I'm still bored with the abundant presence of uninteresting new media words. I want a winner, damnit ! I'm getting fed up with nominating words simply because there are no better candidates.
For instance, see today's lineup:
- 'antiterreurtop' (anti terrorism top). And from the same article, 'antiterreurconferentie' (anti terrorism conference). Blegh. Ever since 9/11, justabout any word has gotten an 'antiterreur'-variant. Pretty soon there will be anti terrorism badgers. Anti terrorism penguins. Anti terrorism coffee. Anti terrorism rain. Anti terrorism molecule. The way George W. loves to talk about anti terrorism, I won't be surprised if we'll see the introduction of the anti terrorism toothbrush before long. It's a worrying trend, but there's so many of those words now, that I'm starting to feel like I should just let this go. I mean, it's hopeless.
- 'Plattelandsontbijten' (having country breakfast). From an article written by a journalist who clearly lives in what we call 'de Randstad' which is basically the area that includes Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. People who live within that area tend to consider the rest of The Netherlands as completely rural and feel they're the only civilised area that can be found in this country. It's not all three-toothed hicks outside that area, folks - we too have guns, car theft, fraud, dog crap and buildings high enough to park a few airplanes in. Hate to burst your bubble, but it's true. Some of us even have electricity. And cousin Billy-Bob-Jake just learned how to read. We count, too !
But the article is all about what you can do in 'the country' that's fun for those ever-complaining yuppies from the Randstad who are 'oh so fed up with it all'. Yes. Having country breakfast, now doesn't that just sound like a hoot ? And doesn't it just sound like it's so different from any other kind of breakfast that it requires an own word ?
- 'klompensafari' (clogs safari). Here I am, having tried, on my international journeys, to explain to foreigners that Dutchmen don't all wear clogs and that they're actually kind of rare, when just last week, the fashion page announced clogs are 'coming back', and now this word. It's basically spending time in a rural, forested area of the country. If you don't get why I'm nominating this word, I doubt you ever will, so I'll just stop explaining this one now.
- 'strobalenrace' (straw bale race). We're not off the countryside yet, folks - I have no idea, even from the context of the article, what this entails exactly. I guess straw bales move really fast. Fast enough to make an exciting race. No doubt there's betting.
- 'crematieplechtigheid' (cremation ceremony). It's a very weak one, but it does not exist in the dictionary, so it qualifies. I hope people will really think 'does our language require this word' first before this moves into popular use. But I think no one is naive enough anymore to assume people will think. Period.
- 'mobielvirus' (cell phone virus). This one's actually not unfair, I mean, computervirus has an established meaning, and cell phone virii apparently will pose a threat soon. I was hesitant to nominate this, and still am. But not hesitant enough not to mention it.
- 'aanstekerverbod' (cigarette lighter ban). The USA want to ban lighters and matches from airplane luggage, to prevent terrorist attacks. The European airlines, however, think that the US should lighten up (ha ha ha, my patented early morning lame joke). For something that doesn't even exist yet, and may not come into existence, I think this is a pretty bad word to add to our total vocabulary.
- 'merkbeleving' (brand experience). This is about how people don't buy things for the brand of the product anymore, but for its actual added value. Choosing quality over a flashy image - I never thought I'd see the day, while growing up in the eighties and nineties. Since the 'brand experience' is quickly headed down the drain, I don't think we require this new word for it either.
- I was tempted to nominate 'webwinkelen' (web shopping). But let's face fact, it will survive. People will start using it. There's no stopping this one.
- Michael Jackson ! Apparently, amongst many things he is being accused of during this trial, is that he fed wine to the victim minors and called it 'Jezus-sap' (Jesus juice). I thought it was an interesting enough word to nominate. No doubt no one will ever dare use it again, especially considering who invented it.
The only real winner I can find, though, is this one: 'gijzelingsindustrie' (hostage industry). You know a country is pretty far up economic shit creek when a description of its recent history mentions that a 'hostage industry' has arisen. Which, I guess, means people are being taken hostage there round the clock, and reasonable livings are being made from all that. You don't suppose they have a hostage industry union, do you ? And what will happen when they go on strike ?
Yeah.. it's the Word of the Day. But really, folks, get me some gems. Digging for truffles is fun, but stumbling upon a nice shiney diamond once in a while keeps it worth it. Damn you lazy journalists for not trying to corrupt this language harder !
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