DutchIets voor zoete koek aannemen
Meaning: To swallow a story uncritically.
Literally: To accept something as sweet cake
Example: “Ze nam zijn verhaal over de verloren sleutels voor zoete koek aan.” — She fell for his story about the lost keys hook, line and sinker.
English equivalent: To fall for something hook, line, and sinker
Origin: Zoete koek is gingerbread or sweet cake, which nobody refuses. Stoett finds "to eat something for sweet cake" only from the 19th century; before that people said they had to eat something voor suiker (as sugar), swallowing something bitter without showing their dislike, as Tuinman explained in 1726. The sense later shifted from putting up with something to believing it without question.
Equivalents in other languages
German: auf den Leim gehen Literally: To go onto the birdlime
English: fall for something hook, line, and sinker
More Dutch idioms
- De koe bij de horens vatten To tackle a problem head-on.
- Een appeltje voor de dorst Savings put by for hard times.
- Met de mond vol tanden staan To be tongue-tied and lost for words.
- De dans ontspringen To narrowly escape trouble.
- hoe de vork in de steel zit to understand the real situation or hidden mechanics of something.
- over de brug komen to hand over money or pay what is owed.
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