Gezellig
The term encompasses the heart of Dutch culture, as the Dutch tend to love all things gezellig.
You’re welcome to try and pronounce it: heh-SELL-ick.
Coffee with a friend: gezellig!
Coffee with a friend: gezellig!
Locals and foreigners alike will tell you that the word can not be translated.
Its meaning includes everything from cozy to friendly, from comfortable to relaxing, and from enjoyable to gregarious.
According to Wikipedia, “A perfect example of untranslatability is seen in the Dutch language through the word gezellig, which does not have an English equivalent.
Literally, it means cozy, quaint, or nice, but can also connote time spent with loved ones, seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness.”
However, to the Dutch it goes way beyond ‘cozy.’
You’ll hear the word a lot when you visit Amsterdam, so here are some indications as to how to understand and use it:
GEZELLIG VS. NOT GEZELLIG
A brown café is gezellig. A dentist’s waiting room is not — though it can be gezellig if your friends accompany you, particularly if they are gezellig.
An evening on the town with friends is gezellig, especially if you have dinner at a gezellig restaurant, see a good movie, and finish with a drink at a gezellige pub. Trying to entertain the inlaws-from-hell is definitely not gezellig.
Celebrating King's Day in Amsterdam on a boat full of friends: gezellig!
Celebrating Queen’s Day in Amsterdam on a boat full of friends: gezellig!
Old-fashioned shops and boutiques are gezellig; modern warehouses are not.
Watching a movie at home in a gezellige living room (read: warm colors, warm ambiance, full of books, plants, and knick-knacks, along with a dog or cat or two) is gezellig, especially if you have gezellige friends over. Eating dinner at MacDonald’s is ongezellig — though here again gezellige friends can make a difference.
Amsterdam is gezellig. Rotterdam is not.