvond, ergens in Verwegistan."
"I don't know exactly where this event happened, somewhere in Verwegistan"
een ezel stoot zich geen tweemaal aan dezelfde steen
Proverb USED On Occasion BY Some People
literally it means "A donkey does not bump into the same stone twice" which means you don't make the same mistake twice. However if you say "Even a donkey does not bump into the same stone twice" it means you are not very bright.
“Het was dezelfde vraag op je examen als vorige keer en je hebt weeral fout geantwoord? Zelfs een ezel stoot zich niet twee keer aan dezelfde steen.”
“You got the same question as last time on your exam and you answered wrong again? Even a donkey doesn't bump into the same stone twice.”
Submitted November 2020 by anonymous
Slang USED Frequently BY Young People
It means that someone is stupid, or does something stupid.
"Oh, echt een salame zijt ge, ge moet beter opletten."
"you really are a sausage, you have to be more careful."
Submitted November 2020 by anonymous
Slang USED Frequently BY From ages 15-35
In some Belgian dialects of Dutch we call a food coma a "boefdoef" [bu:fdu:f] . 'Boef' being the bare infinitive of a very informal verb meaning 'to eat', and 'doef' being an informal form of a punch. Kind of getting hit by your meal on the head with a hammer, and being very colloquial about it.
"Amai man, 'k heb nen boefdoef. Maar het was het waard, want pizza."
"Wow man, case of food coma over here. Worth it though, because pizza."
Submitted November 2020 by anonymous
Word USED Frequently BY Most People
(n.) • It describes uncivilized people who often wear tracksuits and a golden chain. They have an old car and often spend their days at bars. They are known to admire the USA, so they usually name their children Kévin, Dylan, Kimberley, Cindy, etc. They are also known to be stupid and sometimes vulgar. Those stereotypical people are known to live in low-income neighbourhoods.
"Il y a souvent des barakis à la buvette du club de foot de mon frère."
"There are often barakis at the refreshment bar at my brother's football club."
Submitted November 2020 by do
Word USED Frequently BY Most People
(v.) • To rain heavily.
"On était à peine sortis de la voiture quand il a commencé à dracher !"
"We just got out of the car when it started raining heavily!"
Expression USED On Occasion BY mainly older generations
(barking dogs don't bite) • Someone who's annoying or threatening usually doesn't do much after all.
"Hij dreigde ermee dat hij m'n gsm zou afpakken als ik niet stopte met sms'en" "Maak je maar geen zorgen, blaffende honden bijten meestal niet"
"He threatened to take my phone away if I wouldn't stop texting" "Don't you worry, barking dogs usually don't bite"
Expression USED Frequently BY Almost Everyone
(make the cat believe that) • If someone says something that's so obviously untrue or ridiculous, you can even tell your cat about it because it just makes no sense.
"Ik heb dit examen op twee uur gestudeerd!" "Dat kan niet! Dat maak je de kat wijs!"
"It only took me 2 hours to study for this exam!" "What, That's impossible! Make that the cat believe!"
Dutch
Belgium and the Netherlands
Expression USED On Occasion BY Almost Everyone
(make that the cat wise) • This is too unbelievable, I dont't believe you.
"Heb je maar twee uur slaap per nacht nodig? Maak dat de kat wijs!"
"You only need two hours of sleep every night? Make that the cat wise!"
Expression USED On Occasion BY Almost Everyone
(torn from the jar) • When something is very crazy or unbelievable and completely random.
"Dat verhaal met die baby's is helemaal van de pot gerukt." "Ja, ik kan het nauwelijks geloven!"
"This story about those babies is completely torn from the jar." "Yeah, I can hardly believe it!"
Word USED On Occasion BY Students
(n.) • (baptism) • An initiation ritual in Belgian universities in order to join one of the university groups. The students who succeed in the initiation are called "baptisés" (= baptised). The "bleus" (= "blues"; the students doing the initiation) have to take part in various activities for a few weeks. A "baptême" is a bit like fraternities and sororities in the US, but there's no attention payed to gender, no restricted number of members, and the baptised don't live together.
"J'ai l'intention de faire mon baptême quand j'irai à l'université, comme ça je pourrai rencontrer des gens plus facilement."
"I intend to do my baptism when I go to university so that I can meet people more easily."