Participatiesamenleving is new word of the year

Participatiesamenleving – participation society – has been voted word of the year by members of the Dutch language expert’s association Genootschap Onze Taal.

Participatiesamenleving was first used by king Willem-Alexander in his first speech from the throne in September.

In the address to the nation, the new king spoke of how the Netherlands is moving from being a classic welfare state to a participation society in which people take control of their own lives.

The word was voted best addition to the Dutch language by 25% of the almost 1,000 votes. Pietitie – a play on Piet and petition, referring to a Facebook page supporting Zwarte Piet – was joint second with 18%. Socialbesitas – addiction to social media – also took 18% of the vote.

Last year’s Onze Taal winner was plofkip – literally ‘exploding chicken’ and used to describe intensive factory-reared birds.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation