One side effect of learning Dutch is that it also helps me improve my English. I have to admit that I have a very limited and simplistic vocabulary when it comes to the latter, and sometimes learning a new indo-european language helps me enrich it. This is also a side effect of my bad memory and the fact that my only way to remember the new words I learn is through knowing their etymological origins. In Dutch, when you order the bill (or the check) in a restaurant, it is called rekening. And it comes from another Dutch word rekenen which means calculations. I remember while in Britain, people used to say I reckon .. so and so, instead of I think .. so and so. And I seldom used to hear them say things like, By that reckoning, it will take us 5 weeks to finish so and so. Back then, the fact that I already knew synonyms of the word, combined with my laziness, prevented me from digging deeper for the exact meaning of the word or even using it. Now I know its meaning, and I also know that many decades ago, in English speaking countries they used to call the bill reckoning too. Another Dutch word is weet, you say ik weet het, which means I know (it), since the verb weten means to know. Once more, my laziness to learn new English words combined with the fact that I already know to know, prevented me from knowing that an alternative meaning for it in English is wit. Actually, the English use of the word wit leans more towards sanity, intellectual ability and mental cleverness rather than just knowledge. And you now know, why whenever a joke is smart, they call it a witty joke. By the way, the Dutch word for smart is slim. In English, other than it being a future form of verb to be, will is only a noun that means ones wish or longings. Free will. Now, I know where this came from, since the Dutch verb to want is willen, so you say, ik wil koffie when you want some coffee.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 07:11:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015