Pech hebben
Example: Ik had pech toen mijn fiets lek was gisteren.
Definition
"Pech hebben" means to experience bad luck or an unfortunate event, such as when something goes wrong unexpectedly. For example, if your bike had a flat tire yesterday, you could say you "had bad luck" or "pech hebben."
Etymology
The phrase "pech hebben" comes from Dutch, where "pech" means misfortune or bad luck, and "hebben" means to have. It literally translates to 'to have bad luck.' The word "pech" is believed to derive from the German word 'Pech,' meaning pitch or tar, which was associated with sticky, troublesome situations, hence the metaphor for bad luck.
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"Pech hebben" appears in the Vocaplus list "Dutch - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (A2) - set 1", containing 106 commonly used expressions.
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to be unlucky