The story
Binnen is inside and pretje is a small fun, so the whole event happens behind your face. Dutch teachers tell children to stop having binnenpretjes in class, which has never once worked. English gets there in two words: a private chuckle.
binnenpretje
BIN-nen-pret-yuh[ˈbɪnə(n)ˌprɛcə]
Pronunciation: marcel coenders · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commonsa small private laugh nobody else can see — your own inside joke
Closest in English: chuckle, giggle, smirk. None of them covers it.
Watch the word
A real game of this word, in 20 seconds.
How it went in the game
Played by 64 people.
Three in five placed it in Dutch straight away; most of the others went for Afrikaans.
Of those who bet on the translation, one in five got it exactly.
Harder than most words so far.
The four rounds
Contains the answers. If you want to play the word yourself first, leave this closed.
- Which language is it from?Dutch
- Which feeling does it carry?Quietly, privately amused
- Where would you hear it?A long meeting, face straight
- What does it mean?A laugh you keep to yourself