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Do you speak Belgian? Our guide to the country's very own vocab
You can conjugate in French, you can get your tongue around most Dutch pronunciations, you might even have a smattering of German. But have you mastered Belgicisms – those words and expressions unique to Belgian French and Dutch or a mishmash of the two? Here’s a few to watch out for.
Ballekes - Meatballs
Brol - Odds and ends, a bit of a mess
Cassette - Pencil case
Chope/Pintje - Draught beer
Ça cloppe - That works
Chicon/Witloof - Endive or chicory
Couque - Pastry
Cuistax/Kwistax - Go-kart (popular at the coast)
Cul sec, à fond - Down in one, frequently used by students when drinking a chope
Dikkenek - Big-head
Douffe, cuite - Drunk
Drache - Heavy rain
Filet américain - Steak tartare
GSM - Mobile phone
Guindaille - Party with friends or fellow students
Kot - Student room
De la mitraille - Small change
Mitraillette - Baguette filled with chips, meat and sauce
Non peut-être - Yes, certainly
Pétant (de chaud) - Hot weather
Place (avoir une bonne) - Have a secure, well-paid job. What parents dream of for their kids
Rouf-rouf - Quickly, but badly done
En stoemeling - To do something on the quiet, discreetly
A tantôt - See you later
Tirer son plan - Get by/make do
Toquer à la porte - Knock on the door
Volle gaz, volle gas, volle petrol - Quickly
Wasserette - Launderette
This article first appeared in The Bulletin spring 2019
Comments
A couque is a breakfast pastry, not just a pastry.
Of course you could eat a couque for tea, but not really.
Cuistax: not a go-kart because a go-kart has an engine. A cuistax is entirely mechanical. (that's the tax - your physical effort)
En stoemelings (don't forget the s) is more than discrete, it's full fledged hiding.
Filet américain is often shortened to "un américain," as in "Tu veux un américain-frites?" which a translation software would probably translate: "You want a fried American?"
Frank Lee: a fried American would be an Américain frit with a silent "T"... But the play on words still amuses me, as an American, with its cannibalistic overtones. (Not to be confused with "toast cannibal". It seems that most of the slangy, humorous Belgian expressions are Flemish, mixed in with French. They have an exotic taste, perhaps and may date from the days when the Flemish were oppressed and speaking Dutch was looked down upon in bourgeois circles...
Several of the Flemish terms seem to come from down-to-earth street life and food... Of course, the list is just a summary one, which readers could add to...