Zeist draait door: werken bij de gemeente in crisistijd

What does “draait door” mean in Dutch?

Doordraaien literally means “to keep turning” — picture a wheel that never stops. Dutch uses it idiomatically to mean “to carry on” or “to keep going,” and the prefix door- (through, onward) is the key: it pushes the action forward without stopping. The municipal show title Zeist draait door plays on both senses at once — the town keeps spinning, keeps working — turning a humble verb into a rallying cry.

The clip is a COVID-era short made by Zeist municipality, showing staff from public affairs, the council, and the municipal yard each declaring “wij werken door” (we keep working). The show title ties it together: Zeist draait door — Zeist carries on. The same door- prefix powers a whole family of Dutch continuity verbs: doorwerken (keep working), doorgaan (carry on), doorlopen (keep walking). Once you hear the pattern, you start catching it everywhere.