‘… and who will be rooted out of the competition?’ in Botanical Week.

Forgive me if I think that ‘… en wie moet de tent verlaten?’ is a somewhat lifeless translation.

I'll continue watching the episode rather than think about a more colourful translation, but any suggestions are welcome.

– I’ve got this boost, which I probably needed.
– Dit is de stimulans die ik nodig had.

Fine with the sentence as a whole (which omits some detail for brevity), but ‘stimulans’ for ‘boost’ does not feel right for me.

To my mind, ‘boost’ would have worked in Dutch. ‘Duwtje (in de rug)’ is another option.

Maybe flip around the sentence, too: ‘Zo’n duwtje in de rug had ik even nodig.’

Slightly underwhelming:

– Her baking was like a pair of comfy old slippers.
– Haar baksels waren altijd heerlijk vertrouwd.

The translation is essentially correct, but much less vivid.

Maybe this would have worked:

– Haar baksels voelden als een fijne (or: warme) oude jas.

Hope they didn’t taste like one, though

The translation seems okay … ish:

– I’m alright. Ish.
– Het gaat. Redelijk.

I would have maybe done something along these lines:

– Gaat wel. Soort van.

You lose a bit of the brevity either way. I don’t think that speakers of Dutch, especially those older than 30, are sufficiently familiar with ‘-ish’ that it can be used in Dutch. For a youth programme, ‘Gaat oké. Ish’ might work as a subtitle.

Funny (but good) when the translation is longer than the original:

– No pressure.
– Maar geen stress, hoor.

That's what the candidate probably would have said if they would have spoken Dutch.

Maybe I misheard this, but I think that one of the candidates says:

– Bab, I won star baker.

The subtitles say:

– Mam, ik ben sterbakker.

Guess we will never know if they called their partner or their mother.

Not spectacular, but nice:

– You’re a gloomy fellow.
– Wat ben jij een doemdenker.

Toughest of all: wordplay.

The signature challenge of the week is a chocolate torte.

– They say ‘Some things can’t be taught (= torte)’ – but this one must be.
– Maak ons verliefd als een torteltje op jullie torte.

Not fabulous, but I can’t think of anything better.

Another one from the category ‘English term translated by a Dutch term (presumably) borrowed from English’:

– They’re not gonna spend a minibreak inside your loaf.
– Ze gaan geen midweek in je brood zitten.

I prefer idiomatic translations that convey the meaning and tone of what was said, even if the original structure is not retained or not every word has an equivalent in the translation.

When translating from related languages, translations that stay close to the original structure suggest themselves. This is less of an issue, I think, in languages that are linguistically unrelated.

Great example:

– Please step away from your showstoppers.
– Nergens meer aankomen.

Funny when an English idiom (unknown to speakers of Dutch) is translated by an expression that Dutch got from English:

– Taking it to the wire.
– Dit is echt lastminute-werk.

Not the greatest translation:

– I’m really desperate for this to happen.
– Ik voel me wel behoorlijk wanhopig.

‘Desperate’ does not mean ‘in despair, hopeless’ here, but rather ‘having a dire need or desire’.

‘Ik wil dit absoluut zien lukken’ or ‘Ik wil per se/zo graag dat dit lukt’ or some combination thereof would have made more sense to me.

One of the candidates is making brandy snaps (which, by the way, are unrelated to brandy, the spirit).

The Dutch subtitles translate this to ‘kletskoppen’, the name of a Dutch cookie that is fairly similar.

Good translation, I think.

It's better to use an equivalent that will give 90% of the viewers a largely correct, albeit not fully accurate idea of the cookie. Keeping the original term ‘brandy snaps’ in the subtitles would leave 90% of the viewers bewildered.

– Are you slightly angry?
– Livid.

– Ben je een beetje boos?
– Des duivels.

Very nice, too. I probably would have gone for ‘Laaiend’, but ‘des duivels’ is even better in fact.

– Do you think you overbaked them?
– A little.
– A lot.

– Te lang gebakken?
– Een beetje.
– Een beetje boel.

Hadn’t heard that in ages. Delightful translation.