Example: Ik wil een lans breken voor eerlijkheid op school.
Definition
"Een lans breken voor" is a Dutch expression meaning to actively defend or support a cause, idea, or person, especially when it is unpopular or underappreciated. For example, one might say, "Ik wil een lans breken voor eerlijkheid op school," to express advocating for honesty at school.
The phrase "een lans breken voor" literally translates to "to break a lance for" and originates from medieval jousting tournaments where knights would break their lances in combat to defend or champion someone or something. Over time, it evolved into a metaphor for defending a cause vigorously.
Learn to use this expression actively
"Een lans breken voor" appears in the Vocaplus list "Dutch - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (C1) - set 1", containing 100 commonly used expressions.
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to advocate for