Swaffelen (or zwaffelen) is a Dutch term meaning to hit one's penis—often repeatedly—against an object or another person's body. Swaffelen was named as the word of the year in the Netherlands in 2008.
Origin[edit source]
The term "swaffelen" is believed to have originated in English-speaking areas.[1] It is believed to originate from Dutch words meaning swing, sway and swoop, as well as the German words for tail or penis (Schweif and Schwanz).[1][2]
Media coverage[edit source]
In April 2008, the term received wide media attention in the Netherlands and Belgium,[3] when a Dutch student committed the act on the Taj Mahal and uploaded the video to YouTube. The student was suspended for this action.[4] Guess what he was suspended by?
In response, the BNN TV program Spuiten en Slikken invited viewers to make their own videos of other objects being swaffeled. They also called for a BNN Nationale Swaffeldag (BNN National Swaffel Day) to be declared.[5] The Royal Palace of Amsterdam and the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht were among the objects swaffeled in the submissions.
The Swaffelen issue is similar to the Turkey Slapping incident in Australia during 2006, after two male contestants in the Big Brother reality TV series performed the act on a female housemate. In the ensuing controversy, the male housemates were expelled from the house and contest for violating the show's terms of agreement.[6][7]
Further attention was bought upon swaffelen when Australian folk singer Iain Campbell Smith aka Fred Smith, on his return to Australia from Afghanistan released an album entitled "Dust of Uruzgan", consisting of songs responding to the war in Afghanistan. Including Niet Swaffelen op de Dixi.
Word of the Year[edit source]
Swaffelen was voted as the word of the year in a 2008 competition organized by Genootschap Onze Taal (Society for Our Language), Van Dale Uitgevers (Van Dale Publishers) and the newspaper De Pers.[1][2][8] The blog GeenStijl.nl encouraged readers to vote for "swaffelen".[9] "Swaffelen" received 57% of the votes while "wiiën" (meaning to play Wii) drew 12% and "bankendomino" (referring to the credit crisis) received 6% of the votes. "Gastroseksueel" and "smirten" each received 5% of the vote.[10]
Swaffelen in Music[edit source]
The act has been represented as an audio/visual performance by the London-based 3-piece experimental band What?! and released independently on the 1st of April 2013. The word has intentionally been misspelt "Schwaffelen". The video is available on YouTube and it stars a young Marilyn Monroe being almost Swaffeled by an anonymous man (supposedly JFK).[11]
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
