2 more things about Dutch love that will surprise you

Here some two extra things about Dutch love that even Dutch people are often unaware of…  Once you share this profound knowledge with Dutch people, chances are high that they will stay in awe for you… Not only will they admire your ‘perfect’ knowledge of Dutch, they will be surprised how much you know about Dutch love 🙂

1 The opposite of love  is not hate 

In Dutch liefde means love and haat means hate. But… did you know that in Dutch there is a real word for the opposite of love? Contrary to most languages, in Dutch the opposite of love is not hate, but something far more worse… it is the total absence of it, something which you could call liefdeloos (loveless, without love).

When you think about it, it is quite logical… If someone hates you, then at least you receive some thoughts or attention and who knows? The hate might be a distorted version of love. But… when something is liefdeloos then there is absolutely nothing…

If you like, you can even turn it into a thing… liefdeloosheid is withoutloveness…  It is that total void where absolute no love can exist… It is a very sad place…  Luckily for most Dutch people liefdeloosheid is merely  a concept… most people love something, at least a dog or a cat. That is why fortunately, everyone knows what love is. But… if you like know you know how to definine this deploroble state!

2 Once Dutch people feel love, they don’t want to let it go…

Has someone ever said to you: ik hou van jou? You know that it means I love you, right? Well… there is more…. ik hou literally means to hold…. It simply means that if Dutch people love something, then they want to hold on to it… they want to be one with it, they want to be with that thing that they love, for ever and ever…

Once again, houden means to hold or to keep. Pay attention now… it is the little word van that turns it into love… Ik hou stroopwafels means I keep the stroopwafels and only if you say ik HOU VAN stroopwafels, then thanks to VAN it means that you love them…

What do you think? Is the declaration of Dutch love romantic or is it to possessive? Feel free to share! How do you say ik hou van jou in your language?