een lans breken
Meaning: To take up someone's cause or defend a position publicly.
Language: Dutch
Literally: to break a lance
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From medieval jousting; a knight who breaks a lance in combat demonstrates commitment to his opponent or cause, making it a metaphor for passionate advocacy.
More idioms — Daily Life
- schoon schip maken — To make a thorough reform of an organization by removing bad practices or undesirable peo…
- om zeep helpen — To kill or eliminate someone.
- gaten schieten in — To criticize someone or something harshly by pointing out flaws or contradictions.
- blijven zitten — To be held back a grade in school; to fail to advance to the next level of study.
- een tandje bijsteken — To intensify one's effort or increase the pace of activity; to move up a gear.
- buiten de boot vallen — To be left out or excluded from a group or activity.
More Dutch idioms
- de nek omdraaien — To kill or destroy someone or something, or to bring an end to a project or endeavor.
- weten waar Abraham de mosterd haalt — To be well-informed or knowledgeable about how things really work.
- niet op zijn mond gevallen zijn — To be outspoken and forthright; to speak one's mind without hesitation.
- tussen neus en lippen door — To say something in passing or casually, without emphasis or drawing attention to it.
- op eigen benen staan — To be independent and self-sufficient; to support oneself without relying on others.
- van lotje getikt — To be crazy or eccentric; to be not quite sane.
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.