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The A-Z of Turning Dutch – the Letter K’s Turn

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The highly anticipated next instalment of the A-Z series. The letter K is up today. Any seasoned resident of the Netherlands will know there will be a choice word or two on this list….

There are a fair few food related K’s so I have put them together at the top of the list.

  • Kip
  • Kaas (this is the third appearance of the Dutch for cheese, in one form or another. Where there’s stereotype smoke, there’s surely a stereotype fire)
  • Koekje
  • Kroketten
  • Kapsalon (not where you get yourself a fancy hair cut – or as my teenagers like to say ‘een frisse cut’, but fries loaded with a lot of unhealthy fatty food)
  • Karnemelk (bah!)
  • Koffie
  • Kaaskop
  • Kattegejank
  • Kinderdijk (hands up if you haven’t been!)
  • Kwakzalverij
  • Kladblok
  • Kermis
  • Konig
  • Kralingen (see below)
  • Koningsdag (King’s Day. Everything you could ever possibly want to know about this topic is in this post)
  • Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day, what King’s Day used to be before a king came to the throne)
  • Kunt (calm down, full explanation below)
  • Knus
  • Knuffel
  • Kanker (as in cancer, but also heavily used as a swear word here)
  • Koophandel (because, out of the mouth of a Dutch person, ‘we are after all a middle class and mercantile nation’)
  • Knikkers (marbles)
  • Kerst & kerstkaarten
  • K is for the KNCB (the Dutch cricket board)
  • Konijn
  • Kust (of which there is a fair bit to enjoy)
  • Kratje (bier)
  • Krent
  • Kaarsjes
  • Kabouters (more on these little fellas here)
  • Koopje (bargain, a close second to the Dutch love of gratis)
  • Kersvers
A-Z-Letter-K-640x960 The A-Z of Turning Dutch – the Letter K's Turn

“Zo oud als de weg naar Kralingen”. Used when describing something that’s been around forever. It’s also a very nice part of Rotterdam which includes het Kralingsebos”

Graham Wood

Kaas – That’s Cheese to You and Me

Kaas. kaaaaas. all the kaaaas. Kid and his cousins will devour cheese samples like ravenous beasts at the shops.

Nico Murray

Kunt, From the Verb Kunnen – Meaning ‘Be Able to’

I’m going to sneak around your rule and say my favourite word beginning with k is of course… Kunt! It was a source of constant outrage to my mum and mirth to me. “How can they have that on an advert? That’s disgusting! Mind you that’s proddies for ya. Heathens” etc etc

Scott Lafferty

The A-Z Series

Here’s what you have missed so far:

Over to You

If the K word that you most associate with Dutch life is not on the list, share with us below or on social media.

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