The organisation of the Van Dale's Great Dictionary of the Dutch Language has nominated 19 words that gained popularity in 2019 to become the Word of the Year.
The nominees are often words that were created to name new phenomena.
'babytheek': a loan service for baby equipment
'bezorgschaamte': delivery shame, meaning the shame that someone feels because the delivery of a product they have ordered from a webshop causes a lot of traffic, environmental and other nuisances
'boomer': abbreviation of baby boomer, used for someone with old-fashioned or conservative views
'dampdode': someone who died after smoking an e-cigarette
'egelwegel': pathway for hedgehogs between two gardens
'ecopopulisme': ecopopulism, misleading way of raising awareness for environmental issues and climate change, responding to public fears, emotions and prejudices
'foertformatie': a government formation that is seeking to fail formation proposals
'jagger': young, active pensioner
'jeukrups': oak processionary caterpillar, which causes a lot of itching
'klimaatspijbelaar': a student who skips school to protest climate change
'lawaaiflitspaal': device for determining whether a vehicle exceeds the noise standard
'planepoolen': like 'carpooling', travelling somewhere by plane for ecological reasons
'pretpedagogie': education that is not based on knowledge but on the wellbeing of students
'restregering': minority government that remains after a majority party has left the coalition
'sorrymuseum': museum in a former colonial power, with an ethnographic collection originating from a former colony, for the creation of which the current management apologises to the descendants of the inhabitants of that colony
'splinterkind': child of divorced parents
'toiletplant': plant on the bank of a watercourse, from seeds derived from human excrements that enter the watercourse via sewers
'verthuizen': redecorating your house as an alternative to moving
'winkelhieren': buying in local companies and stores
The 2018 winner was 'moordstrookje' (little murder strip, meaning a bicycle lane that is not worthy of its name).
For the 9th time, Van Dale is working together with Ketnet, the television channel for children, to search for the Child Word of the Year. There are five nominations.
'tingles': tingling
'karma': everything we do, think or say, eventually comes back to us.
'bruh': "dude" or "guy"
'sksksk': expresses a laugh, both positive and ironic (the new "LOL")
'scrunchie': brightly coloured elastic band in fabric for the hair, but many girls also wear them around their arm
Voting is possible until 16 December at 5:00 PM on the Van Dale website. The winner will be announced on 17 December.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
