putje

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʏt.jə/

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• Hyphenation: put‧je

putje n (plural putjes)

1. Diminutive of put
2. (Belgium, followed by a noun for a season or a proper noun for a location) heart, midst

   Synonym: hartje

   In putje winter wordt zonnen op het strand afgeraden.

   Tanning on the beach is discouraged in the midst of winter.

   Putje zomer staat er dikwijls een ijsverkoper op het plein.

   There is often an ice-cream seller at the square in the heart of summer.

   • 1921, Achilles J. Mussche, “Tseezeken onder ons”, in De Stem, volume 1, page 359:

     Newaar, we weten wat ervan is honger en koude te moeten afbijten; gaan we nu de anderen, als 't in putje van den winter is, ook op straat smijten met een leêgen buik?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• (heart, midst): In this sense it is mostly used in combination with the preposition in: Deze soep wordt vooral in putje winter gegeten (“This soup is chiefly eaten in the midst of winter”). It can also be used as an adverbial phrase without any prepositions: De foor vindt putje winter plaats (“The funfair takes place in the midst of winter”). The phrase can infrequently occur with the definite article. For seasons it is chiefly used in relation to winter, but it is also attested for different seasons. Marginally, in putje may be used meaning “in the midst of winter” but this is very rare.