Dumbing down Dunglish style
Tonight a new television called “Fok jou” (Dutch slang for “Fuck you”) will be premiering on public television. Judging by the webpage, it’s aimed at young people and it’s trying to be cool.
There’s this theory in many countries that swearing in a foreign language is never as bad as in your own. I can’t believe they made a show called “Fuck you”. Granted, there isn’t really a Dutch expression that matches its power. Dutch subtitlers translate it as “Catch cholera” (Krijg de klere), which no one actually says anymore. The cast descriptions confirm that cool Dutch kids speak Dunglish. Good or bad, I think it sounds very poor and uneducated, but I guess I should see it first. What if I don’t want to?
March 29th, 2006 at 11:52 am
The Dutch have a habit of coming up with English program names, trying to give the program some sort of street credibility. At the moment there’s a show on tv called Move Your Ass (“Rot Op!”), and I remember from years ago there was a children’s tv show called Cut The Crap (“Lul Niet!”). Bless us.
March 29th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Street cred is a great description for this trend. I can’t see a future for such programs. I see short-term gain, but it’s like someone swearing at you all the time, it gets boring after a while. I also cannot see foreign countries buying it, which is usually the way to make money in the long-term. It’s short-term and short-sighted.
Here’s how it’s really done IMHO. Look at how many series where made and its popularity Degrassi series.
March 30th, 2006 at 4:19 pm
It doesn’t even make sense in Dutch!
March 30th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
I loved the Degrassi (junior) high series! And not just for the great Canadian accents 🙂
April 5th, 2006 at 11:33 am
Even being Dutch I find this offensive. Must be worse being English/American/etc
April 7th, 2006 at 10:21 am
Natashka, you have to check this out too: http://taalunieversum.org/nieuws/1299/
April 7th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
I think Fok jou has been used for decades in Afrikaans
September 7th, 2010 at 5:29 am
[…] pelo que pesquisei, me corrijam se estiver errado, esse xingamento em holandês pode ser “fok jou“, americanizado mesmo. 03 mar This entry was written by david, posted on 3 de março de […]