Van Dale word of the year election dominated by Covid-terms

Voting for the Van Dale word of the year 2021 opened on Tuesday. Like last year, the 2021 nominations are dominated by coronavirus-related terms.

Nine of the 15 nominated words have to do with the coronavirus pandemic. The Covid-related terms up for election this year are:

• Boosterprik - the Covid-19 vaccination booster shot
• Deltavariant - the Delta variant of the coronavirus
• Doorbraakinfectie - a coronavirus infection diagnosed in someone who was fully vaccinated
• Grotsyndroom - directly translates in English to "cave syndrome.” Anxiety experienced by someone restarting their social life after a long time in isolation.
• Pandemocratie - democracy influenced and changed by a pandemic
• Prikpolarisatie - polarization between vaccinated and unvaccinated people
• Prikspijt - regret about getting vaccinated
• QR-samenleving - society in which people can only access certain locations by showing their coronavirus access pass
• Vaccinatievoordringer - someone who skipped the line, and went to get vaccinated before it was their turn

Words unrelated to the pandemic include "finfluencer," which refers to someone giving financial advice online. It's a portmanteau of "financial" and "influencer". Another is "gevoeligheidslezer," a proofreader or editor that checks a text for potentially offensive content. It translates directly to "sensitivity reader" in English.

Voting is open until 5:00 p.m. on December 20. The winner will be announced the next day.