The Dutch use English swear words all the time now, including at work where an employee of food wholesaler Sligro called his team leader a ‘fucking whore’ (in Dutch, ‘fucking hoer’) and was fired on the spot for it.
The employee who had been working there for 10 years was all like fuck this shit and sued his employer. Usually, in the Netherlands if an employer wants to fire an employee they have to go to a judge to ask permission, except when it is down on the spot according to severe guidelines. The story goes that a group of employees had issues with the team leader and like the Dutch say, the tall tree catches the wind.
Not only does the employee get their job back if they want it, but they will also be paid for the time they could not work. Yes, it’s not nice to call your superior a ‘fucking whore’, but it’s not grounds for dismissal, just grounds for some finger wagging.
On a similar note, back in 2011, a Dutch court ruled that ACAB was not insulting to cops, an abbreviation meaning ‘All Cops Are Bastards’, which was tattooed on some guy’s body while another guy had it printed on a jacket.
(Link: www.welingelichtekringen.nl, Photo of Middle finger by Jone Samsa, some rights reserved)
A two-metre-tall wooden penis was found to be insulting by a judge in Breda last Wednesday. Artist Peter de Koning of Steenbergen in Noord Brabant had made the statue to protest the way a police officer had treated his daughter. The officer had allegedly groped the girl from his car under the pretext of searching for marijuana late last year.
Meet Hector, a robot developed by Dutch company Smart Homes (with the help of a lot of partners across Europe). His task is to help dementia sufferers around the home, and as a result help them be able to live at home longer.
Two weeks ago a man from De Meern near Utrecht was found dead in the crawlspace of his neighbour’s house.
