Uitwaaien
Meaning: Going for a walk or bike ride in the wind specifically to clear your head — letting the breeze blow the mental clutter away.
Language: Dutch
Literally: to out-blow
Category: Nature
Origin: Dutch uit ('out') + waaien ('to blow/be windy'); a distinctly flat-country practice.
More untranslatable words — Nature
- Shinrin-yoku — Immersing yourself in the atmosphere of a forest — soaking up its calm through all your s…
- Waldeinsamkeit — The serene, faintly mystical feeling of being alone in the woods, at peace with nature.
- Meriggiare — To take a quiet midday rest in a cool, shaded spot, escaping the fierce afternoon sun.
- Gökotta — Rising at first light for no reason but to go outside and hear the birds sing.
- Komorebi — The dappled light that filters through leaves and scatters across the ground.
- Wabi-sabi — Finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and the worn or incomplete.
More Dutch untranslatable words
- Gezellig — The warm, fuzzy feeling of being somewhere cosy and comfortable with people you like — a…
From our tongue twisters
- 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.