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Where does the funny Dutch word ‘de neushoorn’ come from?
Published: 02/07/2020

The word neushoorn can be split into two separate words, de neus and de hoorn. Both words can have different meanings in Dutch:
a. De neus (m)
/nøːs/ (noun)
De neus can have two different meanings in Dutch:
- An organ used for breathing and to smell.
Example: Hij heeft een lange neus. He has a long nose. - The front part of an object.
Example: De neus van het vliegtuig was beschadigd. The nose of the plane was damaged.



b. De hoorn (m)
/horn/ (noun)
De hoorn can have 5 different meanings in Dutch:
- Hard and usually curved protrusion at the head of various animals.
Example: Het hert had lange hoorns. The deer had large horns. - Wax that looks like a horn, for example with insects.
- (Mollusks) turned dish of some mollusks.
Example: Ze zochten allerlei hoorns toen ze langs het strand liepen. They looked for all kinds of horns when they walked along the beach. - An (electro) acoustic amplifier, for example the hearing and speaking part of a telephone.
Example: Hij legde de hoorn onmiddellijk neer nadat hij hoorde wie er aan de telefoon was. He put down the receiver immediately after he heard who was on the phone. - (Musical instrument) wind instrument that was originally made from a horn, but nowadays often from an injured copper tube with valves, and a wide bell.
Example: We kunnen aardig op de hoorn spelen. We can play nicely on the horn.





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