Dutch broadcaster analyses swearing patterns on Twitter

An analysis of the way 13 different Dutch swear words were used on Twitter during the month of September has revealed sharp regional variations and a nationwide fondness for the k word.

Broadcaster Nos found swear words in 46,688 tweets, of which kut was the most popular and used over 19,000 times.

‘The use of language on Twitter is pretty much in line with the way we speak in everyday life so it is not surprising there is so much swearing,’ Lydeke Roos, of language lobby group Onze Taal said.

The popularity of kut is not surprising either because international research shows the Dutch like to use genitalia as swear words, she said. ‘In addition, as a word it can be used in many different ways and added to others, as in kutweer,’ Roos pointed out.

The researchers were able to track the geographic locations of some 200,000 tweets and found that Tilburg and Eindhoven topped the swearing list and the Bible belt town of Middelburg was bottom.

Kut topped the list in most of the 20 cities in the survey, but in Middleburg lul and flicker were most popular. In The Hague, tering (tuberculosis) was second on the list while in Groningen and Zwolle, tyfus (typhoid) also made an appearance.

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