What does “kort lontje hebben” mean in Dutch?

Kort lontje means exactly what it pictures: a short fuse. The full phrase is een kort lontje hebben — to have a short fuse, to snap easily. A lont is the cord that ignites a firework or explosive, borrowed from German Lunte; the shorter the fuse, the faster it blows. Dutch speakers use it in everyday conversation to describe irritability, tiredness, or someone on edge — not a character flaw, just a state.

In a clip about why we stay up too late, a sleep researcher explains that poor sleep drains your self-control battery — and the symptom is een kort lontje: small things feel like too much, patience runs thin. That context is key: Dutch people reach for this phrase when the cause is depletion, not just a bad mood. You’ll hear it at home (“hij heeft vandaag een heel kort lontje” — “he’s got a really short fuse today”), at work, and in public commentary about stress and burnout. The image of a fuse length is vivid enough that the metaphor never needs explaining.