Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Dutch term or phrase:
Het is allemaal wat
English translation:
Well, what do you know...
Added to glossary by
Frank van Thienen (X)
Jan 13, 2012 10:31
12 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Dutch term
het is allemaal wat
Dutch to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I'm translating some phone conversations in Dutch and the phrase "het is allemaal wat" keeps cropping up. The context doesn't always help greatly as the conversations are fairly rambling, but here are a couple of examples:
A: Ja ben ik onderweg naar London.
B: O ja. Je zit nou in de auto.
A: In mijn auto.
B: In auto ja.
A: Dus het is allemaal wat.
B: Nee ik lag te slapen man.
...
A: Dan motten we dan weer maandag mee verder.
B: Ja.
A: Dus.
B: Het is allemaal wat.
...
A: Ja we hebben wanneer was dat dinsdagavond met hem gegeten.
B: Oh ja.
A: Dus. Ja dat was wel oké.
B: Het is allemaal wat.
A: Ja het is alemaal wat.
Is this an alternative expression for "het is altijd wat" (there's always something) or does it have a different idiomatic meaning?
A: Ja ben ik onderweg naar London.
B: O ja. Je zit nou in de auto.
A: In mijn auto.
B: In auto ja.
A: Dus het is allemaal wat.
B: Nee ik lag te slapen man.
...
A: Dan motten we dan weer maandag mee verder.
B: Ja.
A: Dus.
B: Het is allemaal wat.
...
A: Ja we hebben wanneer was dat dinsdagavond met hem gegeten.
B: Oh ja.
A: Dus. Ja dat was wel oké.
B: Het is allemaal wat.
A: Ja het is alemaal wat.
Is this an alternative expression for "het is altijd wat" (there's always something) or does it have a different idiomatic meaning?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 | Well, what do you know... |
Frank van Thienen (X)
|
| 4 +3 | What a business it is |
Josephine Isaacs (X)
|
| 3 +1 | it just goes to show |
Ide Verhelst (X)
|
| 4 | What a world |
Monique van Brandenburg
|
| 4 -1 | c'est toute une histoire |
Yves Antoine
|
| 3 | what a story |
Machteld/Johan Schrameijer/Westenburg
|
| 3 | What a to-do |
Verginia Ophof
|
| 3 | It's all going on |
Suzi Griffiths
|
Change log
Jan 16, 2012 15:47: Frank van Thienen (X) Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
2 days 6 hrs
Selected
Well, what do you know...
As if we need another option... but this is more the kind of "empty filler" phrase that someone may say "in my neck of the woods" as a comment, without contributing to the conversation.
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks to everyone for all the feedback on this - it certainly helped a lot.
I thought all the answers were good, but this one seemed vague enough to fit most situations in the document."
+3
28 mins
What a business it is
Zo zou ik het vertalen.
De vertaling voor allemaal is hier: all. Letterlijk vertaald: what a business it all is. Maar dat klinkt mij iets minder goed in de oren.
De vertaling voor allemaal is hier: all. Letterlijk vertaald: what a business it all is. Maar dat klinkt mij iets minder goed in de oren.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
W Schouten
1 hr
|
|
Dank je wel
|
|
| agree |
Lianne van de Ven
: To me it means something like "it's all too much" and this seems to come pretty close, although I (in the US) never use it... I might say, with a sigh, something like "oh boy..."
4 hrs
|
|
Dank je Lianne
|
|
| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
: and with Lianne. I would say something like "What can you do" in the sense that there isn't much anyone can do.
5 hrs
|
|
Dank je Tina
|
-1
2 mins
Yves Antoine
Belgium
Belgium
Belgium
Engineer - Industry Specialist
Native in: French (Variant: Belgian)
Works in: English to French, Dutch to French, French to English
c'est toute une histoire
...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2012-01-13 14:04:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
woooooooooops ;-) - "what a fuzz" then...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2012-01-13 14:04:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
woooooooooops ;-) - "what a fuzz" then...
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
David Walker (X)
: Not exactly English
10 mins
|
+1
3 hrs
it just goes to show
It seems to me A and B are talking about an occurrence that took place (somebody who died or stood them up). "Het is allemaal wat" refers to that occurrence, but has no real meaning, it's just something you say when you don't know what else to say. So you can use any old filler phrase.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Lianne van de Ven
: Ironically, I don't see this...That seems a rather outspoken statement: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/just goes to show
1 hr
|
| agree |
Laura Morwood
: Totally agree with the analysis so yes, any filler phrase will do.
18 hrs
|
3 hrs
Machteld/Johan Schrameijer/Westenburg
Native in Dutch
&
English
Machteld/Johan Schrameijer/Westenburg
over 35 years of US cultural experience
Native in: Dutch (Variant: Netherlands) 
, English (Variant: US)
Works in: English to Dutch, Dutch to English, Flemish to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
what a story
Dit is ook zo'n uitdrukking die duidelijk naar iets verwijst zonder op de inhoud in te gaan.
5 hrs
Verginia Ophof
Belize
Belize
Native in English
Specializes in field
Belize
Near Native Proficiency in Source langua
Native in: English
Works in: Portuguese to English, Dutch to English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
44
What a to-do
suggestion
5 hrs
Monique van Brandenburg
Netherlands
Netherlands
Native in Dutch
Netherlands
Sworn translator and teacher of Dutch
Native in: Dutch (Variant: Netherlands) 
Works in: English to Dutch, Dutch to English, Dutch
Related KudoZ points
:
4
What a world
It fits the last two conversations. I am not sure that 'het is allemaal wat' in the first conversation has the same meaning. It seems this is only the beginning of a sentence: intonation would be a clue.
Reference:
12 hrs
It's all going on
Slightly more colloquial expression. May be better suited to the style of the rest of the conversation.
Discussion
Het is allemaal wat! Zelfs een papegaai gaat tegenwoordig op vakantie
Het is allemaal wat, met die (voetbal)revoluties van tegenwoordig
Nou het is allemaal wat. Straks word je nog verbannen naar het melaatsenkamp.
Tja het is allemaal wat, iedere keer komt er weer wat uit de hoge hoed
But this one as well:
..... daardoor zijn er dan momenten waarop ik me weer goed voel, maar de angst om een nieuwe aanval of om plots dood te vallen blijven continu aanwezig,enkel reageert mijn lichaam er niet zo vaak meer op dankzij die tabletten.
Het is allemaal wat pfff
As a rule there is a ring of irony, a ring of laconism to it, kind of let's not worry about it too much, ...
The examples above show that its meaning more or less varies depending on the context
In your examples the use of the expression sounds idiosyncratic, out of place, strange, empty, silly, stopgap, filler