Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Dutch profanity

Dutch profanity constitutes the corpus of vulgar and taboo expressions in the Dutch language, distinguished primarily by its heavy reliance on terms denoting diseases and illnesses—such as kanker (cancer), tering (tuberculosis), and tyfus (typhus)—as intensifiers, insults, or standalone expletives, a feature rare in other European languages where sexual or scatological references predominate. This disease-oriented profanity traces to historical linguistic patterns, possibly amplified by the Netherlands' past encounters with epidemics, and includes compounds like kankerlijer (cancer sufferer) to denote personal inadequacy or malice. Complementing these are genital-focused terms such as kut (vulva, often the strongest single-word curse) and lul (penis), alongside religious oaths like godverdomme (God damn it, a phonetic corruption of God vergeef domme or similar biblical phrasing) and animal-derived slurs evoking stupidity or filth. In broader usage, Dutch swearing functions as a pragmatic tool for emotional release or emphasis in casual speech, reflecting a cultural for directness that borders on abrasiveness, though references remain potent due to their invocation of mortality and pain—prompting occasional debates over sensitivity amid rising health awareness, yet persisting as normalized vernacular. Regional dialects, particularly in versus the , exhibit variations in intensity and preference, with variants sometimes softening or amplifying religious elements, while compounding (e.g., kankermongool, cancer ) allows creative escalation tailored to context. Profanity's integration into , , and everyday underscores its role in social bonding or , though literal translations often fail to convey the nuanced emotional weight carried by these terms in native contexts.

History and etymology

Origins in historical plagues and religious taboos

The , which devastated the between 1347 and 1351, killing an estimated 30-60% of the population, profoundly shaped early Dutch profanity by embedding (plague) as a curse invoking ultimate calamity upon adversaries. This epidemic's legacy persisted in subsequent outbreaks, such as recurrent bubonic plagues in the 15th-17th centuries, reinforcing disease terms as expressions of visceral dread and malevolence. Similarly, tuberculosis (), rampant from the late medieval period onward as a chronic respiratory scourge with high fatality rates before antibiotics, entered profane usage to denote wasting affliction, exploiting the era's limited medical understanding and high mortality from infectious agents. These invocations arose causally from profanity's function to weaponize collective traumas: in pre-modern societies with life expectancies often below 40 years due to epidemics, wishing disease embodied a more immediate, tangible horror than abstract spiritual penalties, distinguishing cursing from genital-focused Anglo-Saxon traditions. Religious taboos, enshrined in medieval and intensified by the Church's monopoly on moral authority, initially channeled profanity into blasphemous oaths such as invoking divine vengeance or Christ's wounds, which were deemed grave sins meriting or . Pre-Reformation texts, including records from the 14th-15th centuries, document such oaths as dominant, reflecting a cultural norm where swearing (zweren) blurred oaths of truth with imprecatory curses against . However, escalating prohibitions—culminating in secular bans like the Dutch vloekverbod ordinances from the —drove a pivot to euphemistic or secular proxies, where diseases served as stand-ins for providential wrath, evading direct godslastering while retaining potency. This evolution is evidenced in 16th- and 17th-century and legal transcripts, showing hybrid forms transitioning from explicit religious maledictions to affliction-based ones amid heightened Reformed scrutiny of speech. Such adaptations underscore causal realism in linguistic : prohibitive structures incentivize substitution with equivalently fearsome, non-sacrilegious elements drawn from empirical realities like plague-induced .

Shift from religious to disease-based cursing

Following the Protestant Reformation in the , Calvinism's ascendancy in the enforced a rigorous adherence to the Third Commandment's prohibition on vain oaths, diminishing the use of invoking divine names or religious figures in everyday speech. This cultural shift, rooted in Reformed theology's emphasis on and restraint, redirected profane expressions toward secular taboos, particularly those associated with bodily affliction and disease, as a means to convey intense emotional distress without directly profaning the sacred. By the , disease-referencing curses such as (smallpox) and tering (tuberculosis) gained prominence, supplanting earlier religious invectives amid recurrent epidemics that made such afflictions vivid symbols of suffering. Linguistic hypotheses link this evolution to a societal taboo on illness, amplified by Calvinist aversion to spiritual irreverence, allowing physical decay to serve as a potent, indirect analog for cursing. These terms, often compounded for emphasis (e.g., pokkenlijer, "pox sufferer"), reflected causal redirection: where oaths once targeted the divine, they now evoked mortal horrors familiar from historical plagues. The further entrenched this pattern, as rapid urbanization and epidemics—striking the in 1830, 1848, and 1866—introduced expletives like klere (from ), immortalized in phrases such as krijg de klere ("get the "). These outbreaks, claiming thousands of lives (e.g., over 6,000 in alone during the 1830 wave), heightened disease's cultural resonance as a motif, verifiable in period texts where such language denoted extreme opprobrium amid crises. This of underscored a broader transition from theological to corporeal taboos, persisting into modern usage despite evolving sensitivities.

Influence of Calvinism and puritanical culture

The of 1563, a foundational document in the following the , explicitly condemns and the abuse of God's name through cursing or oaths, as articulated in Lord's Day 36 (Questions 99-100), which prohibits such acts and deems them "horrible sins." This doctrinal emphasis on the third commandment fostered a cultural aversion to direct religious invocations in everyday speech, including profanity, redirecting expressive taboos toward secular domains amid the strict moral oversight of consistories in the 17th-century . Under this puritanical framework, which prioritized restraint in referencing the divine to avoid profanation, Dutch speakers innovated profanity around non-sacred existential perils like plagues and ailments—evident in persistent disease-based curses such as kanker (cancer) or tyfus (typhus)—rather than amplifying religious or sexual oaths common in Catholic-influenced regions. Linguistic analyses attribute this shift to Calvinist ethics displacing blasphemy with corporeal and mortality-themed invectives, reflecting a disciplined circumvention of sacred names while tolerating vulgarity in bodily or fatal contexts tied to historical epidemics. Comparative patterns underscore this restraint: unlike French profanities often rooted in religious sacrilege (e.g., sacrebleu) or English sexual taboos, Dutch usage empirically favors milder religious references overall, with surveys of contemporary swearing indicating lower incidence of divine-name curses in Protestant Netherlands versus neighboring Catholic areas. This legacy challenges portrayals of Dutch culture as uniformly crude, as the puritanical inheritance demonstrably channeled into indirect, threat-oriented forms—prioritizing plagues over —while empirical distributions of swearing, though concentrated in urbanized "Rim City" zones rather than uniformly Calvinist territories, align with broader Protestant norms against overt sacral . The resulting pattern evidences causal realism in how theological prohibitions reshaped linguistic outlets, fostering innovation in without eradicating expressive .

Linguistic characteristics

Compounding mechanisms and prefixes

Dutch profanity exhibits productive mechanisms, particularly through the use of disease-related terms as prefixes or initial compound elements to form intensified expletives and insults. Prefixes such as kanker- (from "cancer") and tering- (from "") commonly attach to nouns, yielding forms like kankerlijer ("cancer sufferer") or kankerwekker ("cancer "), where the disease element serves as an intensifier rather than a literal descriptor. These structures leverage Dutch nominal productivity, documented in linguistic surveys as a core feature allowing flexible head-modifier combinations. Such affixoids demonstrate prefix-like behavior in taboo contexts, enabling novel derivations like kankerwijf ("cancer woman," denoting a contemptible ) or kankerhomo (intensified for a man). Verbal intensification follows analogous patterns, as in kankeren ("to complain bitterly," derived from kanker plus suffix -en), reflecting adaptation of derivational to profane semantics. Productivity extends to contemporary adaptations, with compounds incorporating modern diseases like AIDS or in phrases such as krijg de ebola ("get Ebola"), observed in large-scale corpora analyzing swearing patterns. Lexical databases of Dutch terms, such as TaboeLex, further catalog these morphological variants, linking them to broader inflectional and derivational systems.

Intensification patterns and slang evolution

Dutch profanity intensifies through recursive stacking of curse elements, a productive mechanism leveraging the language's compounding morphology to create elongated, emphatic expressions. Linguistic identifies patterns where base curses—such as religious (godverdomme, derived from ", verdoem me," or ", damn me") or disease invocations (kanker)—are recursively extended by appending additional atoms, yielding unbounded expansions like godverdomdekanker or godverdomdekankerzooi (incorporating zooi, a colloquial term for "" or "rubbish"). This recursion heightens emotional without altering core semantics, prioritizing visceral expression over euphemistic dilution, as speakers chain elements to escalate perceived outrage. Slang evolution in these patterns reflects broader shifts in usage, documented in 20th-century lexical resources tracing standalone expletives toward hybridized compounds. Early forms emphasized isolated potency, but post-1945 urbanization correlated with accelerated slang innovation, as denser social interactions in expanding cities like and favored compact, stackable variants for rapid affective discharge. Empirical tracking in Dutch slang corpora from the 1950s onward shows progressive semantic bleaching, where original referential ties to plagues or erode into generic intensifiers of anger, adapting to secularizing contexts while retaining flexibility. This causal trajectory underscores profanity's role as an adaptive outlet, evolving via speaker innovation rather than institutional prescription, with stacked forms proliferating in informal registers by the late 20th century.

Borrowings and code-switching with English

In contemporary Dutch speech, particularly among younger speakers, English profanity such as and has become increasingly integrated, often through direct borrowing or rather than into native equivalents. Sociolinguistic analyses of Dutch-language tweets reveal that English swearwords like (and its inflected forms) and appear frequently, embedded within otherwise sentences, with showing higher borrowability due to its phonetic adaptability and semantic versatility in expressing or emphasis. These borrowings are more prevalent in informal digital communication, where English terms fill gaps in intensity not always matched by traditional Dutch disease-based curses, though quantitative data indicate variations between Netherlandic and Belgian users, with the former exhibiting greater integration. This trend accelerated with and the widespread adoption of English-language media, including , , and internet content, following the Netherlands' deeper ties and high English proficiency rates (over 90% among youth by the ). from perceptual studies among adolescents classifies and shit as mild to moderate profanities, comparable to native terms like (cunt), facilitating their casual insertion in youth and urban genres such as , where hybrid forms emerge—e.g., compounding roots with English verbs for novel insults. Such reflects not just linguistic convenience but cultural , as English terms often supplant uniquely expressions without enhancing expressive nuance, potentially diminishing the historical distinctiveness of Dutch profanity rooted in regional taboos. While older generations may resist these imports—viewing them as less potent than native blasphemies—surveys of native speakers confirm borrowed English profanity's normalization in everyday discourse, especially post-2000 with social media's rise, though it remains context-dependent and less than core Dutch sexual or illness invocations. This integration underscores a shift toward in multilingual environments, driven by exposure rather than necessity, as retains robust native options for similar emotional conveyance.

Regional and dialectal variations

Differences between Netherlandic and Flemish Dutch

Netherlandic profanity emphasizes disease-related terms such as kanker (cancer) and tering (), which are used directly and frequently as intensifiers or standalone expletives, reflecting a pragmatic style that integrates them casually into everyday speech. In contrast, speakers more commonly employ piled religious exclamations, such as elongated variants of godver (-fucking) like godverdegodverdenakendegodnondeju, alongside excremental and sexual references, often drawing from borrowings or euphemisms such as dédju (from de Dieu, meaning "by "). These patterns stem from surveys spanning 1998–2007, which documented regional preferences in curse types, with usage favoring , compounded religious forms over isolated disease invocations. Empirical analysis of over 20,000 instances of in geo-tagged tweets from 46,000 users across 213 locations indicates that disease-based swearing occurs at higher rates in the , particularly in urbanized areas like the region around , compared to , where such terms appear infrequently. This disparity aligns with pragmatic differences: Netherlandic speakers exhibit greater openness to harsh, literal curses in casual contexts, while profanity tends toward softer, more evasive expressions, with younger generations in Flanders gradually adopting disease terms like krijg de tering ("get the ") that older speakers avoid. religious curses, influenced by a Catholic heritage that historically emphasized ritualistic rather than intensified , are less aggressively compounded than equivalents in the Protestant-leaning , where has decoupled disease terms from religious taboos. Socioeconomic and demographic factors contribute causally, as the ' higher correlates with bolder norms, per spatial models showing clustered high usage in Dutch cities ( = 0.1374), whereas ' relatively rural profile and linguistic proximity foster euphemistic adaptations. atlases and longitudinal studies confirm a shared lexical —terms like godver appear in both varieties—but pragmatic divergence persists, with speakers tempering intensity through piling or substitution to maintain social harmony in more conservative settings. These differences underscore how historical religious divides (Calvinist restraint on overt yielding proxies in the north, Catholic moralism moderating direct irreverence in the south) interact with modern urban dynamics to shape swearing conventions.

Influences from Surinamese and Antillean Dutch

Following Suriname's independence on November 25, 1975, approximately 150,000 to 200,000 Surinamese migrated to the Netherlands between 1973 and the early 1980s, forming significant communities in cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam; this influx facilitated the integration of Sranan Tongo elements into metropolitan Dutch urban slang, known as straattaal, particularly among youth. Linguistic analyses indicate that 80-90% of straattaal vocabulary derives from Surinamese sources, including profane expressions adapted for emphasis or insult, such as kaulo, a Sranan Tongo term equated to the Dutch klootzak (scrotum or despicable person), which entered migrant-influenced vernacular as a direct borrowing for cursing. This fusion reflects code-switching in multicultural neighborhoods, where Sranan profanity reinforced bodily or dehumanizing insults without displacing core Dutch disease-based swearing. Antillean Dutch, shaped by Papiamento and migration from Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire, exerts a narrower but notable influence on Dutch profanity, primarily through pejorative ethnic descriptors like makamba, a Papiamento word for "white Dutch person" or "mainlander," often wielded derogatorily in confrontational contexts to imply arrogance or outsider status. Historical linguistic records trace makamba to colonial-era usage on Curaçao, where it targeted Dutch sailors or officials, and post-war Antillean labor migration to the Netherlands—peaking in the 1950s-1970s—embedded it in diaspora slang, occasionally as a mild slur in urban disputes. Unlike Surinamese borrowings, Antillean contributions to profanity remain sporadic, with terms like hode (head) gaining traction in straattaal for hyperbolic insults (e.g., implying stupidity), but empirical studies from the 2000s highlight limited creolized vulgarity adoption compared to Sranan impacts, due to smaller migrant demographics and Papiamento's lesser dominance in mainland youth culture. Reverse influences exist marginally, such as curses appearing in , but the primary vector is unidirectional: colonial-era creoles enriching metropolitan profanity via immigration-driven hybridization, evident in 1990s-2000s and street vernacular where Surinamese-Antillean hybrids amplify standard Dutch expletives for intensity. This integration underscores empirical patterns of influence in , without supplanting native categories like illness invocations.

Urban vs. rural usage patterns

In the , profanity usage displays subtle regional patterns, with urban centers like the (including and ) showing distinct preferences compared to rural areas such as or the eastern provinces. Analysis of over 21,000 posts containing invectives from a of 75 million words indicates no overarching urban-rural divide in overall swearing , but disease-based terms—a core element of traditional Dutch profanity, such as kanker (cancer) or tering ()—are significantly more concentrated in the than in rural or peripheral regions. This geographic clustering (statistically significant via test, p < 0.05) aligns with the 's role as a high-density economic and cultural hub, where social interactions may amplify expression of established lexical domains. Urban speakers, particularly in cosmopolitan settings, innovate through (e.g., combining disease terms with modern ) and greater integration of English borrowings like phonetically adapted , reflecting prolonged exposure to global media and multilingual environments. Such is less prevalent in rural dialects, where adherence to traditional disease invocations persists, potentially due to lower urbanization and cultural insularity. Sociolinguistic perceptions among Dutch adolescents reinforce a view of rural communities as employing more frequent and severe in everyday contexts, though empirical online data suggests otherwise for specific categories. These patterns correlate with broader 2010s trends linking to elevated profanity rates in dense areas like the , where population proximity and anonymity in public spaces encourage casual usage, contrasting with rural conservatism shaped by tighter-knit communities. Generational shifts in urban youth further drive innovation, as evidenced by increasing hybrid forms, while rural speakers maintain lexical stability verifiable in dialect corpora.

Primary categories of profanity

Disease and illness invocations

In Dutch profanity, invocations of diseases and illnesses constitute a distinctive category, setting it apart from the religious blasphemy or sexual vulgarity prevalent in many other European languages. These terms draw on historically lethal afflictions to express intense frustration or malediction, often functioning as standalone curses, intensifiers, or prefixes in compound expressions. The most severe contemporary term is kanker (cancer), widely regarded as the strongest due to its association with a still-fatal ; it ranks highest in offensiveness across multiple surveys of Dutch speakers, surpassing even genital or excretory references. Usage typically surges in moments of , as in kankerlijer (cancer sufferer) directed at a despised person, or as an like kankeren (to complain bitterly). Other core invocations include tering (tuberculosis), tyfus (typhus), and pokke or pokken (smallpox or pox), which similarly evolved from specific disease names into generic amplifiers of negativity. These appear in phrases wishing affliction, such as krijg de tering (get ), and rank among the top five most hurtful profanities in empirical polls, though less potent than kanker due to the diseases' diminished modern . Their application underscores a profane rooted in fatalistic invocation of irremediable suffering, prioritizing existential dread over bodily disgust.

Religious invocations and blasphemy

In Dutch profanity, religious invocations typically involve blasphemous references to Christian deities, sacraments, or concepts of , stemming from the historical Protestant influence in the . Prominent examples include godverdomme ("God damn me"), a versatile akin to "God damn it" in English, and Christus nog aan toe ("Christ still to it"), an expression of exasperation invoking Christ's suffering. These terms, while once potent due to the ' Calvinist heritage, have persisted into contemporary usage but with diminished shock value. Post-1960s , which has seen religious affiliation drop to around 50% or lower by the , has rendered such invocations relatively mild compared to disease-based curses like kankerlijer ("cancer "). Linguistic analyses note that blasphemous swears now evoke less than illness-related ones, as the latter tap into modern fears of mortality and rather than archaic . Empirical studies on swearing patterns reveal a marked decline in blasphemous terms' frequency, especially among younger speakers, who often regard them as relics of a bygone era rather than potent insults. For instance, comparative data from the to 2010s show older demographics retaining higher usage rates, while youth favor secular or borrowed expletives. This shift aligns with the repeal of criminalization under Article 147 of the Dutch Criminal Code in 2014, further normalizing such language. Conservative religious voices, including Calvinist publications, critique this evolution as symptomatic of eroded reverence for the sacred, potentially desensitizing to divine . In contrast, secular linguists and cultural observers frame these invocations as benign cultural artifacts, harmless in a pluralistic context where offense hinges more on personal belief than societal norm.

Sexual and genital references

The term , denoting the or and akin to the English "," serves as a highly versatile in , functioning both as a standalone implying worthlessness and as an intensifier in compounds such as kutwijf (cunt-wife, directed at women perceived as treacherous) or prefixed forms like kutzooi (shitty mess). Male genital references predominate in insults targeting perceived incompetence, with lul (penis or cock) commonly applied to describe a foolish or inept person, as in domme lul (stupid ), and (scrotum sack) used equivalently to "" or "" to signify deceit or aggravation. Additional terms include eikel ( or , slang for ) and kloten (testicles, in phrases like klotezooi for a bungled situation), often compounded to amplify disdain without direct reference to sexual acts. Female-specific insults draw from similar anatomy, such as doos (box, euphemism for vagina) to mildly denote stupidity in women, as in domme doos (daft box), or trut (bitch, historically linked to promiscuity or female dog), which carries connotations of shrillness or betrayal. These terms emerge prominently in direct interpersonal confrontations, where they substitute for or augment disease-based profanities to express immediate contempt, reflecting Dutch linguistic patterns that favor genital metaphors for personal failings over abstract moral judgments. Usage data from adolescent surveys indicate kut and lul appear in casual peer interactions, gaming, or arguments, with self-reported frequency reaching 59-77% for kut among respondents aged 11-19, higher in rural settings. Empirical ratings position genital terms as moderately taboo, with under 10% of adolescents deeming kut or lul highly offensive on severity scales, far below disease invocations like kanker (cancer, 70-88% severity). This relative mildness aligns with the ' secular culture and frankness on uality, rendering such references secondary to illness-themed curses rooted in historical Protestant aversion to explicit or religious ; linguistic corpora and perceptual studies confirm terms comprise the core of Dutch profanity, with genital ones filling expressive gaps in everyday disputes rather than ritualistic oaths. Despite their utility in conveying visceral rejection, these words invite scrutiny for potential misogynistic undertones when gender-targeted, though native speakers often deploy them agnostically across contexts.

Excretory and bodily waste terms

In Dutch profanity, excretory and bodily waste terms primarily reference , , and , functioning as relatively mild expletives or intensifiers rather than core insults. These words, such as kak (crap or ) and stront ( or excrement), derive from everyday for bodily functions and are often employed in casual frustration or dismissal, like "kak!" as an equivalent to "damn" or "crap." Unlike disease-based curses, which dominate Dutch swearing and evoke severe historical plagues, scatological terms carry lower emotional weight due to their mundane, physiological associations, serving more as fillers in speech than profound taboos. Common terms include pies (piss or urine, sometimes in dialectal variants) for urinary references and scheet (fart), which can denote flatulence literally or metaphorically imply something worthless or gaseous, as in "scheet in een fles" (fart in a bottle, meaning nonsense). Schijt (shit or diarrhea, cognate with German Scheiße) is another frequent entry, often softened in usage compared to its English counterpart and used in phrases like "geen schijt geven" (not give a shit). These terms frequently appear in compounds to amplify insults, such as kaksukkel (shit idiot, combining kak with sukkel for fool or wimp), which targets perceived incompetence through bodily degradation without invoking illness or sexuality. Linguistically, these profanities show influences from neighboring languages, with borrowings like direct adoption of English "" in bilingual contexts, reflecting globalization's impact on informal Dutch since the late . Surveys of adolescent perceptions classify scatological words like "" or kak as mild, far below the offensiveness of terms like kanker (cancer), positioning them low in Dutch profanity hierarchies where cultural aversion to disease overshadows bodily waste stigma. This relative leniency stems from scatology's universal but less culturally amplified taboo in the , allowing frequent use in media, comedy, and everyday banter without strong social repercussions.

Insults derived from animals and behaviors

Animal comparisons and dehumanization

In Dutch profanity, animal comparisons serve to dehumanize targets by associating them with beasts perceived as unclean, instinctual, or inferior, a linguistic strategy rooted in the ' longstanding agricultural heritage where farm animals symbolized base traits. These insults equate humans to or , stripping them of rational or standing and invoking visceral or . Such metaphors appear in everyday speech and proverbs, often adapting neutral zoological references into derogatory ones without reliance on disease or religious motifs. The term varken (pig) is frequently deployed to insult someone as filthy, greedy, or slovenly, capitalizing on cultural stereotypes of pigs as mud-wallowing with voracious appetites; for instance, phrases like "vuil varken" (dirty pig) directly degrade personal or . This usage is documented in cross-linguistic studies of negative animal expressions, where Dutch varken metaphorically signifies a "dirty person" akin to equivalents in other . Relatedly, zwijn (swine or boar) amplifies the of brutish or filth, as in "vuil zwijn" (filthy swine), emphasizing uncontrolled animalistic impulses. Hond (dog), especially in compounds like "vuile hond" (dirty dog) or "stomme hond" (stupid dog), conveys disloyalty, , or moral lowliness, drawing from images of or rabid dogs as opportunistic parasites; biblical and traditions reinforce this by portraying dogs as unclean outsiders unworthy of human fellowship. Historical linguistic analysis traces such applications to , where hond denoted not just the animal but a contemptible figure. Proverbs profane this further, as in adaptations of sayings equating to a dog's . Less common but evocative is aap (ape or monkey), which dehumanizes by implying primitivism, clumsiness, or subhuman intellect, positioning the target outside civilized norms; this echoes broader Indo-European patterns where apes represent unevolved or devilish traits in medieval texts. These zoological slurs, verifiable in dialectal corpora and speech patterns, underscore causal links between rural —prevalent until the 20th century—and profane lexicon, where empirical familiarity bred metaphors of inferiority without ethnic overlays.

Behavioral and personality-based slurs

Behavioral and personality-based slurs in Dutch target perceived deficiencies in , , or reliability, frequently incorporating terms borrowed from outdated psychological classifications. Sukkel, denoting a bungler or inept person, originated in the from influences meaning "" and evolved into a staple for criticizing poor performance or . Similarly, debiel and imbeciel derive directly from early 20th-century medical diagnostics for intellectual impairment—debiel from "debility" and imbeciel from the Latin imbecillus for weak-mindedness—repurposed to demean cognitive shortcomings, as seen in their application since the mid-1900s in colloquial speech. These insults prioritize behavioral over innate traits, aligning with cultural norms that favor explicit feedback on merit and efficacy rather than euphemistic avoidance. In professional environments, such terms appear in direct critiques of inefficiency, reflecting the ' emphasis on straightforward communication documented in from the 2010s onward, where 68% of Dutch respondents in a 2015 survey by the Netherlands Institute for endorsed candid workplace language as conducive to productivity. Compounds like domme sukkel (stupid fool) amplify this, used in 2022 linguistic analyses of informal to highlight with incompetence without invoking physical or ethnic elements. Klojo, a variant for a foolish or clownish individual akin to "kluns" (bumbler), emerged in urban dialects post-1950s, targeting erratic decision-making in social or occupational contexts. Perceived offensiveness ranks these slurs as moderate compared to disease- or genital-based profanity; a 2023 informal aggregation of Dutch speaker responses via language forums placed intelligence derogations like debiel below "kankerlijer" (cancer sufferer, highly taboo) but above mild exclamations, with usage tolerance higher among males aged 18-35 at 72% in self-reported acceptability. This tiering underscores their role in signaling for avoidable errors, fostering environments where incompetence invites correction grounded in observable actions, as evidenced in 2019 expatriate adaptation reports noting such language's prevalence in without formal repercussions. Unlike slurs rooted in immutable characteristics, these evolve with , often softening in jest or intensifying in high-stakes scenarios like project failures.

Ethnic, racial, and social slurs

Slurs targeting immigrant and minority groups

In the , slurs targeting immigrant and minority groups have proliferated since the post-1960s waves of labor migration from and , followed by and inflows from the , , and the , leading to second-generation communities facing scrutiny over integration challenges. These terms often arise in contexts of perceived cultural clashes and disproportionate involvement in , with empirical indicating that second-generation Moroccan-Dutch males exhibit suspicion rates for offenses reaching approximately 50% by age 23, far exceeding native rates. Such patterns, documented in longitudinal studies, contribute to the causal origins of slurs by associating specific groups with behaviors rather than inherent traits, though left-leaning advocacy groups push for suppression of these terms as without addressing underlying socioeconomic and cultural factors. "Mocro," a truncation of "Marokkaan" (Moroccan), functions as a derogatory label for Dutch individuals of Moroccan descent, particularly in urban youth and criminal subcultures, gaining notoriety through the "Mocro Maffia"—a media-coined term for cocaine-trafficking networks responsible for over 100 assassinations since the 1990s, primarily in the Netherlands and Belgium. This slur's usage spiked amid public alarm over narco-violence, including high-profile hits on journalists and prosecutors, reflecting realism about failed integration where Moroccan-Dutch offenders dominate certain crime categories like drug-related violence, with official statistics showing their overrepresentation by factors of 4-6 times relative to population share. Attempts at reappropriation within migrant communities remain marginal, as the term's association with organized crime undermines positive reclamation, unlike more successful in-group adaptations elsewhere. "," historically a neutral descriptor for people of sub-Saharan descent akin to Surinamese or Antillean immigrants from colonial ties, has evolved into a conveying , especially post-2000 amid debates over its offensiveness paralleling the English n-word. Its derogatory deployment targets minorities in everyday insults or , where reveal elevated offending rates among Antillean- youth comparable to Moroccan groups, prompting usage tied to observable patterns rather than abstract . Right-leaning commentators attribute persistence to unaddressed cultural incompatibilities, such as clan-based loyalties exacerbating activity, while progressive outlets advocate , citing surveys where a majority of respondents deem it unacceptable yet note its declining neutral use since the . efforts, including variants like "," show limited traction outside hip-hop circles and fail to alter mainstream perceptions of harm. For Turkish-Dutch communities, stemming from similar 1960s guest-worker recruitment, "Turk" itself serves as a slur in expressive contexts, invoking stereotypes of backwardness or aggression beyond mere nationality, often in schoolyard or street confrontations. This aligns with crime data showing second-generation Turks at 2-3 times native rates for property offenses, fueling causal links to slurs via real-world encounters rather than fabricated prejudice, though academic sources biased toward socioeconomic explanations downplay cultural elements like honor codes. Overall, these slurs' endurance stems from verifiable disparities—e.g., non-Western immigrants comprising 60% of urban youth suspects despite 20% population share—prioritizing evidence over calls for taboo enforcement that ignore behavioral incentives.

Historical slurs from colonial and wartime contexts

During the Dutch colonial era in the , which spanned from the until Indonesian independence in , slurs targeting indigenous populations arose amid economic exploitation and cultural clashes. The term pinda, literally meaning "," functioned as a ethnic slur for and sometimes broader East Asians, evoking of simplicity or dietary habits tied to local . This usage reflected the hierarchical dynamics of colonial administration, where settlers and officials demeaned natives to assert superiority, often in contexts of labor extraction on plantations. Similar compounds like pindapoepchinees (peanut-shit-Chinese) extended the to Chinese-Indonesians, blending colonial resentment toward intermediaries in trade with racial caricature. These terms originated from direct interactions in the Indies but persisted in post-decolonization, though rarely in mainstream discourse today. In other colonial spheres, such as —under Dutch control from 1667 to 1975—slurs drew on physical descriptors to dehumanize enslaved or freed African-descended people. Roetmop ("soot rag" or "sooty mop"), first documented in 1871, derogatorily referenced dark skin as accumulated grime, equating individuals to unclean objects. This epithet emerged in the context of plantation slavery's aftermath, where racial hierarchies justified ongoing ; it encapsulated a causal link between colonial violence, including the transatlantic slave trade involving over 500,000 Africans to territories by 1800, and linguistic derogation rooted in visual othering rather than abstract prejudice. Variants like roetkop ("soot head") reinforced the imagery, appearing in literature and oral traditions tied to 19th-century racial prevalent in European colonies. Wartime contexts, particularly the German occupation of the from May 1940 to May 1945, intensified existing slurs against . Mof, derived from the 16th-century German Muff denoting a coarse or slovenly person and attested in Dutch as early as 1574, became a staple of resistance lexicon during . Its proliferation—evident in , underground newspapers, and even royal broadcasts by Queen Wilhelmina—stemmed from the occupation's realities: economic plunder, forced labor of 500,000 Dutch citizens, and the Holocaust's toll on 102,000 Dutch Jews. The term's wartime surge embodied collective defiance against invasion, not innate bias, with dictionaries like Koenen temporarily removing it in 1942 under censorship but restoring it postwar. Compounds such as mofrika (mof-Africa) likened to colonial oppressors, drawing parallels to Dutch imperial experiences. These slurs, while fading from polite use, linger in historical memory and occasional niche revivals, underscoring profanity's role in processing conquest and resistance.

Class-based and socioeconomic insults

Class-based insults in Dutch profanity primarily target perceived lower social strata, emphasizing a lack of refinement or manners rather than overt wealth disparities, in line with the ' cultural promotion of equality since the post-World War II era. Terms like plebejer, derived from the Latin plebeius denoting commoners in , have evolved to derogate individuals as uncouth or lacking decency, often applied to those exhibiting boorish behavior associated with limited education or urban origins. Similarly, proleet, a adaptation of "proletarian," serves as a for rude or persons, equating socioeconomic with personal . These expressions appear infrequently in contemporary usage, with surveys of Dutch vocabulary indicating socioeconomic slurs constitute under 5% of common profanities, far below - or sexuality-based terms. Socioeconomic insults often critique excessive thriftiness, a trait stereotypically linked to the Calvinist emphasis on industriousness and restraint ingrained in Dutch Protestant heritage since the 16th-century . Krentenkakker, literally "raisin-shitter," mocks the miserly by implying anal retention of valuables, portraying stinginess as pathological avarice rather than prudent saving. This term, documented in lexical studies of offensive Dutch words, reflects intra-class friction where frugality—valued for enabling the ' high savings rates of around 20% of GDP in recent decades—crosses into insult when deemed obsessive. Upper-class derision, such as kouwe kak ("cold shit"), ridicules pretentious wealth displays or snobbery, underscoring resentment toward perceived elitism in a where remains low, with a of approximately 0.28 as of 2023. Such slurs surface sporadically in or regional banter, like in Flemish-Dutch divides, but empirical analyses of media corpora show their deployment is limited compared to ethnic or behavioral insults, highlighting profanity's relative aversion to rigid hierarchies.

Cultural and social usage

Prevalence in daily conversation and social norms

A 2023 survey by EenVandaag indicated that approximately 10% of Dutch respondents cursed regularly or often, a doubling from 5% reported in a similar poll, suggesting a gradual increase in profane use amid everyday interactions. This figure encompasses self-reported habitual swearing, with higher frequencies observed among younger demographics; for instance, adolescents perceive their own usage of mild profanities like kut or as frequent in peer settings, often exceeding daily occurrences in informal contexts. Among female undergraduates, self-reports from a study averaged around 3.2 instances per day, primarily for , underscoring profanity's role as a routine outlet rather than rarity. Social norms in the reflect a cultural premium on directness, where blunt expression—including occasional swearing—signals authenticity and assertiveness, particularly in casual or equal-status exchanges like among friends or in traffic frustrations, where six in ten encounter it regularly. However, usage remains context-sensitive: formal environments such as workplaces deem it inappropriate for 73% of respondents, and it is typically restrained around elders or figures to maintain hierarchies. While about 70% express at cursing in general, tolerance persists for milder forms in informal daily life, aligning with broader values of unfiltered communication over euphemistic , without implying social deviance.

Role in humor, media, and literature

In Dutch literature, profanity has transitioned from subdued religious oaths in 17th-century works, reflecting Calvinist restraint, to bolder integrations in the that challenged moral taboos. Early dramatists limited expletives to euphemistic forms like "potzickemik" (a evoking bodily parts), using them sparingly for emphasis in plays amid religious sensitivities. By contrast, post-war authors employed coarser terms to convey existential grit; for instance, Gerard Reve's writings incorporated vulgarity to depict unfiltered human impulses, contributing to his 1966 blasphemy trial over explicit content. In media, particularly and television, Dutch functions as a comedic device to amplify and forge audience rapport through shared irreverence. performers, such as those in programs from the onward, normalize swearing by embedding disease-derived curses like "" or "tyfus" into routines, where the terms' hyperbolic nature elicits laughter via cultural familiarity rather than mere shock. A diachronic of swearing in the TV series Wie is de Mol? documented a 13% rise in frequency from to , mirroring broader discourse trends and suggesting media's role in desensitizing viewers while maintaining self-regulation to avoid fines under the Dutch Media Act. This prevalence underscores 's utility in building on-screen camaraderie, as participants use expletives to signal authenticity and group solidarity during high-stress scenarios. Dutch rap music further amplifies profanity's expressive edge, often layering ethnic slurs like "makkelijker" (targeting perceived laziness in minorities) with rhythmic aggression to critique social hierarchies or assert identity, though this risks reinforcing without contextual irony. Overall, in these domains, profanity enhances narrative tension and communal bonding, with empirical shifts in usage indicating to liberalizing norms rather than of impact.

Gender and generational differences in swearing

Empirical studies on swearing reveal that men historically employed more frequently than women, but this gap has narrowed significantly among younger cohorts, with undergraduates reporting an average of 3.19 instances per day, though medians indicate sporadic use for many. Linguist Piet van Sterkenburg observed in that women, especially the youngest generation, swear as often as men, attributing this shift to evolving social norms post-feminist changes in the late that reduced taboos around expression of or . Persistent differences appear in perceptions: adolescent surveys show young men rating certain profanities as less offensive than young women, potentially reflecting gendered where males view swearing as a marker of toughness, while females associate it more with emotional release or social bonding. Generational patterns indicate a marked increase in profanity usage over time, with surveys showing the proportion of regular Dutch cursers doubling from 5% in 2007 to 10% by 2023, driven largely by younger adults who integrate English borrowings like "fuck" and "shit" into casual speech, diluting traditional Dutch taboos. and older generations favor conventional terms rooted in religion or diseases (e.g., "godverdomme" or "kanker"), often viewing them as stronger invectives tied to historical cultural sensitivities, whereas employs more liberally and experimentally, blending native and anglicized forms in digital contexts like . This evolution stems from reduced stigma through media exposure and peer influence, making swearing a normalized outlet for younger Dutch speakers unbound by prior eras' moral constraints.

Controversies and societal debates

Offensiveness of disease-based terms amid modern health awareness

In Dutch profanity, disease-derived terms such as kanker (cancer) have elicited growing controversy since the mid-20th century, coinciding with a marked rise in cancer incidence and campaigns emphasizing the disease's persistent toll. Cancer incidence in the increased by approximately 50% from the onward, driven by factors including an aging population, improved detection methods, and lifestyle changes, heightening personal and societal familiarity with its devastation. This empirical shift has amplified the perceived trauma of invoking kanker as an or —often comparable in to English's ""—transforming what was historically a reference to feared illnesses into a term laden with modern emotional weight for survivors, families, and advocates. Surveys underscore kanker's status as among the most offensive Dutch swears, with a 2015 poll of youth finding 71% deemed it hurtful, outranking other profanities in emotional impact. groups, including the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding), have launched initiatives like the #TegenKK campaign in collaboration with e-sports entities to discourage its casual use, arguing it trivializes suffering and stigmatizes those affected amid ongoing high incidence rates. These efforts reflect elite-driven sensitivities tied to health awareness, yet contrast sharply with widespread persistence: kanker remains a staple in everyday speech, prefixed to nouns for emphasis (e.g., kankerhoer, "cancer whore"), indicating a disconnect between institutional critiques and ingrained linguistic norms where such terms function idiomatically rather than literally. Critics of restrictionist stances contend that heightened taboos overlook the historical of disease-based swearing—rooted in eras when ailments like (tering) or (tyfus) symbolized uncontrollable calamity—reducing expressive utility without eradicating underlying frustrations. While polls confirm broad offensiveness, the term's ubiquity suggests overreach in deeming it inherently hateful, as casual deployment rarely intends literal harm and aligns with cultural directness; enforced avoidance risks sanitizing at the expense of authentic communication, particularly given cancer's incomplete eradication unlike historical plagues. This tension highlights a broader normative gap, where advocacy from bodies like the Christian-led Bond Tegen Vloeken prioritizes moral purity over pragmatic expression, yet fails to curb prevalence in non-elite contexts.

Ethnic slurs in immigration and integration contexts

The term mocro, derived from informal slang adopted by Dutch-Moroccan youth in urban subcultures, functions as an ethnic slur primarily targeting individuals of Moroccan descent in the , often connoting criminality or cultural alienation. Its pejorative application surged in the amid rising gang violence linked to Dutch-Moroccan networks, collectively dubbed the "Mocro Maffia," which involved trafficking and assassinations that claimed over 100 lives between 2012 and 2021, predominantly in and . This context has embedded the slur in everyday discourse on , where it serves as shorthand for perceived failures in assimilating second-generation immigrants into . Official data from the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) reveal disproportionate criminal involvement among Moroccan-origin populations, with 3.0% of individuals of Moroccan background suspected of offenses in 2021—several times the rate for native Dutch citizens. Young Moroccan men are particularly overrepresented, comprising a significant share of suspects in violent and property crimes; longitudinal studies estimate that nearly half of first- and second-generation Moroccan males have faced suspicion by age 23, compared to under 20% of native peers. These patterns hold even after socioeconomic adjustments, pointing to cultural factors such as family structures, peer influences, and resistance to authority as contributors beyond poverty alone. In integration hotspots like the Bijlmer or Schilderswijk neighborhoods, such statistics have manifested in localized tensions, including riots and "no-go" perceptions where police report heightened risks due to gang dominance and hostility toward authorities. Public debates frame usage as either emblematic of or a raw response to policy shortcomings, with empirical evidence tilting toward the latter: unchecked and lax mandates since the guest-worker era fostered parallel communities marked by high (over 20% for Moroccan youth in 2022) and welfare reliance, exacerbating crime cycles. Critics of victimhood narratives argue that dismissing slurs as mere obscures causal realities, such as inadequate screening of cultural incompatibilities with Dutch norms, which parliamentary inquiries in 2012 explicitly tied to the "Moroccan problem" of persistent delinquency. and academic sources often prioritize explanations, yet CBS-verified disparities underscore slurs as linguistic symptoms of tangible breakdowns rather than unfounded , urging policy reforms like stricter civic requirements over .

Tensions between free expression and hate speech regulations

Dutch Criminal Code Articles 137c and 137d criminalize insults to groups based on race, religion, , or other protected characteristics, as well as to or , with penalties up to one year for insults and two years for to . These provisions, in place since 1971, target expressions with intent to demean or provoke harm, but standalone profanity or casual slurs are rarely prosecuted, as Dutch authorities prioritize demonstrable over mere offensiveness, reflecting the broad protections under Constitution Article 7, which prohibits on speech. Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA has reinforced these laws by requiring member states to penalize calls for or on racial or ethnic grounds, prompting Dutch adjustments but also amplifying tensions with national free expression norms under the Article 10. High-profile cases in the 2010s, such as the 2016 conviction of politician for group insult under Article 137c after publicly polling supporters on desiring "fewer Moroccans," illustrate clashes where courts deemed rhetorical questions demeaning without imposing jail time, only a conditional fine later upheld in 2021. Such rulings fueled debates over whether profanity-laced political speech, common in Dutch discourse, constitutes unprotected hate or essential realism in addressing concerns, with annual police recordings of thousands of insults (e.g., 5,694 in 2023) rarely leading to charges absent violence. Critics from conservative perspectives contend that expanding hate speech enforcement under EU influence reveals an elite detachment from vernacular profanity, which empirical analyses link more to authenticity and emotional candor than deception or aggression, showing weak causal ties to physical violence in Dutch contexts. Proponents of stricter regulations argue restrictions safeguard social cohesion against escalating tensions from ethnic slurs, yet data indicate selective prosecutions favor high-visibility cases over everyday usage, underscoring unresolved philosophical friction between unrestrained expression for robust debate and targeted curbs on group-targeted vitriol.

References

  1. [1]
    Dutch curses - Language Log
    Because expletives are based on social taboos, in most cultures they are linked to sex, excrement or religion. Many Dutch swear words are as well, but they ...
  2. [2]
    The Wide World of Disease-Based Dutch Profanity - Atlas Obscura
    May 6, 2020 · Sometimes in the Netherlands this is portrayed as bluntness or honesty, or a rejection of political correctness. Those are thin, short-lived ...
  3. [3]
    Dutch Profanity: Dutch Swear Words You Need to Know
    Apr 29, 2024 · Dutch Profanity: Dutch Swear Words You Need to Know. Swear words are a fascinating aspect of any language, offering insight into cultural ...Missing: linguistics | Show results with:linguistics
  4. [4]
    Why Dutch swear words are so poxy - The Economist
    Mar 26, 2020 · In Dutch, it is more likely to be an insult. Kankerlijer (“cancer-sufferer”) is one of a long list of Dutch profanities and expletives derived from diseases.
  5. [5]
    [PDF] 11 Why do the Dutch swear with diseases? - Lirias
    Feb 3, 2019 · We observe that there is clearly an overlap between the area where we observe disease-based swearing and the historical area in which Calvinism ...
  6. [6]
    Geschiedenis van het vloekverbod - IsGeschiedenis
    Geschiedenis van het vloekverbod · Godslastering. Veruit het merendeel van de scheldwoorden uit de middeleeuwen stond in verband met de religie. · Vloekverbod.Missing: pest | Show results with:pest
  7. [7]
    P.G.J. van Sterkenburg - Vloeken - Jan van Bakel
    Allereerst wilde ik plastisch uit doen komen dat de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse vloek haar wortels heeft in het werkwoord zweren, zeer in het bijzonder in ...
  8. [8]
    https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110236262.41/html
  9. [9]
    11. Why do the Dutch swear with diseases?: Novel Insights from ...
    The standing hypothesis is that swearing with diseases is related to the Calvinistic cultural background of the Dutch.Missing: profanity | Show results with:profanity
  10. [10]
    https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110582758-012/html?lang=en
  11. [11]
    [PDF] BORROWED PROFANITY VERSUS BOUNDLESS PURISM
    Mar 1, 2016 · ... history of swearing in Dutch but in many other languages as well such as in English: A pox on (your) …! (Ljung, p. 43). Dutch, however, is ...<|separator|>
  12. [12]
    [PDF] Cultural Resilience during Nineteenth-Century Cholera Outbreaks in ...
    Jan 3, 2021 · The nineteenth century saw several severe outbreaks of cholera in the Netherlands. This chapter discusses how Dutch society responded to this ...Missing: cursing 19th
  13. [13]
    What is required in the third commandment? - Lord's Day 36
    We are not to blaspheme or to abuse the name of God. by cursing,. perjury,. or unnecessary oaths,. nor to share in such horrible sins.Missing: condemnation | Show results with:condemnation
  14. [14]
    [PDF] compounding in dutch - Geert Booij's Page
    This paper presents a survey of the patterns of compounding in Dutch. Nominal and adjectival compounding are productive, verbal compounding is not.
  15. [15]
    [PDF] Towards a lexical database of Dutch taboo language
    May 24, 2023 · Over the past 45 years, at least eighteen Dutch paper-based dictionaries of taboo-language (or taboo-related language) have been published ...
  16. [16]
    Recursing in Dutch - jstor
    Feb 18, 2014 · Importantly, the patterns in (7) and (8) can expand in an unbounded way. One can always add another curse atom to form an even longer curse ...
  17. [17]
    18+ Crazy Dutch Swear Words And Insults - Lingopie
    Jan 13, 2025 · Here's everything you need to know about Dutch profanity, Dutch insults, Dutch curse words, and Dutch swearing. ... "Kut" is the most frequently ...
  18. [18]
    Dutch Insults and Swear Words - the History and Art | Taalhammer
    Jun 24, 2022 · ... profanity in up-to-date Dutch slang language. Learning Dutch swear words is so much fun when shared together. Feel free to combine, stack ...
  19. [19]
    Chapter 5. The borrowability of English swearwords - ResearchGate
    Zenner, Ruette, and Devriendt (2017) investigated the borrowing of English swear words in Dutch in a corpus of Dutch-language tweets. After manually annotating ...Missing: compounding | Show results with:compounding
  20. [20]
    https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/pbns.282.06zen/html
  21. [21]
    The borrowability of English swearwords in Dutch: a variationist ...
    The findings reveal significant patterns in the use and integration of English swearing in the Dutch context, highlighting variances between Belgian Dutch ...
  22. [22]
    [PDF] The Perception of Profanity Amongst Dutch Adolescents in Different ...
    To exemplify, profanity is also associated with expressions such as 'cursing', 'swearing', 'obscene language', 'bad language', expletives, 'dirty' words and ...Missing: youth | Show results with:youth
  23. [23]
    (PDF) Borrowed Profanity versus Boundless Purism: Native Dutch ...
    ... influence the swearing behavior of a speaker. In 2007, van Sterkenburg concluded that secular Dutch speakers and Roman-Catholic Dutch speakers swear the ...
  24. [24]
    (PDF) Loan Translations versus Codeswitching - ResearchGate
    Sep 9, 2020 · because the borrowing is the entire Dutch lexical unit give blame to someone. That is, speakers do not borrow the abstract double object ...
  25. [25]
    None
    Summary of each segment:
  26. [26]
    (PDF) Het Surinaams-Nederlands in Nederland - ResearchGate
    ... Surinaamse. jongeren. in trends. vooroplopen. waardoor. veel Sranan woorden in. straattaal. ofjongerentaal voorkomen. (zie. later). Een. vergelijking tussen. de ...Missing: scheldwoorden | Show results with:scheldwoorden
  27. [27]
    Straattaal: verrijking of verarming van de taal? | NPO Radio 1
    Dec 30, 2020 · Mourigh: "Je ziet dat circa 80-90 procent van de woorden uit het Surinaams komen. Dit zijn woorden zoals mattie (vriend), fittie (ruzie) en ...
  28. [28]
    macamba, makamba - de betekenis volgens Woordenboek van ...
    Jun 7, 2023 · Af en toe vraagt iemand zich boos af wat die makamba (Papiaments scheldwoord voor Hollander) met die pastechi moet. (Trouw, 19/10/2019) • De ...
  29. [29]
    OORSPRONG EN BETEKENIS VAN HET WOORD MACAMBA - jstor
    Geen enkele Hollander vat het ook meer op als een scheldwoord. Alleen als een Curaçaoenaar woedend is op een Hollander, kan hij wel eens zeggen : Macamba ...
  30. [30]
    10 Papiaments scheldwoorden, die we liever niet horen
    Feb 2, 2021 · De benamingen van geslachtsdelen worden in vele talen gebruikt als scheldwoord, Papiaments is hierop geen uitzondering. Het kan zeker ...
  31. [31]
    Surilines: De Nederlandse taal moet gedekoloniseerd worden
    Oct 26, 2023 · Invloed Sranantongo​​ Uit onderzoeksliteratuur blijkt dat de meeste woorden in straattaal een Surinaamse (Sranantongo) herkomst hebben. ...Missing: scheldwoorden | Show results with:scheldwoorden
  32. [32]
    [PDF] Regional patterns in bad language on Twitter. Or, why do the Dutch ...
    Empirical approach: how to observe bad language? •. Research questions: why do the Dutch swear with diseases? •. Results: restricted use of disease-based ...
  33. [33]
    [PDF] A Phonetic Investigation of fuck in Dutch - The New Scholar
    language contact, phonetic variation, and the study of profanity (swear words). Language contact occurs when speakers of two or more languages or varieties ...
  34. [34]
    The Perception of Profanity Amongst Dutch Adolescents in Different ...
    ... rural areas perceive to use the most frequent, and severe profane words. Lastly, the different social environments in which Dutch adolescents perceive to ...
  35. [35]
    Dutch swear words: the guide to insults and cursing in the Netherlands
    You forgot the words betweter, downie and pokke. Dutch people use the word betweter when some one thinks he knows some thing better or when he corrects you ...
  36. [36]
    https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110582758-012/html
  37. [37]
    [PDF] Dutch curse words list - Drive Tripper
    Godverdomme is the Dutch word for Goddamn, its a strong curse word that is certainly not popular among Christians. Below you can watch a funny clip of a ...<|separator|>
  38. [38]
    24 - The Rise and Fall of the Offence of Blasphemy in the Netherlands
    In 1934, the Dutch Criminal Code was supplemented with Article 147 that criminalised the distribution of blasphemous expression. 24.3 The Offence of Blasphemy ...Missing: decline | Show results with:decline
  39. [39]
    Dutch Swear Words - Transparent Language Blog
    May 30, 2012 · 'Klootzak' has basically the same meaning as asshole, but literally translated it's scrotum. 'kut' is used the same way as 'shit' or 'fuck'. It ...<|separator|>
  40. [40]
    How To Curse (Swear) In Dutch: The Infective Invective
    In Dutch you can swear with diseases, along with the usual bodily functions and insults to heritage, like you see with French curses.
  41. [41]
    What are common Dutch Swear Words - DutchTrans.co.uk
    Dec 9, 2024 · Kankerlijer: This is one of the most common Dutch curses. · Kankerhoer: The word means “cancer-whore” and was used by the rapper Lil' Kleine when ...
  42. [42]
    Dutch swear words - Learn Dutch Online
    Let's just start with the two most common swear words: Both can be used as an expression of anger or pain. Godverdomme literally translates to the English ...
  43. [43]
    [PDF] A cross-linguistic exploration of negative animal expressions
    Jul 5, 2021 · Similarly, Dutch varken 'pig', is metaphorically used in the sense 'dirty person' (Kleparski 2002: 14; Matusz 2019: 154). Perlen vor die ...
  44. [44]
    an animal used as an insult - WordReference Forums
    Jul 1, 2006 · 'Varken' is just a general pig, you can use 'zwijn' (swine) as well, but it also means 'asshole', the insult for a male person. The adjectival ' ...
  45. [45]
    Hond | Redactie Symbolen in de Bijbel - Theologie.nl
    Het Nederlands kent een opmerkelijke hoeveelheid woorden met 'hond' die als scheldwoorden moeten gelden. Een paar voorbeelden: een hond van een kerel, stomme ...
  46. [46]
    Etymologie: reu - Neerlandistiek
    Feb 18, 2016 · Middelnederlands ruede (1285) 'hond, valse hond' (als scheldwoord), verder 'grote, sterke hond, bloedhond; mannetjeshond', overdrachtelijk ...
  47. [47]
    [Nummer 9], Onze Taal. Jaargang 77 - DBNL
    Ook elders is het heel gebruikelijk dat mensen met scheldwoorden als koe, hond, aap of zwijn buiten de groep van hogere wezens worden geplaatst. Soms kan er ...
  48. [48]
    Middelnederlandse scheldwoorden - Neerlandistiek
    Jul 30, 2012 · Aap; in de aanh. gebezigd als benaming voor de duivel. Doorgaans gebruikt men in dit verband, t.w. van echtelijke onenigheid, daarvoor de ...
  49. [49]
    https://www.dutchreview.com/culture/dutch-swear-words/
  50. [50]
    Hierarchy of Dutch swear words : r/Netherlands - Reddit
    Aug 19, 2023 · ... swearing going on to be in genitalia territory like in most countries. ... All religious swear words are hardly swear words (verdomme ...Missing: surveys | Show results with:surveys
  51. [51]
    Dutch Directness and Tips on How To Handle It - Expat Republic
    Dutch society values being straightforward, open, and honest. In a nation where all opinions count, not being direct is viewed as wasteful, even insulting.<|control11|><|separator|>
  52. [52]
    [PDF] Crime Among Young Moroccan Men in the Netherlands
    Abstract. High crime rates among second-generation immigrants are usually attributed to the ethnic group's weak socio-economic position in the host society.
  53. [53]
    (PDF) Ethnicity and Crime in the Netherlands - ResearchGate
    Apr 23, 2018 · This article reviews the research on whether immigrants in the Netherlands are more likely to engage in crime with a specific focus on whether Moroccans have a ...
  54. [54]
    Mob-style killings shock Netherlands into fighting descent into 'narco ...
    Jul 3, 2022 · Murders, corruption and 'Mocro Maffia' prompt Dutch to set up war chest to tackle wave of organised crime sweeping nation.
  55. [55]
    Dutch 'Mocro mafia' sets off alarm bells in Germany - DW
    an umbrella term adopted by the media in both the ...
  56. [56]
    Narcofiles: Poles at the center of the Dutch narco underworld
    Nov 22, 2023 · The Mocro Maffia is an organized crime group that has been terrorizing the Netherlands and Belgium for years. Formed in the 1990s, its name ...
  57. [57]
    [PDF] Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration
    Similarly, Moroccans and Turks came to the Netherlands as guest workers in the 1950s and 1960s. Many stayed and were later joined by family members after the ...
  58. [58]
    Mocro Mafia: The Cocaine Kingpins of Europe - Grey Dynamics
    The Mocro Mafia (a term coined by Dutch media) is a network of organized criminals. It mainly operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Predominantly ...
  59. [59]
    Dutch slurs and the descriptive-expressive distinction | Glossa
    Sep 5, 2023 · The Dutch data show that 'neutral' labels sometimes seem to behave like slurs to some degree and that some slurs can be used as swear words ...
  60. [60]
    Dutch slurs and the descriptive-expressive distinction - ResearchGate
    Nunberg posits that the semantic content of slurs is identical to that of neutral counterparts, and that derogation is a result of the association of slur use ...
  61. [61]
    Pinda etymology in Dutch - Cooljugator
    (botany) the annual herb Arachnis hypogea, which produces the above. (pejorative, ethnic slur) people from East Asia, most commonly Chinese and Indonesians. A ...
  62. [62]
    As a Dutch-Indonesian I get called pinda (peanut) a lot. My ... - Reddit
    Nov 27, 2022 · It probably started as a word the Dutch used to insult people from Indonesian descent. You hear it quite frequently in the Netherlands. Its more ...
  63. [63]
    Category:Dutch ethnic slurs - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
    Category:Dutch ethnic slurs · fransoos · franskiljon · pindapoepchinees · roetmop · poepchinees · smous · spleetoog · geitenneuker ...
  64. [64]
    Wat is de betekenis van Roetmop - Ensie
    roetmop. (1871) (scheldw.) kleurling, zwarte. Soms ook roetkop. De wielrenner John Schlebaum (1898-1966), een stayer ...
  65. [65]
    Racial Slurs and Whispers in Situated Testimonies of Dutch Imperial ...
    Feb 1, 2021 · Racial Slurs and Whispers in Situated Testimonies of Dutch Imperial Fiction Available ... Maria Dermoût, Dutch East Indies, race, affect, love.
  66. [66]
    Waarom noem(d)en we Duitsers 'moffen'? - Historiek
    Oct 10, 2023 · Het woord 'mof' kennen we als scheldwoord voor een Duitser en wordt door zowel Nederlanders als Vlamingen gebruikt.
  67. [67]
    Nederlands van Nu Jaargang 54 - juli 2006, Neerlandia ... - DBNL
    In 1574 kwam al mofmaff voor en in 1581 Hans Mof, duidelijk vertalingen van muffmaff, Hans Muff. Mof is een pejoratief woord. In het Duits is een Muff 'een ...<|separator|>
  68. [68]
    Waarom werden Duitsers 'moffen' genoemd? - IsGeschiedenis
    Waarom werden Duitsers precies aangeduid als 'moffen'? 'Mof' komt van het woord Muff, wat praktisch dezelfde betekenis heeft als het Nederlandse equivalent. In ...
  69. [69]
    Plebs en plebejer - Herkomst van de term - Historiek
    Sep 4, 2024 · In het Romeinse Rijk duidde 'plebs' het gewone volk aan, terwijl een 'plebejer' als individu uit deze groep een gewone, doorsnee burger was.
  70. [70]
    Proleet - 5 definities - Encyclo
    ' Synoniem: hufter Synoniemen: asociaal hork kink kinkel lomperd plebejer vleg vlegel ... Gevonden op https://www.woorden.org/woord/proleet · Proleet · Proleet ...
  71. [71]
    [PDF] Towards a lexical database of Dutch taboo language
    that are potentially offensive to some users in some contexts (e.g., in children's books). ... krentenkakker; *kuttelikkertje > kutlikkertje; *paardekop > ...
  72. [72]
    Cursing is on the rise in Holland - CNE.news
    Sep 4, 2023 · The older a person is, the less, he or she has to deal with swearing, the survey also shows. ... Young people also swear more often than older ...
  73. [73]
    Why do women swear? An exploration of reasons for and perceived ...
    Aug 7, 2025 · In the study by Rassin and Muris,72 Dutch female undergraduate students indicated in a self-report that they use on average 3.19 (SD = 7.3) ...
  74. [74]
    Dutch - Communication - Cultural Atlas
    Jan 1, 2017 · Verbal. Direct Communication: Dutch tend to have a direct communication style, speaking quite frankly in a straightforward manner.
  75. [75]
    Onderzoek: aan vloeken wordt minder zwaar getild - Dagblad010
    Aug 30, 2023 · Zes op de tien Nederlanders maken in de directe omgeving weleens mee dat er gescholden en gevloekt wordt. "Met name in het verkeer komen mensen ...
  76. [76]
    Is a large percentage of Dutch people bothered by cursing?
    Jan 8, 2016 · A curse mainly affects others. 70% of all Dutch are bothered by cursing. The poster with the above claim. En, opgelucht? 73% van ...
  77. [77]
    Zeven op tien Nederlanders storen zich aan vloeken - de Volkskrant
    Sep 5, 2007 · Zeven op de tien Nederlanders storen zich aan vloeken. Negen op de tien zeggen er wel eens iets van als een ander in hun tegenwoordigheid ...
  78. [78]
    OLD DUTCH PROFANITY. - languagehat.com
    OLD DUTCH PROFANITY. August 28, 2010 by languagehat 8 Comments. I can't really make use of it myself, since my Dutch is nonexistent, but I ...
  79. [79]
    (PDF) "Godverdomme, ik zie een haai!": A Diachronic Research on ...
    ... shit, damn, and fuck enter the Dutch language. For 25 to 50-year- olds, these words belong to the ordinary language and even people in their seventies are ...
  80. [80]
    [PDF] Irritating, shocking, and intolerable TV programs: Norms, values, and ...
    Abstract. This study investigates the negative reactions of Dutch viewers to the content of television programs. The results show that a vast majority is.Missing: prevalence | Show results with:prevalence
  81. [81]
    Why do women swear? An exploration of reasons for and perceived ...
    The purpose of the present study was to explore the use of swearwords in a Dutch female student sample. More specifically, in addition to some general ...Missing: profanity | Show results with:profanity
  82. [82]
    Reportage | We vloeken anders dan vroeger - Taalschrift
    Jun 1, 2008 · Het klopt toch dat vrouwen minder vloeken dan mannen? Piet van Sterkenburg: “Vrouwen vloeken net zoveel als mannen, zeker de jongste generatie.
  83. [83]
    Gendered Perceptions of Profanity Amongst Adolescents in the ...
    This item can be found in the following collections: Linguistics (MA) Gendered Perceptions of Profanity Amongst Adolescents in the Netherlands
  84. [84]
    [PDF] Progress against Cancer in the Netherlands since the late 1980s
    In the Netherlands, cancer incidence increased with 50% since the 1970s. Fortunately, mortality from cancer started to decrease from the 1980s (Figure 1.1).
  85. [85]
    Cancer - Our World in Data
    Although cancer rates rise with age, some cancers can develop much earlier. ... The chart below shows a historical view of reported cancer death rates since 1950 ...Lung cancer death rates · Death rate from cancer · Deaths from cancer by age
  86. [86]
    'Cancer' most hurtful word of abuse among Dutch youth | 24 oranges
    Apr 5, 2015 · A whopping 71% of those interviewed considered the word 'kanker' to be hurtful. Bond Tegen Vloeken is a Christian organisation that wants people ...
  87. [87]
    #TegenKK: Against the use of the word "cancer“ as an insult | jako.de
    The Dutch Cancer Society KWF, together with the e-sports label "Bundled", has launched the campaign #TegenKK - the meaning of the hashtag loosely translated is ...
  88. [88]
    Dutch Quirk #1: Swear with diseases (even cancer)
    Jun 5, 2025 · In Dutch, the most common swear word is kanker (cancer), which is used not as a noun but as an adjective.
  89. [89]
    No. 42: Swearing with diseases | Stuff Dutch People Like
    Jul 26, 2011 · This “swearing-by-disease” is in fact a unique Dutch trait. No other language has similar curses. It's odd and it's strange, and quite frankly ...
  90. [90]
    [PDF] Nederlanders and buitenlanders - Maastricht University
    Jan 1, 2020 · ethnic group labelled by the slur” (Chun 2004). In class 3/4b, the ... https://www.trouw.nl/samenleving/hoe-het-woord-mocro-. Page 210 ...
  91. [91]
    Summary - Integratie en Samenleven - Longreads - CBS
    Chapter 5: Crime​​ Of the different groups of origin, people of Dutch-Caribbean and Moroccan origin were relatively strongly overrepresented, especially men. ...
  92. [92]
    [PDF] What Is The Dutch Integration Model, And Has It Failed?
    Why did it serve as an example for Germany? And has this Dutch model of integration failed? What is the ”Dutch model”? Background, development, features.<|separator|>
  93. [93]
    The Dutch 'Moroccans' Debate – C L O S E R - Religionresearch.org
    Jan 26, 2013 · It shows furthermore how superficial the perceived peace on integration issues actually is. Not only horrible events lead to outbursts but ...
  94. [94]
    (PDF) "Moroccan youngsters": Category politics in the Netherlands
    Since the 1990s Dutch-Moroccan boys and young men are set apart as a problematic group that presents a social and security threat and an emblem of the failure ...Missing: zones | Show results with:zones
  95. [95]
    [PDF] Relevant legal provisions concerning discrimination in the Dutch ...
    discrimination in the Dutch Penal Code. 1. Any person who in public, either verbally or in writing or through images, intentionally makes an offensive ...
  96. [96]
    Group defamation and incitement in the Netherlands: The conviction ...
    Feb 6, 2017 · Articles 137c and 137d entered into force in 1971 and have been part of Dutch criminal law ever since. 3. The conviction of Geert Wilders. 3.1 ...
  97. [97]
    The Sordid Origin of Hate-Speech Laws - Justitia
    Sep 26, 2014 · In 2008, the eu adopted a framework decision on “Combating Racism and Xenophobia” that obliged all member states to criminalize certain forms of ...
  98. [98]
    Geert Wilders found guilty of inciting discrimination - The Guardian
    Dec 9, 2016 · Court declines to sentence Dutch far-right leader over comments that were 'demeaning towards Moroccan population'
  99. [99]
    Dutch court upholds populist Wilders' discrimination conviction
    Jul 6, 2021 · The Dutch Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld politician Geert Wilders' conviction for discrimination after he insulted Moroccans at a campaign ...
  100. [100]
    [PDF] Report Data - Netherlands - 2023 - OSCE Hate Crime
    Hate speech incidents, including insults, are not included in the figures above (5,694 incidents of insults were recorded in 2023). Where multiple biases are.Missing: profanity | Show results with:profanity
  101. [101]
    Frankly, We Do Give a Damn: The Relationship Between Profanity ...
    We found a consistent positive relationship between profanity and honesty; profanity was associated with less lying and deception at the individual level.Missing: hate | Show results with:hate
  102. [102]
    The prosecution of bias crime in the Netherlands and the problem of ...
    Feb 26, 2012 · Crimes that are committed with bias motives are categorised as 'hate' or bias crimes and are punished more severely than nonbias crimes.