Well, since we all know I'm not stopping my searches for the Word of the Day anytime soon, let's dive right in again, shall we ? I know you've been waiting for it.
- 'taalverruwing' (language coarsening). This is a weak nomination: as an expression this does exist, as in 'haar taal verruwd' (her language is coarsening). But still. It doesn't exist yet, and I don't applaud turning expressions into actual words. Before you know it, we'll have catsanddogsrain. Or something.
I do applaud the Metro for this being the only questionable word I could find in there today. Thank god we still also have the free Sp!ts newspaper:
- 'terreurtraining' (terror excercise): There was a major excercise for emergency services and military yesterday, about twenty yards away from my office. It was all over the news, since they faked a terrorist attack during a pop concert, to see how quick and professional all necessary parties would respond to it. Of course, what makes it awkward that this headline, including huge picture, is all over the front page, with an *actual* bomb threat (including evacuation of the neighbourhood while the bomb squad carefully removed the explosives) and (ex-marine) terrorist on page 2. But that's besides the point: I'm not sure how many of these excercises there will be - granted, the war on terrorism (and fear thereof) is still popular worldwide, so I may be wrong, but I feel we don't need this word.
- 'superboerderij' (super farm). This refers to the province of Groningen who are investigating the feasability of founding a mega milk farm that can compete on an international scale. This company will be a major alliance between existing milk farms, will aim for treating their animals well, etc. - but get this, the article introduces yet *another* word: 'cowmunities' !
- 'toetredingsonderhandelingen' (negotiatons for acceding). This deals only with the European Union, folks - there's a few countries that want to join in on the fun, which some major players in the current Union don't favour. It's a media hype word - granted, the negotiations are reasonably old news by now, but still. This word will only live in the media and only while these specific negotiations are continuing. I recommend we disallow this word to join the Dutch language.
- 'koekendozenfamilie' (biscuit tin family). Apparently this word means 'family that looks happy on the outside but is sad and fake in reality' - it's used here to describe the Belgian royal family, by a playwright.
And the Word of the Day is... 'cowmunities' ! I mean, come on. No competition.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Another Day, Staring At The Papers
I don't feel like talking about today. The weather's depressing (not rainy per se but grey) and my day so far is boring. That's all I want to say about it. So let's get straight to today's candidates for Word of the Day:
- 'milieuplan' (environmental plan). This word is used ironically: the specific political plans it refers to were actually an attempt to bypass European norms on air pollution. That's right - the plans were there to *enable* more pollution. The word itself doesn't exist but its big brother 'milieuplanning' does. But the counterintuitive meaning as used here inspired me to nominate it.
- 'orkaanseizoen' (hurricane season). This word is not listed in the dictionary, and it refers to the upcoming Carribbean hurricane 'period', which is expected to contain thirteen storms of which seven could become hurricanes and three could become heavy hurricanes. (?) This period runs from July 15 to November 15. That's four months, folks, not three. It's not a season. In any right. Seasons are four different segments of the year, each spanning three months, selected for their typical temperature and weather conditions, and for the rotation of the Earth around the sun. Let's *please* stop abusing this term for everything that has a period spanning more than one month. Television seasons, hunting seasons, hurricane seasons, gala seasons.. you're all ruining the definition of the word, because each of you spans a different length of time, and each starts at different dates. What makes a season ? To be a season or not to be a season.. it shouldn't be a question.
- 'wildwestwet' (wild west law). This describes a law passed in Florida that allows anyone who gets threatened in the street, to shoot their assailant, even if unarmed. I suppose the 'wild west'-part is accurate considering the wild west basically didn't have laws (or none that were kept up too well) and there was lots of shooting, if we are to believe the many westerns we all must have seen. But... 'wild west' is English. In Dutch it has no meaning involving shooting, we don't have a gunslinging period in our past involving the west side of our nation. 'Wet' is Dutch and means law. But throw all three words together in one, and you end up with a word where 'wet' gets the English meaning. And I just have no clue what to make of it when I consider that. Bad word. Possibly it could be saved by putting a dash in there (wildwest-wet) but it still looks bad, and besides that, this is a media hype word. Media hype words suck !
- In addition to yesterday's nomination of 'Lonsdale-jongeren', today they're even called 'Lonsdalers'. Nominated ! Oh, and they're part of the 'hardcorescene' - translation unnecessary, but you'll no doubt admit the word looks retarded, and it doesn't exist. Also nominated !
- 'probleemouderen' (problem elders). This seems to stem directly from 'probleemjongeren' (problem youth), but these elders aren't beating up or robbing passers-by, dealing drugs, hanging out until late on the corners of streets etc. These are just elderly people with brain damage (I kid you not, it says so in the article) who will not be seperated from their drivers' licence (despite posing a serious threat to, well, anyone, when behind the wheel). The article claims they often correct their own driving style to 'work' with their handicap, and if not, then they can be trained to accomplish this. I wonder how many people need to get run over before one such elder is judged fit for this training. The article seriously worries me (I live in a mainly elderly neighbourhood and can just see myself gettin run over by some old dumbass who the police just won't disallow to drive) but worse, if the article states that their brain damage isn't a problem, why are they referred to as problem elders ?
- 'stadsrapper' (official city rapper). The city of Almere is searching for their own special rapper now to rap about what's worth seeing and knowing about this city. I'm not sure if there are any official city rappers anywhere else in the world, but this is the first one in the Netherlands (the article eagerly tells me). I have no doubt that this nomination runs the risk that the city rappers will become the next craze and suddenly we will have loads of them, but for now this word describes just one. Who isn't even found or hired yet. It's an empty position that they hope to fill in the next month. I smell 'media hype word' here. Fee Fi Fo Fum.
- 'koopkrachtreparatie' (spending power repairs). Again, a political plan that backfired in an ironic way: the measures taken to compensate the chronically ill partially for the ever increasing hospital and care bills, turns out to actually *cost* the ill money. So I'm nominating this for two reasons: one, reduced spending power isn't just limited to the realm of the chronically ill (there's also the unemployed, singles, you name it - everyone's having to tighten the belt a couple of notches at the least.. except for the insanely rich who seem to only have gotten richer under this government), and two, this is hardly a repair, the way it turns out.
And the Word of the Day is... 'wildwestwet'. I went with 'which word looks the stupidest'.
- 'milieuplan' (environmental plan). This word is used ironically: the specific political plans it refers to were actually an attempt to bypass European norms on air pollution. That's right - the plans were there to *enable* more pollution. The word itself doesn't exist but its big brother 'milieuplanning' does. But the counterintuitive meaning as used here inspired me to nominate it.
- 'orkaanseizoen' (hurricane season). This word is not listed in the dictionary, and it refers to the upcoming Carribbean hurricane 'period', which is expected to contain thirteen storms of which seven could become hurricanes and three could become heavy hurricanes. (?) This period runs from July 15 to November 15. That's four months, folks, not three. It's not a season. In any right. Seasons are four different segments of the year, each spanning three months, selected for their typical temperature and weather conditions, and for the rotation of the Earth around the sun. Let's *please* stop abusing this term for everything that has a period spanning more than one month. Television seasons, hunting seasons, hurricane seasons, gala seasons.. you're all ruining the definition of the word, because each of you spans a different length of time, and each starts at different dates. What makes a season ? To be a season or not to be a season.. it shouldn't be a question.
- 'wildwestwet' (wild west law). This describes a law passed in Florida that allows anyone who gets threatened in the street, to shoot their assailant, even if unarmed. I suppose the 'wild west'-part is accurate considering the wild west basically didn't have laws (or none that were kept up too well) and there was lots of shooting, if we are to believe the many westerns we all must have seen. But... 'wild west' is English. In Dutch it has no meaning involving shooting, we don't have a gunslinging period in our past involving the west side of our nation. 'Wet' is Dutch and means law. But throw all three words together in one, and you end up with a word where 'wet' gets the English meaning. And I just have no clue what to make of it when I consider that. Bad word. Possibly it could be saved by putting a dash in there (wildwest-wet) but it still looks bad, and besides that, this is a media hype word. Media hype words suck !
- In addition to yesterday's nomination of 'Lonsdale-jongeren', today they're even called 'Lonsdalers'. Nominated ! Oh, and they're part of the 'hardcorescene' - translation unnecessary, but you'll no doubt admit the word looks retarded, and it doesn't exist. Also nominated !
- 'probleemouderen' (problem elders). This seems to stem directly from 'probleemjongeren' (problem youth), but these elders aren't beating up or robbing passers-by, dealing drugs, hanging out until late on the corners of streets etc. These are just elderly people with brain damage (I kid you not, it says so in the article) who will not be seperated from their drivers' licence (despite posing a serious threat to, well, anyone, when behind the wheel). The article claims they often correct their own driving style to 'work' with their handicap, and if not, then they can be trained to accomplish this. I wonder how many people need to get run over before one such elder is judged fit for this training. The article seriously worries me (I live in a mainly elderly neighbourhood and can just see myself gettin run over by some old dumbass who the police just won't disallow to drive) but worse, if the article states that their brain damage isn't a problem, why are they referred to as problem elders ?
- 'stadsrapper' (official city rapper). The city of Almere is searching for their own special rapper now to rap about what's worth seeing and knowing about this city. I'm not sure if there are any official city rappers anywhere else in the world, but this is the first one in the Netherlands (the article eagerly tells me). I have no doubt that this nomination runs the risk that the city rappers will become the next craze and suddenly we will have loads of them, but for now this word describes just one. Who isn't even found or hired yet. It's an empty position that they hope to fill in the next month. I smell 'media hype word' here. Fee Fi Fo Fum.
- 'koopkrachtreparatie' (spending power repairs). Again, a political plan that backfired in an ironic way: the measures taken to compensate the chronically ill partially for the ever increasing hospital and care bills, turns out to actually *cost* the ill money. So I'm nominating this for two reasons: one, reduced spending power isn't just limited to the realm of the chronically ill (there's also the unemployed, singles, you name it - everyone's having to tighten the belt a couple of notches at the least.. except for the insanely rich who seem to only have gotten richer under this government), and two, this is hardly a repair, the way it turns out.
And the Word of the Day is... 'wildwestwet'. I went with 'which word looks the stupidest'.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Cause and Efficiency.
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you all, but ClickBurg kept me busy yesterday and today, because a couple of deadlines ended and another one is creeping by. Add to that mix that I got a public transportation delay, and you'll understand that I didn't sleep until late.
Anyway, as I said, I haven't forgotten about you all - I'm picturing you like a nest of hungry little birds snapping their beaks at me - so I have today's AND yesterday's newspapers here in front of me, and let's go:
Monday
- 'theaterlied' (theatre song). Can someone explain to me how this differs enough from other songs that we need a new word for it ?
- 'hervormingsagenda' (reform agenda). What the word is basically trying to say is 'the course that a certain political party wants to head in, that involves several reformations'. It's not today's most viable candidate, I'll admit. But it struck me as a bad word. Perhaps it just scared me. A bit.
- 'Lonsdale-jongeren' (Lonsdale youth). This new media hype term refers to the rise of racism and extreme right-wing ideas amongst youth in the Netherlands, especially in more rural areas. A lot of them wear Lonsdale shirts, which the article claims is often associated with the racist White Power movement. But it's also just a brand, folks. A brand of sports clothing (specifically, boxing, I read somewhere). Is it really their uniform ? I haven't read anywhere that it actually is. When I was a kid it was the 'bomber jacks'. But not everyone who wore one was a racist. It seems this word itself is discriminating ! Out the window with it. Call 'em racists or right-wing extremists, but don't create this label that will make the average Joe look around him scared all the time, attempting to spot any Lonsdale logos in the area.
- 'beschermwaardigheid' (worthy of protection). This is about the recent death of the Pope, and describes his attitude: 'unconditionally defending the fact that life is worthy of protection'. Yes. It's much more important that a few sperms get a fair shot at spawning life, than that countless people die of AIDS. Ok, besides my own political views on this, I think the word is retarded. Out the window with it, we don't require it.
- 'productieplafond' (production ceiling). First of all, the word almost seems to refer to a factory ceiling. It doesn't it means the boundries set on production levels that they aren't allowed to pass. Useless, get this word out of my face !
On a brighter note, Metro had a wide open shot to call a group of soccer 'supporters' who were throwing bananas (a whopping five of them) onto the field, 'banana-throwers' and they didn't. Good job !
And the Word of the Day for Monday was: 'Lonsdale-jongeren'
Tuesday
- 'metrostel' - I can't translate this because I have no clue what it means. My colleagues have no clue what it means. The dictionary has no clue what it means. It's mentioned in an article saying that Tokio took a 'metrostel' into use specifically for women, so that they can travel on that instead of the regular lines where they get harassed and sexually intimidated a lot. 'Stel' can mean 'pair', does this mean there's two metro's taken into use ? Why is this journalist assuming we know what the hell his made-up word means ?
- 'dienstrichtlijn' (service guideline). I had trouble understanding this word and its article as well. It seems to be a controversial law to allow service providers to deliver their services anywhere in Europe, and only have to obey the laws of their country of origin. It could just be me, but... service guideline means something completely different in my line of work (my paid job is at an IT service desk department). And doesn't this law have an own name to refer to otherwise ? It just looks so unclear - because of the intuïtive meaning being something else.
- 'Romereizen' (Rome travels). Yes, Rome can provide a unique travel experience, but not unique enough to justify 'Rome travel' as one word. Especially since the kind of travels the article refers to are just transportations to go mourn the Pope. It's a media hype word, and I'm against those, as you may already know.
- 'voetbalontmoeting' (soccer get-together). This is just a soccer match you're trying to describe, dear journalist. Don't try to get creative when there are already plenty of words in Dutch culture describing this.
And the Word of the Day is: 'Romereizen' - because I *hate* media hype words.
Alright, that's all. I'll try to be on time tomorrow. If I'm not too busy.
Anyway, as I said, I haven't forgotten about you all - I'm picturing you like a nest of hungry little birds snapping their beaks at me - so I have today's AND yesterday's newspapers here in front of me, and let's go:
Monday
- 'theaterlied' (theatre song). Can someone explain to me how this differs enough from other songs that we need a new word for it ?
- 'hervormingsagenda' (reform agenda). What the word is basically trying to say is 'the course that a certain political party wants to head in, that involves several reformations'. It's not today's most viable candidate, I'll admit. But it struck me as a bad word. Perhaps it just scared me. A bit.
- 'Lonsdale-jongeren' (Lonsdale youth). This new media hype term refers to the rise of racism and extreme right-wing ideas amongst youth in the Netherlands, especially in more rural areas. A lot of them wear Lonsdale shirts, which the article claims is often associated with the racist White Power movement. But it's also just a brand, folks. A brand of sports clothing (specifically, boxing, I read somewhere). Is it really their uniform ? I haven't read anywhere that it actually is. When I was a kid it was the 'bomber jacks'. But not everyone who wore one was a racist. It seems this word itself is discriminating ! Out the window with it. Call 'em racists or right-wing extremists, but don't create this label that will make the average Joe look around him scared all the time, attempting to spot any Lonsdale logos in the area.
- 'beschermwaardigheid' (worthy of protection). This is about the recent death of the Pope, and describes his attitude: 'unconditionally defending the fact that life is worthy of protection'. Yes. It's much more important that a few sperms get a fair shot at spawning life, than that countless people die of AIDS. Ok, besides my own political views on this, I think the word is retarded. Out the window with it, we don't require it.
- 'productieplafond' (production ceiling). First of all, the word almost seems to refer to a factory ceiling. It doesn't it means the boundries set on production levels that they aren't allowed to pass. Useless, get this word out of my face !
On a brighter note, Metro had a wide open shot to call a group of soccer 'supporters' who were throwing bananas (a whopping five of them) onto the field, 'banana-throwers' and they didn't. Good job !
And the Word of the Day for Monday was: 'Lonsdale-jongeren'
Tuesday
- 'metrostel' - I can't translate this because I have no clue what it means. My colleagues have no clue what it means. The dictionary has no clue what it means. It's mentioned in an article saying that Tokio took a 'metrostel' into use specifically for women, so that they can travel on that instead of the regular lines where they get harassed and sexually intimidated a lot. 'Stel' can mean 'pair', does this mean there's two metro's taken into use ? Why is this journalist assuming we know what the hell his made-up word means ?
- 'dienstrichtlijn' (service guideline). I had trouble understanding this word and its article as well. It seems to be a controversial law to allow service providers to deliver their services anywhere in Europe, and only have to obey the laws of their country of origin. It could just be me, but... service guideline means something completely different in my line of work (my paid job is at an IT service desk department). And doesn't this law have an own name to refer to otherwise ? It just looks so unclear - because of the intuïtive meaning being something else.
- 'Romereizen' (Rome travels). Yes, Rome can provide a unique travel experience, but not unique enough to justify 'Rome travel' as one word. Especially since the kind of travels the article refers to are just transportations to go mourn the Pope. It's a media hype word, and I'm against those, as you may already know.
- 'voetbalontmoeting' (soccer get-together). This is just a soccer match you're trying to describe, dear journalist. Don't try to get creative when there are already plenty of words in Dutch culture describing this.
And the Word of the Day is: 'Romereizen' - because I *hate* media hype words.
Alright, that's all. I'll try to be on time tomorrow. If I'm not too busy.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Late Like The Pope
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' !
----
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.
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' !
----
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.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Short Post.
I'm not even really checking the media today. I'm very busy with ClickBurg-related things, and besides, I'm not feeling too well. Coughing my longues up, sneezing large green blobs, that sort of fun stuff. Just when the weather is excellent, too - the irony could almost indicate that there *is* a god and this is his prank for today.
Because it's April Fool's day ! Yep - I've made myself guilty of joining in on the fun.. see ClickBurg, before midnight, to know what I mean.
The newspapers and newssites are full of jokes, but I thought this was the most charming one: the zoo in Emmen apparently featured a newborn zebra, who had blocks instead of stripes. Despite the obvious jokes, people did follow the directions to the otherwise empty cage that had a little photo sign which explained the name of this new specimen was 'Vitumbiko' and apparently it's African for 'April Fool's Day'. I couldn't *not* nominate it.
Because it's April Fool's day ! Yep - I've made myself guilty of joining in on the fun.. see ClickBurg, before midnight, to know what I mean.
The newspapers and newssites are full of jokes, but I thought this was the most charming one: the zoo in Emmen apparently featured a newborn zebra, who had blocks instead of stripes. Despite the obvious jokes, people did follow the directions to the otherwise empty cage that had a little photo sign which explained the name of this new specimen was 'Vitumbiko' and apparently it's African for 'April Fool's Day'. I couldn't *not* nominate it.
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