Helaas, pindakaas

Helaas, pindakaas!

If you have bad luck, or somebody else has, you can use one of the following expressions. The one at the bottom is used for instance when somebody has missed a chance. It’s quite informal but very common!

Jammer, niets aan te doen


That’s too bad. Nothing we can do about it.

Dat is pech hebben!


What a pity!

Helaas, pindakaas!


(litt.: That’s too bad, peanut butter!)That’s just too bad!

Note: By the way, do you know you can actually buy Helaas Pindakaas? Visit www.helaas.com to see for yourself.

In de piepzak zitten

Piepzak = doedelzak

In de piepzak zitten (verb, expression) = to be in fear, anxiety
In de rats zitten (verb, expression) = to be in fear, anxiety or misery

Gisteren hebben we een paar uurtjes in de piepzak gezeten vanwege dat bloedonderzoek
in de piepzak gezeten

Yesterday we had a few hours of anxiety because of that bloodtest

De organisatoren zaten flink in de rats of het feest wel door kon gaan

The organizers were anxious about whether the party could actually take place

Rats = ratatouille