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I'd suggest "convivial" is a little closer.

tinco 4y ago
Oh interesting, yeah at least the dictionary seems to hit all the keywords except friendly, hitting social instead which might or might not be accurate. "Living-together-ness" would be the literal translation, which is a bit weird but if that's how it's used then at least in use it might be a lot closer than companionable.
andrepd 4y ago
From the perspective of a southern European, neither "convivial" nor "companionable" are the words that spring to mind when I think of Dutch people :)
- TheRealPomax 4y ago
  From the perspective of a Dutchman: same. "Gezellig" really doesn't sum up the heart of Dutch culture in the slightest - not to mention it's old, if you show up at a party and someone goes "gezellig", it's time to leave, this is your grandparents' party. Or you have some extremely boring middle class "huisje boompje beestje" ("buy a house, plant a tree, get a pet" to refer to settling down and never aspiring to anything after) friends, of course.
  - ricardobeat 4y ago
    What kind of aspirations do you expect from most people? I always thought being content with a simple life was part of the magic.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - TheRealPomax 4y ago
      Given Dutch demographics and prevalence of cheap (on the world stage) and highly regarded university degrees? Quite a lot. Dutch culture was shaped by entrepreneurship more than anything else (Except maybe plausibly deniable exploitation of entire people groups up to extremely recently, a cultural trait shared by an embarassingly large number of European countries).
  - TheSpiceIsLife 4y ago
    If this word means both of the definitions defines by the commenters above that'd make it a Janus word, or autantonym. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym
- SanderNL 4y ago
  We are a special bunch, I’ll give you that.
- gattilorenz 4y ago
  From the perspective of a fellow southern European living in NL, there’s definitely a different way of interpreting it. Gezellig is also… an atmosphere, a vibe. You are sitting alone in your garden at dusk in a summer evening, there’s a cool breeze, very soft garden lights are on, just enough to let you read your book… that can be gezellig, even if you’re alone. Or you’re in a pub with 10 friends, chugging beers… also gezellig. Dining in a southern European restaurant with bright lights… not very gezellig, you’ll probably need people around to make up for that :) In a sense, Dutch people are more convivial than us: they can find conviviality without having people around. But that’s the point I guess: “convivial” is a limiting translation to begin with.
  - mettamage 4y ago
    IMO, the vibe thing is how I usually use it (Dutchie over here).

Oh interesting, yeah at least the dictionary seems to hit all the keywords except friendly, hitting social instead which might or might not be accurate. "Living-together-ness" would be the literal translation, which is a bit weird but if that's how it's used then at least in use it might be a lot closer than companionable.

andrepd 4y ago

From the perspective of a southern European, neither "convivial" nor "companionable" are the words that spring to mind when I think of Dutch people :)

TheRealPomax 4y ago
From the perspective of a Dutchman: same. "Gezellig" really doesn't sum up the heart of Dutch culture in the slightest - not to mention it's old, if you show up at a party and someone goes "gezellig", it's time to leave, this is your grandparents' party. Or you have some extremely boring middle class "huisje boompje beestje" ("buy a house, plant a tree, get a pet" to refer to settling down and never aspiring to anything after) friends, of course.
- ricardobeat 4y ago
  What kind of aspirations do you expect from most people? I always thought being content with a simple life was part of the magic.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - TheRealPomax 4y ago
    Given Dutch demographics and prevalence of cheap (on the world stage) and highly regarded university degrees? Quite a lot. Dutch culture was shaped by entrepreneurship more than anything else (Except maybe plausibly deniable exploitation of entire people groups up to extremely recently, a cultural trait shared by an embarassingly large number of European countries).
- TheSpiceIsLife 4y ago
  If this word means both of the definitions defines by the commenters above that'd make it a Janus word, or autantonym. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym
SanderNL 4y ago
We are a special bunch, I’ll give you that.
gattilorenz 4y ago
From the perspective of a fellow southern European living in NL, there’s definitely a different way of interpreting it. Gezellig is also… an atmosphere, a vibe. You are sitting alone in your garden at dusk in a summer evening, there’s a cool breeze, very soft garden lights are on, just enough to let you read your book… that can be gezellig, even if you’re alone. Or you’re in a pub with 10 friends, chugging beers… also gezellig. Dining in a southern European restaurant with bright lights… not very gezellig, you’ll probably need people around to make up for that :) In a sense, Dutch people are more convivial than us: they can find conviviality without having people around. But that’s the point I guess: “convivial” is a limiting translation to begin with.
- mettamage 4y ago
  IMO, the vibe thing is how I usually use it (Dutchie over here).