Taal Is Zeg Maar Echt Mijn Ding, door Paulien Cornelisse<\/p>\n
Paulien Cornelisse is a Dutch cabaret comedienne and author who writes and performs about the modern use of the Dutch language.\u00a0 She wrote this absolutely hilarious book, “Taal is Zeg Maar Echt Mijn Ding,” and I just have to tell you all about it.<\/p>\n
The book is about all the modern ways the Dutch language is used, but it goes much further than that.\u00a0 It’s\u00a0 a cultural insight into the Dutch psyche via the language.\u00a0 And it’s dreadfully funny.\u00a0 Unlike other books I’ve read that try to poke fun at Dutch culture and manage only to come across as insulting, Paulien Cornelisse manages to be both insulting and funny at the same time.\u00a0 Actually, it’s not really insulting, it’s poking fun, during which she also pokes fun at herself.<\/p>\n
She begins by explaining her theory about how language originally developed to clarify life.\u00a0 We no longer had to point and grunt and make crazy hand motions, but we could directly state what we wanted.\u00a0 The point of her book is that language often does exactly the opposite: it blurs the lines between what we really mean, what we really want, what we want the other person to think we mean, what we actually say, and what it means about us if we say something in a particular way.\u00a0 And she does this all very artfully, weaving in small cultural jokes that I will openly admit I didn’t always get without first consulting a Dutch person.\u00a0 But after my Dutch-person consultation, I would usually laugh hysterically.<\/p>\n
Sometimes the book served to explain language “blips” that I never quite understood. For example, how some people seem to use the word “leuk” to describe absolutely everything from their recent trip to the park, to their girlfriend to their favorite movie.\u00a0 Other times the book poked some good old fashioned fun at some stereotypical Dutch types of people, and the sort of language they use.\u00a0 But don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t just poke fun at Dutch culture.\u00a0 There is a lot in there that is universal to human nature to laugh about.\u00a0 At some point I found the perfect example of something I do, but I prefer not to share what that is here….<\/p>\n
Pauline Cornelisse is also a regular contributor to the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad<\/em>, where she writes funny pieces that touch on various aspects of Dutch language and culture.\u00a0 Her website, http:\/\/www.pauliencornelisse.nl\/<\/a>, also contains an archive of her work, where you will find lots of short funny pieces to keep you amused for hours.<\/p>\n In the video below, Pauline is doing a short piece on Michael Jackson, where she analyzes some of the noises and expressions he uses.\u00a0 It’s a little hard to pick up on in the beginning, but once it gets going it’s wildly amusing.<\/p>\n