Dutcher met een jantje-van-leiden van afmaken
Meaning: to perform a task carelessly, half-heartedly, or in a slipshod manner.
Literally: To finish it off with a little John from Leiden
Example: “Hij maakte er met een jantje-van-leiden van af en leverde één pagina in.” — He just went through the motions and handed in one page.
English equivalent: To go through the motions
Other ways to say this
Russian: работать спустя рукава (rabotat' spustya rukava) Literally: To work with sleeves let down- Dutch: Iets met de Franse slag doen Literally: To do something with the French stroke
Icelandic: Að kasta til höndunum Literally: To throw with your hands
Malay: Melepaskan batuk di tangga Literally: To cough on the stairs and leave
English: go through the motions
Origin: From Jan van Leiden (Jan Beukelszoon, 1509–1536), the tailor and innkeeper who became a leader of the Anabaptists and was executed in 1536. As Stoett and Onze Taal explain, he had a reputation as a smooth talker, and in the 17th century het afleggen met Jan van Leyen meant getting out of something with a nice story. In the 20th century the sense moved from an evasive answer to a sloppy, half-hearted job.
More Dutch idioms
- met de nek aankijken to regard someone with scorn or disdain; to look down on.
- hout snijden to be convincing or logically sound; to hold up under scrutiny.
- water bij de wijn doen to compromise or make a concession in a dispute or negotiation.
- de teerling is geworpen an irrevocable decision has been made; the course of action is now set in motion.
- alleen de rozijnen uitpikken to select only the best or most desirable items while ignoring the rest.
- een loopje nemen to deceive or trick someone.
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- Als vliegen achter vliegen vliegen, vliegen vliegen vliegen achterna. The same noun/verb homograph trap as the German version — vliegen does triple duty.
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