Ever heard of Denglish?

‘We always get our sin too’ by Maarten H. Rijkens is a hilarious book with quotes from Dutch ministers and ‘hotemetotes’ who make linguistic mistakes.

They translate Dutch words directly into English or make Dutch words sound English. It becomes even funnier when Dutch phrases and expressions are translated literally when their meaning is meant figuratively. A perfect book for another English lecture!

Let me give you two examples from the book of the type of ‘Dutchified English’ that is called Denglish by Rijkens.

The Dutch say: “Hij heeft er geen kaas van gegeten”, if you translate this expression directly it will say: “He did not eat any cheese of it” … What the Dutch person is trying to say is: “He doesn’t know the first thing about it”

Another example:

The Dutch say: “Je bent op glad ijs”, if you translate this in Denglish it will say “You are on glad ice”… What the Dutch person is trying to say is “You’re skating on thin ice”.

For the English lecture at the School of Journalism tomorrow I’ll compile a list of the funniest Denglish and promote the book a bit, I think many students need it.