om zeep helpen
Meaning: To kill or eliminate someone.
Language: Dutch
Literally: to help around soap
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Origin uncertain; possibly relates to old Dutch soap-making or bathing practices, or may be a corruption of another phrase, but the figurative meaning is well-attested.
More idioms — Daily Life
- 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.
- ga toch fietsen — A rude dismissal telling someone to go away.
- niet veel zaaks — Unimpressive or mediocre; not worth much.
More Dutch idioms
- 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.
- in de wind slaan — To deliberately ignore or disregard something.
- niet veel soeps — Unimpressive or mediocre; not worth much.
From our untranslatable words
- Khalyava — Something good got for free and without effort — and, strictly, something you were never…
- Beloruchka — Someone who dodges dirty or hard work — a person whose hands stay conspicuously clean.
- Zapoi — A bender running for days, in which a person drops out of ordinary life entirely.