Dutchvoet bij stuk houden
Meaning: To stand firm and refuse to give in to pressure or threats.
Literally: To keep one's foot by the piece
Example: “Ondanks de druk hield ze voet bij stuk.” — Despite the pressure, she stuck to her guns.
English equivalent: To stick to one's guns
Equivalents in other languages
English: stick to one's guns
French: Affirmer mordicus Literally: To affirm by biting
Origin: In the 16th century the phrase was voet bij stek zetten, recorded by Kiliaan and Plantin: setting foot against foot in close combat, without giving ground. Tuinman (1726) took it from duelists who stood toe to toe and did not step back. Alongside it, voet bij stuk is found from 1575, and the 17th-century writer Winschooten explained stuk as a piece of artillery: standing with one's foot by the gun as a sign of fearlessness. Stoett's dictionary records both.
More Dutch idioms
- 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.
- een bittere pil something unpleasant or difficult that one must accept.
- op zijn bord krijgen to be assigned a task or burden.
- met de kippen op stok gaan to go to bed very early, at sunset.
- vuur met vuur bestrijden to counter a harmful action using the same method or intensity.
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