Pijnackerdwarsstraat!

[Czarcasm]

I saw this word above a men's room door this afternoon. What language is it , and what does it mean?

[Joey P]

Was it on a sign or something, or was it written in marker on the tile.

[Duck Duck Goose]

1. It's Dutch--popped it into Google and ".nl" websites came up.

2. No clue what it means. I'm guessing it's a street in Rotterdam.
http://www.rotterdammers.nl/buurten/pijndwars.htm

3. So you were in a men's room on Pijnackerdwarsstraat, in Rotterdam?

[Big Kahuna Burger]

I put it into google and it seems to be a Dutch word. I can't find any online Dutch-English dictionary that finds it, but I'm sure Coldfire will be able to translate it when he comes along.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Painfieldaversion street? That does not seem right. It does seem to be a Nederlands word, tho. Coldfire, a moment of your time?

[Nametag]

Pijnacker is a town in the Netherlands (Holland). In Dutch, "dwars," in connection with a street, I think means "across." "Straat," of course, is "street, giving "dwarsstraat," a cross-street. However, "dwars" also means "diagonal," so I'm not positive.

So I'm guessing it means something like "Cross-Pijnacker Street."

Was this a mens' room in a place with other signs on the wall; it sounds like the sort of thing I've seen in bars and pubs that are searching for "atmosphere."

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Well, dwarsstraat is cross-street. So Painfield Cross-street?

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Aha! Pijn is also pine, not just pain!

So, Pinefield cross-street!

[Czarcasm]

Actually, it was on a sign above a men's room at a place that sells something called a "Captain Neon" burger, here in Portland, Oregon. My best guess is that it's a street sign.

[Ringo]

I like Painfieldaversion Street. Sounds like a place where you might find a good pub.

[capybara]

Yeah, it's a street sign-- dwarstraat is just "cross-street'. You see a lot fo these in Amsterdam.
Which McMennamins?

[Atreyu]

Dang, capybara, how'd you guess it was a McMenamin's? FYI, it was St. John's Pub.


Since "dwarstraat" seems to mean "cross-street", I tried Googling the word "pijnacker" (which sounds almost jarbabyesque in its possibilities), and got almost 19,000 hits. Seems to be the name of a region. Perhaps a city?

[käse]

Yep, it's a city. Not a very large one.

Pijnacker is also a common last name. It doesn't really mean something.

*wondering what was on the ladies room*

[bink]

Ha! I was in the same restaurant tonight and found this ancient zombie thread while Googling the street name.

The answer is, there is no sign over the ladies' room door.

[Joey P]

Well, in the last 9 years we've gotten Google Translate. It detected the language as Dutch and spat out "Pijnacker Intersection"

ETA re-reading the old posts I see that's not really much help.

[capybara]

I saw this thread and thought, "Hey, I can answer thi. . . wait, whoTF is this 'capybara'? Oh, that's me"
I miss Portland. . .

[4.66]

Originally Posted by Joey P

Well, in the last 9 years we've gotten Google Translate.

Even better, we've gotten Street View.

The dutch wiki entry on Pijnacker confirms that the name derives from Pinefield, but this former Pijnacker-resident had to look that up: I agree with the 'It doesn't really mean anyting' comment.

[John Mace]

Although it's already been identified, the dead give-away of this being a Dutch word is the "ij" and the"aa". Either of those alone would be a good indication of a Dutch word, but together, and with the "straat" in there, it couldn't be anything else. The word in German might be very similar, but not with "ij" and "aa". You'd probably see "ei" and "a" in German to denote those sounds. And Straat in German would, of course, be Strasse.