# Does this make any sense? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839 "2003-11-29T02:40:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/1 "2003-11-29T02:40:33Z")
Anybody speak Dutch here? Can this be translated into actual English that makes sense? Er was eens een kaasboer in Gouda Die zat om de tafel zijn vrouw na Toen zei zij heel fief Alles is relatief Als ik harder loop zit ik jou na Thanks in advance! F\_X ---
**Author:** ![Weatherman\_Skye\_Forrest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dec6dc/32.png) [@Weatherman\_Skye\_Forrest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weatherman_Skye_Forrest)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/2 "2003-11-29T03:24:21Z")
The limerick starts: There once was a dairyman [cheesefarmer] in Gouda. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/3 "2003-11-29T03:26:33Z")
There was once a cheesemonger in Gouda who said for the table its woman to zat after then they complete fief everything is relative if I run harder I pursue you that is what Sparknotes’ translator gave me. work it out for yourself ---
**Author:** ![Mastema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@Mastema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mastema)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/4 "2003-11-29T05:03:25Z")
I think the puncline reads, “That’s nacho cheese boy!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/5 "2003-11-29T06:12:16Z")
Thanks… this is what someone else gave me as a translatin: There was once a cheesemonger in Gouda Those drunk for the table its woman Then she said complete feud Everything is relative If I run harder I pursue you I don’t get it, but then this friend of **Spoz** ’s is pretty loopy. 😕 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/6 "2003-11-29T06:41:58Z")
O, where is that nic Mr. **Coldfire** when you need him. I also got fascinated by that limerick, **Flamsterette** and foudn a translation from soemthing called, I _think_ [systransbox.com](http://systransbox.com), but its version was the same as one already posted, and my reply got lost anyway. ☹ Still, it sounds like a nice little story, if only we understood. In the meantime, “Blessed are the cheesemakers”, I say. ---
**Author:** ![Single\_Serving\_Friend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5fc32e/32.png) [@Single\_Serving\_Friend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Single_Serving_Friend)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/7 "2003-11-29T14:25:56Z")
I’ll give it a go but the limerick won’t rhyme properly in english. There once was a cheese farmer from Gouda Who was chasing his wife around the table She said really sweet Everything is relative If I run faster I’m chasing _you_ But it’s isn’t a very good limerick in dutch IMO. The use of “zat & na” doesn’t really register as normal dutch, but seems used only for making it fit the standard tune for limericks. With this small rewrite it’s a bit better to understand but you’d have to give it a break-beat. Er was eens een kaasboer in Gouda Die rende om de tafel zijn vrouw achterna Toen zei zij heel fief Alles is relatief Als ik harder loop zit ik jou achterna ---
**Author:** ![Single\_Serving\_Friend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5fc32e/32.png) [@Single\_Serving\_Friend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Single_Serving_Friend)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/8 "2003-11-29T14:34:08Z")
Small corrections: ‘fief’ in the original should be ‘lief’. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-make-any-sense/215839/9 "2003-11-29T17:09:28Z")
I’d say ‘fief’ in the original is intentional, albeit a misspelling of ‘vief’. ‘Vief’ means in Dutch “vlug van beweging, levendig, kittig, zowel lichamelijk als geestelijk”, in English: “lively, energetic, alert, sprightly” (Van Dale). It’s supposed to be a witty remark, although the wit, like the rhyme, is mediocre.