"What are those wives doing?"

[zackayak]

LOL - this one is a setup for people who are familiar with common spoken Dutch.

[jamesjiao]

Explain please?

[zackayak]

'Wijf' is a pejorative term for 'woman'. It might be used for old women, almost like 'hag', but conversely it is also used for 'babe'. In the latter, it is often used with 'lekker'. 'Wijf' totally objectifies and is offensive, but if you are learning a language it's good to know these things too, right? "Wat doen die wijven?", might best be translated as 'What are those 'bi***es' up to?' So, please don't use it, but it did come to mind when this one popped up here.

Writing this reminds me of a really common Dutch expression that I don't remember coming across in the tree... that is using 'lekker' to describe people. Literally it means tasty, and they say it to mean 'hot' or 'sexy'. It is common to describe 'jongens', 'meisjes', 'mannen' or 'vrouwen' as being 'lekker'.

I hope this doesn't offend anyone. Duolingo team, please censor as you see fit.

I found heavy swearing to be pretty common in Dutch (maybe because I was there during high school years). Wouldn't that make for a funny Bonus Skills chapter?!

[jamesjiao]

Thanks for taking the time to write the explanation. Have a lingot.

[LindaMeyberg]

Also, when people say lekker ding, they're probably also referring to a person.

[spridersophia]

why "die echtgenotes" and not "deze echtgenotes "?

[xMerrie]

• Deze echtgenotes - These wives
• Die echtgenotes - Those wives