It's not a jab at Java or C#. It's a comment on the fight between ideals and money. Our ideal language will probably not make us money. Thats why we "settle" for one that does. :)
They've got the reputation as being kind of boring, corporate languages, among some people. Neither one is usually in the list of things that people would get very excited about using.
I don't think Java or C# are boring at all! Java is incorporating some interesting new features and its ecosystem is absorbing/evolving some of the newer styles of thought from other languages. C# is maturing into an all platform language that is backed by amazing tooling.
What I posted doesn't represent my own opinion, it's my perception of what developers in general might think, based on what I've heard people say in the past.
I don't have a big problem with Java (it was the first language that I learned object-oriented programming in), and I like C#'s increasingly cross-platform focus. I like the things I've read about C++17 and the features planned for it, and I'd be interested in seeing Rust pick up some steam.
Other people get really excited about various functional languages, new+shiny Javascript frameworks, and Node.js. Anything that's new, related to web technologies, and solves a perceived problem.
I know the answer was not meant for me, but I'm very excited about Verilog. It allows me to build my own chips with FPGAs (not that I'm doing any at the moment). Plus that means I can build my own language around a custom chip architecture.
I've considered that. At the very least, it would be cool to have an OS-less piece of hardware with known performance characteristics that I could program as a custom coprocessor. I feel like I've got so many projects on my hands that I don't have time to learn hardware design on top of the software stuff I'm already working on, though.