Donald Trump definitely is extremely ongezellig. One more example - from outside Holland’s borders: Even more so when you so with friends and strangers, all wearing orange, of course. Tax Day definitely is not.Ĭheering on your favorite Dutch sports team, athlete, or race driver - anywhere in the world - is gezellig. Eating dinner at McDonald’s is ongezellig - though here again gezellige friends can make a difference. Watching a movie at home in a gezellige living room (read: warm colors, warm ambiance, full of books, plants 1, and knick-knacks, along with a dog or cat or two) is gezellig, especially if you have gezellige friends over. Old-fashioned shops and boutiques are gezellig modern warehouses are not. Celebrating King’s Day in Amsterdam on a boat full of friends: gezellig! Trying to entertain the inlaws-from-hell is definitely not gezellig. A dentist’s waiting room is not - though it can be gezellig if your friends accompany you, particularly if they are gezellig.Īn evening on the town with friends is gezellig, especially if you have dinner at a gezellig restaurant, see a good movie, and finish with a drink at a gezellige pub. However, to the Dutch it goes way beyond ‘cozy.’ You’ll hear the word a lot when you visit Amsterdam, so here are some indications as to how to understand and use it: Gezellig vs. Its meaning includes everything from cozy to friendly, from comfortable to relaxing, and from enjoyable to gregarious.Īccording to Wikipedia, “A perfect example of untranslatability is seen in the Dutch language through the word gezellig, which does not have an English equivalent. Literally, it means cozy, quaint, or nice, but can also connote time spent with loved ones, seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness.” Locals and foreigners alike will tell you that the word can not be translated. Coffee with a friend: gezellig! On a sunny terrace in the center of Amsterdam? Even gezelliger! Gezellig is untranslatable (You’ll get a chance to hear and practice it further down the page). You’re welcome to try and pronounce it: heh-SELL-ick. Naturally, you’ll find lots of gezelligheid in Amsterdam. The term encompasses the heart of Dutch culture, as the Dutch tend to love all things gezellig. Gezellig is a Dutch word you will hear - and hopefully later use - a lot. Įvidently, too many coffee shops in town have had their ambience wrecked when itinerant word processors with laptops turn the tables into office space.5 Negative use of ‘gezellig’ What you should know about the Dutch term gezellig In Midtown and Lower Manhattan, we had experienced the ambience and uber-cool of the village life that so attracts people to this unique island. Parallel lines are encouraged to reflect the nautical ambience. Ĭanadian, Australian, and American publications also tend to prefer ambience over ambiance: While some dictionaries list ambiance as the standard spelling, ambience is far more common in all main 21st-century varieties of English. Jasper itself is also very popular for skiing, although Jasper Park Lodge doesn’t have the ambience or cachet of the hotels above. The relaxed ambience could also be down to the absence of mobile technology at our table. ExamplesĪlthough British English, compared to American English, is usually more welcoming to French words and spellings, most British publications prefer the non-French spelling of ambience, as used in these examples: So the fact that ambience is more common makes sense, as it has been an English word longer. But in fact, the Anglicized word has been in English longer and was established long before the French spelling entered English as a vogue word in the 20th century. Ambiance is the French word from which the English one derives, and ambience is an Anglicization.
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