Protest against Euroshopper English
The Taalverdediging group, defending the Dutch language, plans to protest on Saturday 13 November at 1 pm the local Albert Heijn supermarket in Assen, Drenthe against the use of what they call “Euroshopper English’, which is the English used on generic brand products, often sold throughout the European Union.
“Prawn crackers, puff pastry biscuits, salt soft liquorice, milk chocolate sprinkles, almond flavoured rounds, rusk, Dutch spiced coockies and big battenbergs. Are we still in the Netherlands? No, we’re at Albert Heijn where the Dutch language no longer counts!”
(Link: Photo of an endive potato mash with meatless sausage by Jasja Dekker, some rights reserved)
Tags: Albert Heijn, supermarket
November 11th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
This seems to be just one small step in a process that has been going on for decades. On the long run, English will replace Dutch in many aspects of daily life in the Netherlands. However, what does this post have to do with Dunglish?
November 15th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Dutch audio of how that went: http://www.rtvdrenthe.nl/nieuws/53693/actie-tegen-taalverloedering-in-assen
November 19th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
prawn crackers is scary, i keep thinking about that District 9 sci-fi movie!
November 20th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
It’s ironic that cookies (which originates from the Dutch word koekjes) is misspelled above….
November 24th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
The Taalverdediging people might have the right general idea but their website suggests that they are aming their point by exaggerating (a) the scope of the problem and (b) the extent to which English is foreign/unknown to them and the general public in NL. Their idea of a confederation of nations linked by the Dutch language is stretching a point to say the least (Rwanda? Really?!) and while they focus on the evils of English, in the next breath they are being conciliatory towards Afrikaans, a language that – other than being descended from Dutch – has no real justification for being promoted in the Netherlands. How would that do anything but detract from their focus on the role of Dutch in the Netherlands?
December 2nd, 2010 at 9:51 am
I found ‘breakfast cake’ at AH. Any non-Dutch person knows what that is? Even as a Dutchie I have to carefully think what it is. Fortunately for me I could see the product this name was on, but I am absolutely sure that hardly any English (British/American etc) person knows what it is.