[ctenb]

I think this reflects a cultural phenomenon. Dutch people are very pragmatic when it comes to language. This is also seen in how easily loan words are introduced, especially from English these days, compared to say, French or German people.

[Sander_Marechal]

Also compare it to Belgium. The Flemmish people speak Dutch but they are much more "pure" about the language. Where the Dutch will simply use loan words from English or other languages, the Flemmish try to invent new Dutch words.

[wcoenen]

Flemish Dutch is actually full of loan words from French. E.g. a holiday is "congé", a truck is "camion", a trailer is "remorque", a jackhammer is "piqueur", a total loss is "perte totale", a grilled cheese sandwich is "croque-monsieur"...

[wkat4242]

On the other hand an electrician is an "electriker" in Flemish and "electricien" in Dutch :)

[OfSanguineFire]

At the same time, I have increasingly witnessed Dutch and Flemish young people using English when they talk to each other – this will usually be explained by the Dutch side as due to their lack of comfort with Flemish, but I think it is simply a result of how highly online young people are these days – highly online in English – and I suspect that bodes badly for the future of purist attitudes even among the Flemish.

[wkat4242]

I see that lack of comfort also with Flemish people. I have a Flemish neighbour (in her 50s) in Spain and while I'm Dutch I tried speaking it with her but she always switches to Spanish for some reason.

But when I go to Holland these days I hear people speaking a mixture of English and Dutch on the streets. Very American-influenced English though with an accent and some expressions used improperly (I lived in Ireland a long time so I'm more used to British)

It does appear that the language is dying or at least changing. I don't mind though. Languages are meant to be fluid. Trying to be a purist is to try and push back the sea.

[Sander_Marechal]

> Trying to be a purist is to try and push back the sea.

You mean, the thing where Dutch people are absolute world champions at? :-D

[avar]

The same goes for Afrikaans to some extent, i.e. many words in it are a more purist version of Dutch, whereas Dutch itself adopted some loan word: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Afrikaans_and_Du...

[rapnie]

I have a hunch (nothing more than that) that Dutch linguists (to keep their jobs relevant?) helped in making people care less about the language. By continuously changing grammar and spelling rules. The Dutch I learned in school is very different than what you have now, and I wouldn't be able to pass an exam without relearning the whole grammar.

We also have this (rather popular) grammar contest on TV, called "Het Groot Dictee der Nederlandse taal", that seemed designed to only appeal to linguistic purists. With ridiculous sentences that bring orgasms to language elites. Especially the 2013 version [0] by Kees van Kooten was called a "sadistical language experiment" by De Volkskrant newspaper.

Those frequent changes and the TV show made me decide I do not care a single bit about getting the grammar/spelling correct, and I'll just invent own constructs and adopt any slang, if they are fun.

[0] https://archief.ntr.nl/grootdictee/2014/05/27/dicteetekst-20...