My grandmother passed away yesterday and we are preparing the obituary. Grandma was very Dutch and used to say something to us when we went to bed. What I need is the proper spelling:
wel te rusten
or
well te rusten
I believe it means well to rest.
Wel te rusten. Literally: well to rest.
Thanks Qadgop I really appreciate the help!
welterusten is the modern spelling (without the spaces)
alt: goedenacht
It’s welterusten without the spaces. And to expand on The Librarian’s answer: while goedenacht is another good translation of good night, welterusten is used exclusively when one of the parties is going to sleep. Goedenacht is better suited for waking situations.
As a native dutch speaker I’d say it would be a matter of personal preference/habit. (the above quote from my dutch dictionary seems to agree)
As another native Dutch speaker I’ve only encountered welterusten or slaap lekker and perhaps an occasional goedenacht on more formal situations. Ofcourse, it’s certainly possible that your experience has been different. This does not seem the place to start a discussion about it. Perhaps I shouldn’t have made the first comment.
On a related note, my mother (left Holland many years before I was born) would often send us off to bed with an exasperated “ga slaapjes doen!”