IdiomFood & Drink
Dutch
Dutchniet veel soeps
Meaning: Unimpressive or mediocre; not worth much.
Literally: Not much soup
Example: “Het hotel was niet veel soeps, maar het ontbijt was goed.” — The hotel was nothing to write home about, but breakfast was good.
English equivalent: Nothing to write home about
Equivalents in other languages
French: Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard Literally: It doesn't break three legs of a duck
German: Das ist nicht das Gelbe vom Ei Literally: That's not the yellow of the egg
English: nothing to write home about- French: Ce n'est pas le Pérou Literally: It's not Peru
Origin: Soeps is an old partitive form of soep (soup), as in iets moois (something nice): "not much soup-ish," not much of a soup, and so not much of anything. It is said of something disappointing or mediocre. The phrase is colloquial and has no documented story or first use.
More Dutch idioms
- in de kiem smoren To nip something in the bud; to stop a problem before it grows.
- veel noten op zijn zang hebben To be demanding or to offer many critical comments.
- voet bij stuk houden To stand firm and refuse to give in to pressure or threats.
- stoom afblazen To release pent-up anger, stress or energy.
- het heft in eigen handen nemen To take control of a situation or seize the initiative.
- met de kippen op stok gaan to go to bed very early, at sunset.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- 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.
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