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FAQ-NL: Dutch | ||
Tags: The Netherlands | Dutch | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| ReneeMona Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5333 days ago 864 posts - 1274 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, EnglishC2 Studies: French | Message 105 of 509 24 April 2010 at 2:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'll be honest with you: I had never heard of this term before except maybe in the literal meaning of dunes covered in grass. I asked my father and he had heard of it though, so it might be a bit more old fashioned. He mentioned a couple of meanings and I looked it up in a Dutch encyclopaedia as well:
1. Going out into nature. The word generally has a bit of a laid-back association, so in this sense it kind of means "strolling in a nature setting (so not necessarily the dunes). 2. Having a casual look in or around something, usually something like a library or an archive but also in other situations. I don't know if you're familiar with the word "rondsnuffelen" but that literally means "to sniff around" and it means about the same thing. I looked up the definition of to browse and that seems to cover it quite well. My father also added that it can mean you were looking for something you were pretty sure you weren't going to find. So when you "grasduin" in an archive it means you already know that you're probably not going to find something so it's kind of a half-hearted search.The encyclopaedia also specified that it means to browse for something you like (as opposed to what you need I guess) so that adds another nuance of casualness. 3. To really devote or dedicate oneself to the study of something. This meaning seems a little strange to me considering the other meanings all suggest casualness but the encyclopaedia states this as one of it's meanings so I guess it is. 4. To hang out. My father mentioned this but I can't find it in the encyclopaedia. He says it's kind of an old word for what we would nowadays call "rondhangen". So if I was hanging out with friends I would never call that grasduinen (that would definitely raise a couple of eyebrows) but a couple of old people playing cards or bingo together might call it that. (both their own hanging out as well as mine) As for your question about the internet browser, I think we just call those browsers. Dutch has taken most words for computer-related things straight from English so we say computer, downloaden, internet provider, browser etc. I don't think many people would understand what you were talking about if you called firefox a grasduiner. Edited by ReneeMona on 13 May 2010 at 9:29pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Vinbelgium Bilingual Tetraglot Groupie Belgium Joined 5822 days ago 61 posts - 73 votes Speaks: Dutch*, Flemish*, English, French Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 106 of 509 24 April 2010 at 3:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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I did hear that word before, but it's not commonly used.
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| tommus Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5864 days ago 979 posts - 1688 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish | Message 107 of 509 24 April 2010 at 7:59pm | IP Logged | ||
Thanks for your detailed answer. Very interesting. For the last part; it looks like there are some people using it to refer to browsers and for 'search engine' like Google or Yahoo. Here are a couple of examples: http://www.turing-online.nl/turing/pagina.asp?pagkey=13611 http://www.scholieren.com/werkstukken/96 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5845 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 108 of 509 24 April 2010 at 8:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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My Dutch friend uses the word "grasduinen" to research something or to look something up. He uses it, when a bit more effort is needed.
Examples: 1. "Dat weet ik niet. Als je een antwoord van mij wilt krijgen, dan moet ik eerst maar een rondje gaan grasduinen." 2. "Dat kan ik zo niet zeggen. Laat mij eerst maar eens een rondje gaan grasduinen." I myself haven't used the word "grasduinen" so far. Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 24 April 2010 at 9:54pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ReneeMona Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5333 days ago 864 posts - 1274 votes Speaks: Dutch*, EnglishC2 Studies: French | Message 109 of 509 24 April 2010 at 9:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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The way your friend says "een rondje grasduinen" actually fits with some of the definitions I found for the verb. The "rondje" suggest that he's going to orientate himself quite broadly, have a good look around I mean. One of the sites (sorry I can't remember which one) mentioned that grasuinen also means that you don't know anything/much about the topic you're researching. I think your friend's use of the word fits the third definition I mentioned best. I guess the word is just very ambiguous and it depends on the context what the speaker means by it.
Tommus, those links are very interesting. I have a "but..."for both though. The first link mentions that a web-browser is "literally" a grasduiner. Basically they offer it as a translation for the word but that doesn't mean the word grasduiner is ever actually used to mean browser. The second text was written over a decade ago in 1999 when Internet was still a new phenomenon. Dutch might not have adapted that many words for Internet-related things yet at that time so people might still have been using different names, both Dutch and English ones, for these kind of things. Also I think Yahoo is a search machine (correct me if I'm wrong) which is something else than a browser. A search machine in a zoekmachine in Dutch. Edited by ReneeMona on 06 May 2010 at 2:48pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tommus Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5864 days ago 979 posts - 1688 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish | Message 110 of 509 24 April 2010 at 9:56pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes. You are right on both. It would be interesting to know the etymology. Unfortunately, grasduinen is a word associated with looking for etymology. For example, if you Google etymologie grasduinen, you get 479 hits, but most use grasduinen for 'searching around" to find the etymology of other words, such as "Op deze site kan je grasduinen in woordenboeken, ...". But there is no shortage of the use of this word. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tommus Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5864 days ago 979 posts - 1688 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish | Message 111 of 509 24 April 2010 at 10:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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I should have looked in Van Dale earlier. Here is another page that references Van Dale:
http://www.vliz.be/vmdcdata/faq/question.php?qid=138 Here is what it says: " * Vraag: Waar komt het werkwoord 'grasduinen' vandaan? * Antwoord: Volgens de 'Grote Van Dale ' betekent grasduinen "naar hartelust toetasten, te werk gaan, zich geheel verdiepen in iets". In Vlaanderen echter is de meer gangbare betekenis "ergens voor zijn plezier in rondneuzen". Het werkwoord onstond bij een verkeerd begrip van het zelfstandig naamwoord 'grasduin'. In de kuststreken van ons taalgebied waren met gras begroeide duinen zeer gewaardeerde weideplaatsen, vooral voor schapen. Het meervoud 'grasduinen' kreeg de figuurlijke betekenis "plaats waar het aangenaam toeven is". De betekenis is terug te vinden in een aantal zegswijzen die intussen in onbruik geraakt zijn zoals 'in grasduinen grazen' (volop genieten), 'in grasduinen gaan' (zijn hart ophalen). Waarschijnlijk leidde deze laatste uitdrukking tot de verkeerde opvatting van het meervoud als werkwoord. 'In grasduinen gaan' werd opgevat als 'in iets gaan grasduinen'. Ethymologische verklaring van de term door prof. Magda Devos, vakgroep Taalkunde van de Universiteit Gent." 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JanKG Tetraglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5765 days ago 245 posts - 280 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German, French Studies: Italian, Finnish | Message 112 of 509 25 April 2010 at 9:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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I might add that 'grasduinen' is not used for browsing the internet specifically, but I think the main connotations are
- pleasant - exploration - fruitful , or looking for fruit - figurative sense Serendipity-like, I'd say... By the way it is (was) a great Dutch magazine about nature. But a great word indeed ! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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