Yeah, so I had to focus on The Grim DotCom yesterday, just when some old geezer with a silly hat and a white robe is dying. Which I can't allow myself to ignore if he *does* die, because I'm writing a cynical, critical of society comic about death. So all day I'm watching friggin' CNN and whatnot, the guy just *refuses* to die. So in a hurry, I start working (late) on a different episode that was already pre-written, and just when I finish drawing it, the news comes in... the pope is dead. God damnit !
So, I had to hurriedly churn out an episode featuring the pope, after all, and of course after that, I stubbornly went on and also coloured and lettered the episode I'd already drawn. At least I have a 1 week backstash again now, thanks to that, but yes, yes, it's true, I neglected the Word of the Day. But I'm here now, so quit yer yakking, I'm opening the store already. I'll also throw in the damn Word of the Week, with no extra charge whatsoever !
In the light of all this, let's try to stay away from news about the old man in Rome, shall we ? Let's see what other subjects have brought us in terms of new words added to the Dutch language.
- 'rolstoelvervoer' (wheelchair transport). I dunno, this word is supposed to mean 'transport of handicapped people'. It seems kind of crude, inconsiderate, and possibly confusing to me. I can just see the driver showing up at Sea World with nothing but a bunch of wheelchairs in his bus. "Alright, where do you want 'em ?"
- 'sektepaar' (cult pair). Ok.. so there's a cult right now doing some weird things that are being investigated by a few governments, that is lead by two people. Ok... what's next ? If a cult is lead by three people, we'll suddenly need the word 'cult trio' ? Etcetera, etcetera - I think it's completely redundant. Solve it with two words instead of one and I'll start taking you seriously again, journalist.
- 'Pentagonhacker' (surely I don't need to translate this one). This is about the 21-year old hacker from the Dutch city of Soest who stole secret blueprints of the Pentagon from an American company's computers. Now, the way I just described it was perfectly clear, right ? Then look at the word again. Doesn't it mostly suggest this person hacked the Pentagon itself ? He didn't ! He hacked some company that was dumbass enough to leave their security wide open, and have Pentagon blueprints on their hard drives. There was no actual hacking of the Pentagon. And we also don't need the word 'Pentagonhacker'. Because before long you'll have 'Microsofthacker', 'Defensehacker', etc. etc. - it's a media label, folks. Don't mistake it for an actual word, which creation was carefully considered and weighed.
You know what ? I've seen some more words nearly worth mentioning, but I've worked my butt off this weekend, especially considering I'm still a bit ill, so I'm leaving it at these few candidates. The Word of the Day for Saturday, April 2, 2005, is: 'Pentagonhacker' !
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As for the Word of the Week, let's look at this week's winners again, shall we ? Alright, here goes.
Tuesday: 'veldvoetbalspellengeweld'
Wednesday: 'gentechlandbouw'
Thursday: 'cryomeren'
Friday: 'Vitumbiko'
Saturday: 'Pentagonhacker'
And the Word of the Week is: 'cryomeren' !!! Now leave me alone, come back tomorrow. Shoo.
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