{"id":6463,"date":"2020-01-14T16:32:48","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T16:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=6463"},"modified":"2020-01-14T16:32:48","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T16:32:48","slug":"woord-van-het-jaar-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/woord-van-het-jaar-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Woord van het Jaar 2019!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last year of the previous decade has just elapsed two weeks ago, and that means that we have new\u00a0woorden van het jaar\u00a0<\/em>(words of the year). Let’s see what words 2019 brought!<\/p>\n

Het klimaat<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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Klimaatprotest<\/em> (climate protest) on the Dam in Amsterdam (Image by FaceMePLS at Flickr.com under license CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

Nothing gained as much traction in 2019 as\u00a0het klimaat\u00a0<\/em>(the climate). From the\u00a0Fridays for Future\u00a0<\/em>demonstrations all around the world to major climate conferences, 2019 was a big year for\u00a0klimaatverandering\u00a0<\/em>(climate change). So unsurprisingly, the\u00a0woord van het jaar\u00a0<\/em>relates to it.<\/p>\n

OnzeTaal<\/em><\/a>\u00a0members elected the word\u00a0-schaamte\u00a0<\/em>(shame)<\/strong> as their term of 2019 with 20% of the vote. Directeur\u00a0<\/em>(director) of\u00a0OnzeTaal, <\/em>Vibeke Roeper, said the following about the word:<\/p>\n

\u201cHet zegt in kort bestek veel over het groeiende ongemak dat we voelen bij milieubelastende keuzes. Daardoor karakteriseert\u00a0-schaamte\u00a0heel goed het jaar, dat voor een groot deel in het teken stond van klimaatdiscussies. Maar ook in talig opzicht heeft\u00a0-schaamte een aardige kant: het kan overal achter geplakt worden.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(“It briefly says a lot about the growing discomfort we feel when making choices that impact the environment. That’s why “shame” characterizes the year very well, which revolved largely around climate discussions. But also from a linguistic perspective, “shame” has its merits: It can be added behind every word.”)<\/p>\n

With “shame”, you might think of the Swedish\u00a0flygskam<\/em>,<\/span> which actually saw a reduction in flights in the Nordic country, and its Dutch\u00a0tegenhanger\u00a0<\/em>(equivalent)\u00a0vliegschaamte\u00a0<\/em>(flight shame)1<\/a><\/sup>Vliegschaamte was also nominated for Woord van het Jaar<\/em> 2018<\/a><\/span>. But there are more such words in Dutch, such as sproeischaamte<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(spraying shame), our Word of the Month July 2019, actually. This was a real thing, too, where people felt bad for “wasting” water spraying their plants in the hot summer.<\/p>\n

Brexitm<\/em>oe\u00a0<\/em>(Brexit-tired)<\/strong> was a close second with 17%. Brexit is something we Europeans have perhaps heard too much about in 2019. What it would mean for the Netherlands we covered here on the blog<\/a>. An even closer third, with only 2 stemmen\u00a0<\/em>(votes) behind\u00a0number 2, came\u00a0stikstofc<\/em>risis\u00a0<\/em>(nitrogen crisis)<\/strong>, a legal crisis with some real consequences earlier this year in the Netherlands, which we also covered here on the Transparent Language blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the bigger Van Dale election for the Woord van het Jaar<\/em>,\u00a0klimaatspijbelaar\u00a0<\/em>(climate truant)<\/strong> and\u00a0klimaatdrammer\u00a0<\/em>(climate whiner)<\/strong> came in second and third, with 14.2% and 9.6%, respectively. So also related to the Fridays for Future protests and how certain people felt about them. But what is the Van Dale Woord van het Jaar<\/em>?<\/p>\n

A Meme Won!<\/strong><\/h2>\n