Dunglish

Famous Dutch artist and writer Wim de Bie who originally wrote about Dunglish.nl when it first launched and also that English is sexier than Dutch will now sing some classic rock and roll for you, written with his partner in humour, Kees van Kooten.

Technically, this is NSFW, but only if you’re a prude who has no concept of context or dry humour (or fake ears).

The joke here is that there was a time when the Dutch were not as good with English as they are today, and many people had no clue what was being said. While the English lyrics are pretty straightforward and ‘Dunglishly’ on purpose, the Dutch subtitling tones the entire thing down to a puppy-clad greeting card. ‘I wanna fuck you’ roughly becomes (no pun intended and translated to match the music):

Oh, aren’t you pretty
Lying in the hay
Oh, aren’t you beautiful
I’ve no words to say

How much I like you, How much I like you…

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Dutch dropping by New York City produced this ‘Dutch tinted’, amusingly formulated warning sign.

I tread carefully because the English is written properly and understandable, but could have been formulated more ’cause and effect’ and much less passive.

Bench will tip if rolled. Bench tips when rolled. You get my drift.

“Governor’s island, the celebration seemed to include some really wonderful Dutch design, including these fantastic benches with wheels, apparently designed by Dutch designer Rogier Martens.”

(Photo: Kate)

The more I read this, the more I realise it’s not standard Dunglish. ‘P/T’ is a crafty abbreviation for ‘part-time’ (took me a minute), while ‘m/v’ (’man/vrouw’) is Dutch for ‘man/woman’. Yes, emancipation is not upon us yet, as it still needs to be pointed out in 2009 that jobs are for both men and women. Before someone dares brings this up, it’s simple: if you don’t specify anything, it’s always for both sexes. That’s what they do in emancipated countries.

The typical Dutch ‘asking a question’ tone is totally lost in this Dunglish jungle, and the ‘very well salary’ and ‘have you been interested?’ is funny.

The ‘we in search for you’ and ‘let you register’ has an ebonics ring to it, which is not a good thing.

I’m impressed they got ‘collective labour agreement right’ British spelling and all (priorities, eh), but otherwise this is terrible. Clean up on aisle 5!

(Photo: Linda)

This Belgian advert in Flemglish (Flemish + English) has been around for a while, but hey, I didn’t know about it and so it’s time to share.

I think this is a great use of Flemglish (Dunglish) — it can be done!

It even has Dutch subtitles. Yes, Flemish television is often subtitled in Dutch and vice versa whether we like it or not.

Who took my badjas = who took my bathrobe?