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Glossary entry

Nederlands term or phrase:

op de lip zitten

Engels translation:

(kept) breathing down her neck

Added to glossary by Alexander Schleber (X)
Dec 11, 2012 17:45
11 yrs ago
Nederlands term

op de lip zitten

Nederlands naar Engels Overig Algemeen / conversatie / begroetingen / brieven
"Ik zat constant bij Paula op de lip en ik bemoeide me met zaken die zij al jaren regelde."

Does this mean something like "I watched every move ..."?

TIA
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Buck

When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.

How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:

An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)

A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).

Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.

When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.

* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.

Discussion

Buck Dec 12, 2012:
Dictionary If it can be found in a dictionary, Van Dale, for example, then surely it is not a pro question.
Lianne van de Ven Dec 11, 2012:
yes Watch every move is a good option, e.g. "zit me niet zo op de lip" for "leave me alone and don't watch my every move." It's a bit unusual to say of yourself that you're sitting on someone's lip, but oh well.
Barend van Zadelhoff Dec 11, 2012:
van Dale's option:

(figuurlijk) iemand op de lip zitten
sit very close to someone, be sticky

Proposed translations

+1
14 uren
Selected

(kept) breathing down her neck

An idiom of physical over-closeness to match the feel of the original.
Peer comment(s):

agree Marjolein Snippe
8 uren
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "The nicest way of formulating this. Thansk for all the suggestions."
+1
2 uren

bother, bug, hassle

It's not so much watching her every move, but more bothering her, e.g.: "I was constantly bugging Paula and interfering with things that she'd handled for years".

See definition here: op iemands lip zitten = op een hinderlijke manier bij iemand in de buurt zijn
http://nl.thefreedictionary.com/op iemands lip zitten
Peer comment(s):

agree Siobhan Schoonhoff-Reilly : Works for me!
16 uren
Something went wrong...
3 uren

get in someone's way

I was constantly getting in Paula's way and interfering with matters that she'd handled for years".
Example sentence:

op iemands lip zitten (=op een hinderlijke manier bij iemand in de buurt zijn) - be in the way

Something went wrong...
14 uren

continually looking over her shoulder

Just another suggestion...
Something went wrong...
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