C1 · Lesson 232 · Style & register (C1)

Figurative language in the news

Understand the metaphors journalists and politicians use every day: aan de bel trekken, de knoop doorhakken…

Grammar

Set metaphors in journalism and politics

News Dutch is full of fixed metaphors. They are idioms: the words can't be swapped — it's de knoop doorhakken, not de knoop doorsnijden.
Most behave like separable verbs: the particle goes to the end in main clauses and joins the verb in the participle: Het kabinet hakt de knoop door. Het kabinet heeft de knoop doorgehakt. …dat de partij het roer omgooit.
State expressions come with a fixed positional verb: onder vuur liggen (to be under fire), op scherp staan (to be tense / on high alert), in de lift zitten (to be on the rise). Using the wrong one sounds odd.
Many describe political processes: een balletje opgooien (float an idea), water bij de wijn doen (compromise), de boot afhouden (stall, avoid committing yourself), de vinger op de zere plek leggen (put your finger on the real problem).
They are neutral to formal and very common in the news — but stacking several in one text quickly sounds like journalese (clichés).

expression	literally	meaning
aan de bel trekken	to pull the bell	to raise the alarm
de knoop doorhakken	to cut through the knot	to make the final decision
het roer omgooien	to swing the helm round	to change course radically
onder vuur liggen	to lie under fire	to face heavy criticism
op scherp staan	to be set to sharp	to be tense / on the brink of conflict
een vinger aan de pols houden	to keep a finger on the pulse	to monitor closely

Vocabulary