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A wild Butterfree appears, Pokemon Go - Credit: A wild Butterfree appears, Pokemon Go (Photo: @xChibiiGo/Twitter)
Van Dale
Word of the Year
Word of the Year 2016
Pokemon Go
Donald Trump
Brexit
Thursday, 1 December 2016 - 08:12

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Trump, Brexit, Pokemon fads behind Dutch Word of the Year 2016 contest

Van Dale announced the top ten contenders for Word of the Year 2016, new words that emerged during the course of the year. This year's new words indicate that United States president-elect, the Brexit and Pokemon were on Dutch people's minds.

The Public can vote for their favorite word of the year on Van Dale's website up until December 19th. The winner will be announced the following day. Last year's word of the year was "sjoemelsoftware", referring to Volkswagen tampering with their cars' software to show lower emissions than reality. In 2014 it was "Dagobertducktaks", which translates to Scrooge McDuck tax, referring to tax for the super rich.

Van Dale's 10 nominations for Word of the Year 2016, with definitions by NOS:

  1. Brexodus - masse departure of companies and people from the United Kingdom after they decided to leave the European Union
  2. Landarrest - ordered not to leave the country as a penalty
  3. Mediawegeraar - or "media denier" in English. This refers to someone who does not trust traditional media and prefers to get his news somewhere else, such as on blogs and social media.
  4. Plascontract - or "pee contract" in English. This refers to agreements a nursing home had its residents sign over set times the resident can visit the bathroom.
  5. Pokemonterreur - or "Pokemon terror" in English. Refers to nuisance caused by people playing smartphone game Pokemon Go.
  6. Seniorenpardon - or "Seniors Pardon" in English. It is an exemption from the obligation to seek work for unemployed seniors.
  7. Sjoemelzaad - translates to "tampered seed" in English. This refers to a sperm donor whose origin or composition is not entirely clear.
  8. Thuisterrorist - or "home terrorist" in English. This refers to a terrorist who commits an attack where they live or who kill victims at home, in front of their family.
  9. Treitervlogger - or "harassing vlogger" in English. This is someone who films himself or his friends harassing other people and post the videos online.
  10. Trumpisme - refers to the political beliefs of Donald Trump, the current president-elect for the United States of America.

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