Example: Toen het gevaar kwam, pakten ze snel de biezen.
Definition
"De biezen pakken" is a Dutch expression meaning to leave quickly or to flee from a situation, especially when danger or trouble arises. For example, in the phrase 'Toen het gevaar kwam, pakten ze snel de biezen,' it means they quickly ran away when danger appeared.
The phrase "de biezen pakken" literally translates to 'pack the rushes,' where 'biezen' refers to rush plants traditionally used for making mats or bags. The expression likely originated from the idea of packing up one's belongings and leaving hastily. It's a vivid metaphor for quickly gathering what you can and departing, much like packing rushes for a journey.
Learn to use this expression actively
"De biezen pakken" appears in the Vocaplus list "Dutch - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (C2) - set 1", containing 105 commonly used expressions.
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