03.30.07

Chagrijnig, Sacherijnig, Sjagrijnig

Posted in What a word at 3:43 am by admin

My CV tells me I am fluent in Dutch and English. Sure — why then, do I find myself so often sitting behind the computer in a frozen position searching my brain cells for words or the spelling of words in either one of those languages?

These situations are not too bad though, because I just open another window, google and wikipedia around a bit, and find the spelling or the word I was looking for, and the frustration disappears as if it was never there. It is worse though when it is in a social situation and I get stuck, or the worst (and funniest at the same time) when I use the wrong word and the meaning shocks my friends! Anyway, today, when I found the spelling of the word, I was pleasantly surprised and found myself thinking: “what a word”.

“What a word” — I should write a post about it! So here is the word:

Chagrijnig
It means ‘grumpy’. I like the word grumpy, it feels like the right word for the feeling that is describes. The word ‘chagrijnig’ though seems weird. I am sure it looks strange for the english speaking, but I wonder if the Dutch speaking, who don’t speak english everyday, also think this is a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary word? It is certainly a tricky one for the Dutch, because I found lots of debate about the spelling of it online. I then discovered there are two correct spellings of this word! The other one is:

Sacherijnig

Why?? Why do we need to have two correct spellings?? Is that just so that the chance you get it right is higher? Or because people got it wrong so often it just got generally accepted?

There is another version, which I suspect is not officially correct, but I am not sure about that:

Sjagrijnig

Dutch is difficult I have decided. It is not for nothing there are websites dedicated to tackle problem words in Dutch language (aimed for native Dutch speakers that is). Here is an example:

Probleemwoorden

Now, all you english speakers must wonder how to pronounce it? Well, spelling is one thing… pronounciation is a totally different story. I think this word will give you an interesting pronounciation challenge! Give me a call :)

03.27.07

Lotte’s Avatar

Posted in What a word at 4:35 pm by admin

Avatar — I like this word. It has many meanings and the following one is why I got to add this word to my vocabulary:

Avatar (icon), the graphical representation of an Internet user.

I only learned this word a few years ago when I made my first avatar. There was just a website that allowed you to create avatars by selecting all sorts of facial details, hair styles and colours and backgrounds. It was fun and easy to create and I still like the end result — it is me :)

I especially like the windmill in the background. Very appropriate for this Dutchie! My hair is not so red at the moment, but I think it will be soon. I have got this cheap ‘intense red’ hair colour product that I might use soon. My hair is too long, but I refuse to have a haircut in England. So, while I am waiting, why not fresh it up a bit? I will look more like my avatar!

Strange world — Lotte who is going to look more like her avatar instead of the avatar looking more like her!