The Dutch Language and Dutch Swear Words:

Dutch is a West Germanic language that is natively spoken by 24 million people in Northwestern Europe. It is the official language of the Netherlands. It also enjoys official status in Belgium. It is also spoken by 5 million people as their second language. The English language, as well as German, is a close relative of Dutch. According to Dutch linguists, it colloquially falls between English and German. Dutch also has a daughter language that is known as Afrikaans and is one of the official languages in South Africa. Dutch and Afrikaans are mutually intelligible to a great degree. It was the Dutch settlements in Africa that brought the language to the continent. When Dutch mixed with African languages, Afrikaans was born.

Curse and Swear Words:

Humans created language so they can express themselves in a better way. Today, we have words to describe all of our feelings. We keep on making new words and slang terms to express our emotions and feelings. But whenever we are angry or amazed, we don’t need typical words. In such situations, we require something special to express the intensity of our feelings. If someone is angry or wants to insult another person, they will need a curse word. Whenever we are wronged by someone, we prefer using a curse word to express how bad they made us feel.

Typical Dutch Swear Words:

Every language has its own swears and curses. There are several English terms that have a simple meaning but have been turned into curses by the language’s speakers. There are also several English words that were created with the sole aim of insulting someone. If you only listen to pop singers, you may not have heard a lot of English curses, but rappers often add a lot of profanity in their songs. You can learn the strangest of curses if you listen to rappers frequently.

The Dutch people are known for their creativity when it comes to creating curses. Dutch profanity is something that people should fear. The Dutch do not use their curses for mild insult, instead, they go all out. Even simple Dutch swear words can be very insulting. There are many trends in Dutch profanity. Some of the Dutch words used for insults are often related to social taboos and diseases. 16th-century diseases, in particular, often make an appearance in Dutch profanity. Using names of diseases like Typhoid fever, tuberculosis, and smallpox as an insult is common among the speakers of the Dutch language.

Some Common Swear Words in Dutch!

These Dutch curses end up becoming a part of everyday vernacular. Sometimes, even Dutch kids use these words in their conversations. The people of the Netherlands use animal names for people when they are going for a mild insult.

Here are some of the most common swear words used by the Dutch people:

• Kankerlijer: This is one of the most common Dutch curses. It means “cancer sufferer”. There are several insults in the Dutch language that are based on the disease known as cancer. “Krijg De Kanker” is another common insult that means “get cancer”. Different types of cancer are used in curses to insult others. However, this is not a mild insult and outsiders definitely shouldn’t use it as a joke when they are in the Netherlands.
• Kankerhoer: The word means “cancer-whore” and was used by the rapper Lil’ Kleine when he had a beef with pop singer Anouk. The term is very harsh and is not used commonly in real life.
• Optyfussen/Typhus Off: It is related to a bacterial disease known as Typhus. It can be used for any undesirable person. It has also become a common part of the Dutch swearing. Although Typhus is not deadly if it is treated on time, you still cannot use this as a mild insult.
• Kak: Kak means “crap”. It is often used as an expression and less as an insult. It is very mild in nature, as compared to the other Dutch words. It is also a common word in Afrikaans and South African English.
•  Pokkenteef: This term has been adopted from the English word “poxy bitch”. Although the term went out of use in English, it is still pretty common in the Netherlands.
• Klereneind: This term means “cholera-end” and is often used as a very harsh insult. Although cholera is not a threat in actual life in the Netherlands, the Dutch love using it as a swear word in their everyday vernacular.
• Mierenneuker: This is another harsh insult in the Dutch vernacular that means “ant-fucker”. It is an anodyne expression and is often used for someone who fusses over details.

Other Dutch swear words are the ones that refer to body parts in a vulgar way. The Dutch have quite vulgar words for the genitalia. None of those words can be used as mild insults. If you plan to learn Dutch, you will have to familiarize yourself with quite vulgar words to understand the native speakers. But it is worth mentioning that only foulmouthed people in the Netherlands would use quite vulgar words. Others only turn to mild insults when they get angry at someone.

Why Are Dutch Curses so Unique?

Profanity exists in every language. Even if you don’t use curses in your daily language, you would be familiar with them. But why do the Dutch love adding the names of diseases in their curses? Why did they think that wishing Typhoid fever or cancer on someone is a good idea? According to linguists who have studied the Dutch culture and language, the frequency hypothesis has to be blamed for this trend. It could have been anything from plant names to food names, but the Dutch ended up telling people to get the enteric fever and drop dead.

Another theory about the use of diseases as insults points towards the puritanical strain of Protestantism that became popular in the region in the 16th century. Only those that were destined for heaven had worldly prosperity and health. As a result, diseases became something that was against religion.

Things have changed in recent years. Only the foulmouthed people tell others to get a deadly disease or drop dead. Others only use mild curses to describe bad weather or insult someone. Maybe in the future, the Dutch will move on to the plant names and give us new curse words.

The Future of Dutch Insults:

The corona virus pandemic has affected the whole world. For now, it is a very scary disease for all of us. But once a vaccine becomes common, it will be just like the common cold for us. It will be the Enteric fever for the future generations of the Netherlands. They will use the corona virus disease in their curses to insult those that they don’t like.

But a shift in focus can also occur and the speakers of Dutch can move to other fields too. For many people, using the names of diseases as an insult can be very offensive. Even those who decide to learn Dutch have a hard time adjusting to the harsh profanity. Many of them refer to the curses as “T-word” or “K-word” instead of using the full phrase. What the future of the language of the Netherlands will be cannot be predicted accurately. But we can be certain of the fact that the Dutch people and the Dutch Language will never stop being their unique selves.