Godverdomme pretty much directly translates to goddamn so I didn’t include it. It’s derived from either “God verdoeme me” (“(may) God damn me”) or “God verdoeme” (“God damn”) but I don’t think its origins are known for sure; there are to explanations according to the etymology textbooks as far as I can tell.
In its original context a similar set of words was used to say “may God damn me (to hell) if it wasn’t so”, expressing how truthful one is being. However, there have been so many derivations through dialects and other uses that it’s hard to tell when stressing the fact you’re telling the truth was dropped from the common phrase.
Dutch very rarely uses the subjunctive anymore except for in a few common phrases (lang leve, het zij zo, koste wat het kost, and a few others) so I don’t think most people realise it’s not based on the imperative of “verdoemen”, but rather a request or desire.
Godverdomme pretty much directly translates to goddamn so I didn’t include it. It’s derived from either “God verdoeme me” (“(may) God damn me”) or “God verdoeme” (“God damn”) but I don’t think its origins are known for sure; there are to explanations according to the etymology textbooks as far as I can tell.
In its original context a similar set of words was used to say “may God damn me (to hell) if it wasn’t so”, expressing how truthful one is being. However, there have been so many derivations through dialects and other uses that it’s hard to tell when stressing the fact you’re telling the truth was dropped from the common phrase.
Dutch very rarely uses the subjunctive anymore except for in a few common phrases (lang leve, het zij zo, koste wat het kost, and a few others) so I don’t think most people realise it’s not based on the imperative of “verdoemen”, but rather a request or desire.