h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello tdbiii,

Nice work, and fun to read even for a dutchman like me
But just a couple of observations and additions if I may ?

1. What is that little platform in toiletbowls you are speaking of? I've never seen one unless I just don't understand what you mean. So please enlighten me

2. On dutch money :

A Rijksdaalder or a Riks in indeed Fl. 2,50 But a Knaak is old dutch for Fl. 1,50. Don't ask me why please, but it really is.

Further more, a bill of Fl 50,-- is called a 'Zonnebloem' (Sunflower) because there is a sunflower on it, and a Fl 100,-- bill is called 'Een Meier or Een Snip". Don't ask me why it's called Meier. I do now that it's called a Snip because that's the name of the bird that(use to be) on it. I didn't make it up, honest!

Of course not everyone uses these nicknames, they are mainly used in densely populated areas(cities like Amsterdam et al).

I don't know about the Fl. 250,-- but a bill of Fl. 1.000,-- is called Een Rug(literally A Back). It may have been nicked from the American Greenback ?

Hope its useful and
good luck with the project,

TM.

Oh yeah! Just remembered : Fl. 250,-- is called a 'Vuurtoren' (lighthouse). Again it's because there is a - you guessed it - lighthouse printed on it.

TM.

I think this might be going a bit far...
I agree that a f100 is a meier
and that a f1000 is a rug, but does anyone say 'dat kost een zonnebloem?'
If you think so, then I can change that....

The toilet I am talking about is:
you have two kinds of toilets: 1 with only water at the bottom and one with a level of porcelain and then water. In the first one, your s**t drops in the water, in the second your s**t just carries on lieing there. Both are quite common in the netherlands, but the second one isn't in any country outside of the netherlands.

Nope, people hardly ever use the Zonnebloem-word... But it is definitely slang for 250,--. My guess is that they decided that if they had names for the others they might as well name them all

Re. the toilet : I already gathered what you meant. I just didn't know that this type of toilet is indigenous to Holland. Never too old to learn...

TM.

Sorry sorry sorry, Zonnebloem = Fl 50,--

TM.

>>"but the second one isn't in any country outside of the netherlands." -- not quite

The 'level' type is common in Germany as well. As Trillian's Child pointed out in a thread somewhere in the depths of h2g2, it's quite useful for inspecting that which came from you and draw conclusions about the state of (your own or your childrens') inner workings

Could be that you've got it somewhere else, but what about ice-scating on the polders? I think it's quite popular.

A polder is land that used to be the bottom of the sea (or lake). i.e. it is not water!

I cannot really imagine what you mean with "what about ice-scating on the polders?"
I think you mean stuff like iceskating on lakes/sea/rivers/canals?

Also the toilet thing is not quite unique to the Netherlands but most non-europeans (americans, asians etc.) have never seen such a thing....

Oh yes, it was water (canals etc) what I was trying to say

Hi tdbiii,
I'll have to correct TM's first post.
A 'knaak' is absolutely Fl. 2,50 or equal to a 'rijksdaalder'. The old value of Fl. 1,50 was called a 'daalder'.
The 'rug' comes from 'rooie rug' (or red back). For as long as I can remember it has been green.
Most of the strange names come from the underworld language of Amsterdam.
Some more examples:
10 ct duppie
25 ct heitje
Fl 10,- joet

There is an old joke where people are asked what values belong to these names. The last question is then a 'lammetje' (lamb).
After the try the answer is: no, a young .

For your toilet part, sometimes even the toilet itself is difficult to find. In the past, it used to be an out-house toilet, build over a ditch or 'sloot', and was recognised by a little heart in the door.

One thing I noticed about the bathrooms (or VC, "vay say", for vater closet) is that it is about the size of an American toilet stall, but with a sink in it, too.

Also, something not mentioned is the stairs. Since space is at a premium, stairs are very, very narrow, close together and have big steps up. They are very awkward for people who are not used to them.

Don't forget market days. Whole downtowns (towncenter) are taken over by people hawking their wares. Most of them are selling fruit, vegetables, and the best cheese in the world, but there are clothing, book and electronic booths, too.

Just great, the way all these non-Dutch describe The Netherlands. You're all doing a marvellous job.

Merrel mentioned the V.C. Actually, it's W.C. =Water Closet. I think this word for toilet is the one most used.

Take care not to use the unabbreviated form: Water Closet, as most Dutch probably will not understand this.

Another remark about the old Dutch money: A `geeltje'(yellow-with-the-`small'-postfix) is, if I remember correctly, f. 25,- But the f25,- bill was RED!

(The small-postfix: (this should be in the language part)

When in English a house is small, you say `a small house' (don't you?)
When in Dutch a house (een huis) is small (klein), you can say: `een klein huis', but most Dutch would say: `een huisje'.

Even when things are not that small, the Dutch use the -je postfix very often. The word for ice-cream (in a cup or on a stick) is ijsje: ijs-je = small ice. If you buy a very large one (one that would feed a family) it is still called ijsJE.

Just the same: `meisje' (little girl, but a big girl is still called meisJE. Or vrouw (woman) of course.)

"een ruug" - just reflecting a corresponding higher denomination note in South Africa was called "'n roogie" because its predominant colour was russet red. Wondering if this might be a cross-cultural thing with Afrikaans?

The differences between formal European Dutch and Afrikaans are interesting to explore, too. Afrikaans uses "vrou" and "meisie" for woman/girl, for instance, and "Dankie", as opposed to "dank je", for "thank you". Could go into this in more detail...