Sure, you can order a pommes-frites with curry ketchup and pronounce Dries Van Noten's name without a hitch. But can you really get by in Belgium? Our Slang Dictionary will make sure of it.
Goesting is one of those great words that is impossible to translate literally––and it was voted “most beautiful word” by a Belgian radio station ten years ago. It basically means a "desire" for something: be it food, sex, or watching your favorite TV show. It can be used in a ton of other contexts as well: zijn goesting doen (literally: to do your goesting) means doing whatever you feel like, while zijn goesting krijgen (to get your goesting), is getting what you want.
Example sentence: I really feel like having a beer!/ Ik heb goesting in een pintje!
We'll be rolling out more Belgian slang throughout the summer! Submit your own words to WEBSTORE@OPENINGCEREMONY.US with the subject line "Belgian Slang".![]()
Goesting is one of those great words that is impossible to translate literally––and it was voted “most beautiful word” by a Belgian radio station ten years ago. It basically means a "desire" for something: be it food, sex, or watching your favorite TV show. It can be used in a ton of other contexts as well: zijn goesting doen (literally: to do your goesting) means doing whatever you feel like, while zijn goesting krijgen (to get your goesting), is getting what you want.
Example sentence: I really feel like having a beer!/ Ik heb goesting in een pintje!
We'll be rolling out more Belgian slang throughout the summer! Submit your own words to WEBSTORE@OPENINGCEREMONY.US with the subject line "Belgian Slang".
