Never too old...

[mielabor]

to learn.

At the end of each year it is time to look back and evaluate the good and bad things that happened. Within this context we have elections such as "Sportsman of the Year", "Politician of the Year" etc.

Today I heard in the news that the Dutch verb "swaffelen" has been elected "Word of the Year 2008" in the Netherlands. I must admit that I had never heard of this word before and neither of its meaning: slap one's penis onto an object. It seems to be quite a popular activity here

 

[spiceman1957]

mielabor,

I'm not sure what that means either. Does anyone here know

 

[oldhouseman]

What the...

????

 

[mielabor]

More info...

See the link.

Swaffelen is Dutch word of the year

Swaffelen, which netted 57 percent of the 16,000 votes, refers to an action that only men can do.

www.expatica.com

 

[oldhouseman]

At first

I thought this was a joke. It still strikes me as childish humor. But I guess it's nothing to shake a stick at.....

 

[laundryshark]

Agitator of the Year?

...And to inject something else perhaps of a funny nature, who amongst this group might qualify for "Agitator of the Year?"--Laundry Shark

 

[mielabor]

Well, when I heard it this morning on the news bulletin of our national radio station I thought that I misunderstood, but it was repeated later and then I searched the internet and found that it is an actual fact. The "Word of the Year" election is held by the Van Dale publishers. The Van Dale dictionary is the most authoritative in the Dutch language.

 

[mielabor]

Oh, and I asked my colleagues about this and some actually knew the word. It seems to be a popular activity among students, especially when some drink is involved.

 

[mistereric]

Isn't it grand we have Europe to foster such colorful cultural expression?

We could learn a thing or two here in the good old trashy USofA.

 

[whirlcool]

Oh, the news of the very existence of this word will cause the religious right here in the US to have a meltdown. They'll try to figure out ways to banish it.

I'll just say the for us 2008 was a very bad year for us and a lot of other people we know. We'll be singing "Goodbye and Good Riddance" to it on New Years Eve.

There is too much bad, and not enough good from this year to list.

 

[j2400]

"I'll just say the for us 2008 was a very bad year for us and a lot of other people we know. We'll be singing "Goodbye and Good Riddance" to it on New Years Eve."

I don't think very many people will be adding 2008 to the Greatest Year Ever list. Most, I think, would like to forget this year.

I'm going to be glad to see it end. It wasn't a completely horrible year for me, but it wasn't the best year ever, either. Past me, though, I'd say 2008 was a terrible year, with gas prices, economy, etc, etc, etc.

About the only plus I see to 2008 was the election. Words cannot express how happy I am that we will shortly have a new President. I don't even think Shakespeare could express it in words.

 

[toggleswitch2]

The devil made me do it!

Look, the modern replacement for Christmas caroling.

For a defintion of "top-heavy" see "swaffelen".

Even funnier is, at the time I looked this up there is a huge cross in an advert. on the same page. *LOL*

Urban Dictionary: Swaffelenbak

Swaffelenbak: The process of going from door [to door] with a group of top-heavy-penissed individuals to [swaffle] [unaware] dooropeners.

www.urbandictionary.com

 

[mielabor]

Oh my...

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it. I fear that the world gets another wrong impression of Dutch folklore. Just as many think that we are all walking on wooden shoes they now think that we are all walking around with top-heavy penises!