Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Slang word elected Dutch Word of the Year. In their annual end-of-year craze for lists and nominations, the Dutch have elected the verb "swaffelen" as the word of the year. It netted 57 percent of the 16,000 votes on the website hosted by Van Dale Publishers, renowned for its authoritative dictionaries. The word, a loan from English, is not generally known and many wonder what it means. Stop reading here if you're allergic to nudity. "Swaffelen" is something only men can do. Apparently, it means 'to swing one's penis, making it bump against something, in order to stimulate either oneself or someone else.'