De hond in de pot vinden
Meaning: To arrive too late — the food, or the opportunity, is gone.
Language: Dutch
Literally: To find the dog in the pot
Category: Animals
Origin: Come home after dinner in an old Dutch household and only the dog remains, licking the cooking pot clean.
More idioms — Animals
- Ana ugglor i mossen — To sense that something fishy is going on.
- 马马虎虎 (Mǎmǎhūhū) — So-so; careless and only just passable.
- 拍马屁 (pāi mǎpì) — To flatter or suck up to someone.
- At have rotter på loftet — To be a little crazy.
- Päästä kuin koira veräjästä — To escape consequences entirely; to get off scot-free.
- Dělat z komára velblouda — To blow something tiny wildly out of proportion.
More Dutch idioms
- Een appeltje met iemand te schillen hebben — To have a bone to pick with someone.
- Iets onder de knie hebben — To have mastered a skill.
- Met de neus in de boter vallen — To arrive at exactly the right, lucky moment.
- Het regent pijpenstelen — It is raining very heavily.
- Iets met de Franse slag doen — To do it carelessly and half-heartedly.
- De kat uit de boom kijken — To wait cautiously before committing.
From our tongue twisters
- Liesje leerde Lotje lopen langs de lange Lindelaan. — Eight consecutive l-words, with the vowel behind the l changing every time.
- De kat krabt de krullen van de trap. — A 'kr' cluster drill — Dutch consonant pileups that beginners approach with dread.
- Als vliegen achter vliegen vliegen, vliegen vliegen vliegen achterna. — The same noun/verb homograph trap as the German version — vliegen does triple duty.