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Quiz about Dutch Sayings Compared With English

Dutch Sayings Compared With English Quiz

Proverbs are more internationally similar than we might think. The cultural context in which a number of such phrasings developed was indeed fairly similar. But as always ... long live those little differences! - Multiple choice all through.

A multiple-choice quiz by flem-ish. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
flem-ish

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
65,877

Updated
Aug 05 24

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
2239

Last 3 plays: Guest 31 (10/10), Guest 217 (9/10), 1nn1 (9/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. In English you can be as angry as a WASP. In Dutch people tend to be 'zo nijdig als' or 'as pissed as' 'een SPIN' , which is another creature altogether. Namely? Hint

a spider

a gnat

a mosquito

a fly

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. The English kill two BIRDS with one stone. The Dutch kill two ' VLIEGEN ' in one hit. What is meant by 'vliegen' ? Hint

blackbirds

sparrows

butterflies

flies

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Question 3 of 10

3. From the English point of view it's the WOLF who loses his teeth, but not his nature. In Dutch it's the 'VOS' who loses his hair, but not his bad habits. What is meant by VOS? Hint

Fox

Badger

A type of horse

A type of dog

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. In England it may rain cats and dogs. In Holland it rains 'oude wijven'. What are 'oude wijven'? Hint

old broomsticks

witches

old hags

old and wrinkled monkeys

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Question 5 of 10

5. The English say that when the cat is away, the mice will play. The Flemings are a little more precise and specify *where* they will play. Op TAFEL. What is een TAFEL? Hint

roof

cupboard

floor

table

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Question 6 of 10

6. The English take the BULL by the horns, the Dutch 'vatten de koe bij de horens'. Vatten is 'take' and 'horens' is of course horns. What is KOE in this saying? Hint

cow

sheep

goat

ram

7. When an Englishman talks nineteen to the dozen, the Dutchman jumps from the 'hak' (big branch) on to the 'tak' (branch) and the Fleming jumps from the 'os' (ox) onto the 'EZEL'. What is an 'EZEL'? Hint

a haycart

a monkey

a donkey

an easel

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Question 8 of 10

8. When the English make a mountain of a molehill, the Dutch make an elephant from 'een MUG'. What is 'een MUG'? Hint

Kitten

Horsefly

Puppy

Mosquito

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Question 9 of 10

9. If somebody is not too brilliant the English idiom is : he or she won't set the Thames on fire. In Dutch such a person is said not to have invented 'het BUSKRUIT'. What is meant by 'buskruit'? Hint

powderboxes

a certain type of herb

gunpowder

coach traffic

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. In England they say it' s too late to shut the stabledoor when the horse has gone. In Flanders they are more concerned with their cattle than with their horses ,and have the saying: It's too late to fill 'de PUT' when the CALF has drowned. What could 'een PUT' be in this context? Hint

a stream

excavation-works

a pothole

a pond

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Most Recent Scores

Nov 07 2024 : Guest 31: 10/10
Nov 01 2024 : Guest 217: 9/10
Oct 24 2024 : 1nn1: 9/10
Oct 24 2024 : 1nn1: 9/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In English you can be as angry as a WASP. In Dutch people tend to be 'zo nijdig als' or 'as pissed as' 'een SPIN' , which is another creature altogether. Namely?

Answer: a spider

A bit of phonetic analysis is always helpful. SP !

2. The English kill two BIRDS with one stone. The Dutch kill two ' VLIEGEN ' in one hit. What is meant by 'vliegen' ?

Answer: flies

'Twee vliegen slaan in een klap.' Literally to strike two flies in one hit.

3. From the English point of view it's the WOLF who loses his teeth, but not his nature. In Dutch it's the 'VOS' who loses his hair, but not his bad habits. What is meant by VOS?

Answer: Fox

'De vos verliest wel zijn haren , maar niet zijn streken.' 'Een VOS ' can also be a chestnut-coloured horse, but not in this proverb. 'Streken' does not mean regions in this context, but tricky behaviour, slyness etc. The Middle-Dutch 'Reynart' story is a superb adaptation of the famous French 'Roman de Renart', and a masterpiece in its own right.

4. In England it may rain cats and dogs. In Holland it rains 'oude wijven'. What are 'oude wijven'?

Answer: old hags

Elderly women were traditionally dressed in black, and the similarity with dark clouds drifting slowly past must have inspired the popular imagination.

5. The English say that when the cat is away, the mice will play. The Flemings are a little more precise and specify *where* they will play. Op TAFEL. What is een TAFEL?

Answer: table

Als de kat van huis is , dansen de muizen op tafel. From Latin 'tabula'. In Dutch 'tabel' exists as well and refers to 'mathematical tables'.

6. The English take the BULL by the horns, the Dutch 'vatten de koe bij de horens'. Vatten is 'take' and 'horens' is of course horns. What is KOE in this saying?

Answer: cow

You need not be a linguistic genius to see the similarity. But after all is not English Dutch in disguise, with half the French vocabulary as an extra?

Answer: a donkey

8. When the English make a mountain of a molehill, the Dutch make an elephant from 'een MUG'. What is 'een MUG'?

Answer: Mosquito

'Van een mug een olifant maken'. The Flemings, not afraid of a little scatological touch (as can be seen in Brueghel's paintings) might occasionally say "van een SCHEET een donderslag maken", in which SCHEET means a FART. Donderslag is of course thunderstroke.
Other translations of mug are midge or gnat.
Oxford American Dictionary defines "midge" as "small biting gnatlike insect". Of "mosquito" it is said that it is a kind of gnat, the female of which bites and sucks blood from people and animals.
Malaria is a a disease causing fever that recurs at intervals, transmitted by mosquitoes.

9. If somebody is not too brilliant the English idiom is : he or she won't set the Thames on fire. In Dutch such a person is said not to have invented 'het BUSKRUIT'. What is meant by 'buskruit'?

Answer: gunpowder

Another colourful expression about stupidity is : 'she is as stupid as Christ's horse and that was a DONKEY'.

Answer: a pond

'Het is te laat de put gevuld, als het kalf verdronken is'. The Dutch word 'put' has retained in Flemish some of its older meanings such as waterwell, pool, pond. Meanings which the English pit can have too. It's obvious that well and pool are correct ways to render 'put' as well.Pond should be taken in its meaning of a 'natural pool', not an artifical pond in a garden.As mentioned in New Shorter Oxford sub 1.
Potholes in the meaning of holes in the surface of a road are not very likely to cause a risk of drowning. In the meaning of underground caves
they do not occur in cattle-meadows, and do not cause drowning either.

Source: Author flem-ish

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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