The use of English words in Dutch still concerns many people. Why are there so many of them, can't we better use Dutch alternatives, isn't this bad for our language? In itself understandable questions, of course, many of those words really stand out. On the other hand: you hear far fewer questions like that about words like garage, sowieso and cappuccino, even though they are also loan words! So we think a more interesting question is what are the new additions to our everyday vocabulary?
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A large part of our new loan words are English words. This is not surprising, since English is now the main world language for our region. In terms of politics, media and culture, our society is very much aligned with that of the United Kingdom and the United States, where many innovations and new phenomena have come from in recent years. Also, within the EU, English is the main language of communication between people from different member states. If we look at the commonly used English words in Dutch, this is evident. These are mainly words that deal with trends, news developments and new products.
However, it is very difficult to determine which English words we use in Dutch are the most popular. This is actually almost impossible, because language is of course everywhere: on the street, in the newspapers, behind the front door, on the Internet ... Far too much to keep statistics on, even ignoring the privacy issue for a moment. Fortunately, we can rely on one of the greatest authorities on Dutch words: the Dikke van Dale (Dictionary).
No fewer than 979 English words have been added to the Dictionary this year. Some are not very surprising, considering the past few years, such as "covid" and "influencer. Both are phenomena that have come into our lives very quickly and are very much talked about internationally. Slightly less known then are, for example, 'fintech', the English contraction for financial technology and the name of a rapidly developing digital branch of the financial sector, and 'bodyshaming', criticizing people for certain body characteristics, often weight or physique. Finally, we would like to highlight here the addition "air fryer". Although this is an English word, it was actually introduced into Dutch by the very Dutch Philips, who started a worldwide trend with their mini-ovens!
If, despite all these additions, you are still short of English words and need a real translation, we are always there for you. Whether it's an English text into Dutch, vice versa or even completely different language combinations, we have a team of professional translators ready to meet your needs. Our translators will relieve you of all questions about what should or should not be translated, so that you can focus on what is really important to you. So contact us to find out how we can help you or request an quote and we will get straight to work for you!
