The Dutch mind seems to be a sort of diseased mind. It is the one language in the world where most of the curse words have a diseased background. Literally! Anything from the Smallpox and the Plague to Cancer and Tuberculosis can be used to curse, usually in combination with (genital) body parts.
Especially the Cancer one is seen as very oppressive and awful, and I do yet I don't quite get that. Why that more than the others? Because the others are not as prevalent (and in the case of Smallpox: eradicated)? I try to stay away from any of them, yet even I have at times used 'Tering' (Consumption or TB) as an exclamation of surprise/shock/anger. And the verb 'kankeren' (to cancer) is definitely used a lot. It means to complain, to moan, to grumble, to gripe.
Over the past few decades, new major diseases have come in. Aids being one of them and the most recent of course Corona. For some reason Aids never made it into our cursing vocabulary. I wonder what Corona will do. Perhaps in a hundred years, the exclamation will have gone from TB to Corona.
Just wondering...
Hari OM
ReplyDelete...and I loved the juxtapostion of such gorgeous images with these explorative words on expletives!!! Language is such a mobile, labile thing... YAM xx
I love language. Even the similarities yet big differences between the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands and the Dutch spoken in Belgium can be huge.
DeleteThat's interesting to know. I know that French swearing is often religious, and we all know what Anglo Saxon swearing is about.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting to learn something of your language.
ReplyDeleteI bet you didn't expect to learn this part though?
DeleteNobody knows what will happen with the Coronavirus ! One thing is for sure I am really fed up with all these rules here ! What has sense in one part of the country has no sense in the other ! I want to go to the cinema, walk on the street without mask and have my normal life back !
ReplyDeleteLove your nature photos today...and, like Yamini, I giggled at the subject matter!
ReplyDeleteI just don't know!! I know that I'm not very happy right now and I see no end in sight until there is a vaccine.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea about the words...quite interesting Mara...
ReplyDeletejust out of curiosity how many languages to you speak: speaking another language amazing like English which is extremely difficult but you read and write it too. Appaws Appaws
Hugs cecilia
Beautiful images, Mara. Hot dog, those are some great expressions.
ReplyDelete