• Tip from the Top

A typical Dutch word in English is often a hybrid. It gives some clues to its Dutch origins either in sound or spelling, but it has also been made more English-friendly as a result of spending years on the tongues and pens of English speakers. When you hear "Dutch origin," the best bet to start with is just to spell the word as it sounds. But be on the lookout for unusual vowel-sound spellings such as those you see in furlough and maelstrom.

• True in Part

Buckwheat is an example of a "part translation." When a word that has two parts (like English rowboat) travels from another language to English, we sometimes translate one part and keep the sound of the other part without translating it. The original Dutch for buckwheat is boekweit. When this word came into English, we kept the sound of boek and translated weit ("wheat").