Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Dutch term or phrase:
"om de hete brij heen draaien"
English translation:
Pussyfoot around the hot potato
Added to glossary by
L.J.Wessel van Leeuwen
Apr 7, 2008 17:41
16 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Dutch term
South Africa
Willing & Ready to be of service to YOU!
Native in: English 
, Dutch
Works in: Dutch to English, Afrikaans to English, French to English, and 3 more.
"om de hete brij heen draaien"
Dutch to English
Bus/Financial
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
saying
A sensitive question has been raised at a meeting. The chairman then avoids the issue thus: "Wij mogen er niets over zeggen. Het ligt heel gevoelig bij onze leden." En daarmee draait deze bijeenkomst, ondanks de goede voornemens, ---> om de hete brij heen -
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | Pussyfoot around the hot potato |
drboer
|
| 5 +1 | beat about (US: around) the bush |
Kitty Brussaard
|
| 4 | Not go there |
Kathleen Mathues
|
Proposed translations
43 mins
Dutch term (edited):
\"om de hete brij heen draaien\"
Selected
Pussyfoot around the hot potato
Van Dale. "hete brij" refers to a difficult subject, "draait om de hete brij" means to avoid a difficult subject. This contraction of two idioms comes close.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Dag,
Bedankt. Ik heb dit eigenlijk als volgt vertaald :"Avoids the burning issue. Toch geef ik de punten want om de 2 samen te voegen is niet gemakkellijk. Prettige dag verder.
Wessel"
40 mins
Kathleen Mathues
France
France
Native in Dutch
&
English
Works in field
France
Highly technical translations!
Native in: Dutch , English
Works in: English to Dutch, Dutch to English
Not go there
not to go into that area of conversation, not to touch on that subject
Example sentence:
I heard something about him the other day, but I'd rather not go there.
Note from asker:
| Dag, Bedankt. Ik heb dit eigenlijk als volgt vertaald :"Avoids the burning issue. Makkellijk om de 2 samen te voegen is niet gemakkellijk. Prettige dag verder. Wessel |
+1
55 mins
Kitty Brussaard
Netherlands
Netherlands
Native in Dutch
Netherlands
Business Language Solutions
Native in: Dutch (Variant: Netherlands) 
Works in: English to Dutch, Dutch to English, Dutch
Related KudoZ points
:
44
beat about (US: around) the bush
Van Dale N-E geeft deze vertaling, of evt. "pussyfoot around" zonder verdere toevoeging
Note from asker:
| Dag, Bedankt. Ik heb dit eigenlijk als volgt vertaald :"Avoids the burning issue. Makkellijk om de 2 samen te voegen is niet gemakkellijk. Prettige dag verder. Wessel |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
drboer
: Hi Kitty, Van Dale does give these two translations, but for me, the "hete brij" doesn't come out well. Pussyfoot around can be followed by something (eg pussyfoot around the real issue). I thought "hot potatoe" would cover "hete brij" best.
18 mins
|
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In that case I would prefer "pussyfoot around the (real) issue"!
|
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| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
2 hrs
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Thanks Tina!
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