Swaffelen (or zwaffelen or dick-slap) is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

term meaning to hit one's soft or semi-hard

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males do n ...

- often repeatedly - against an object or another person's body. Swaffelen was named as the word of the year in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 2008. The act of swaffelen often takes place in the form of teasing, crude humor, or a degrading context, but can also be a

sexual act Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

. When the act is practiced on a person, it is often the person's cheek that is hit with the flaccid or semi-hard penis.

Origin

The term "swaffelen" is believed to have originated in English-speaking areas. It is believed to originate from Dutch words meaning swing, sway and swoop, as well as the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

words for tail or penis (Schweif and Schwanz).

Media-coverage

In April 2008, the term received wide media-attention in the Netherlands and

, when a Dutch student committed the act on the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

and uploaded the video to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The student was suspended for this action. In response, the BNN TV program ''

Spuiten en Slikken ''Spuiten en Slikken'' () (translated in English as ''Shoot and Swallow'', referring to the different methods of taking drugs, as well as referring to the male orgasm and the act of swallowing semen during sex) was a 2005-2018 Dutch television pr ...

'' 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. The

Royal Palace of Amsterdam The Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Paleis van Amsterdam'' or ) is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square i ...

and the

Basilica of Saint Servatius The Basilica of Saint Servatius is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Servatius, in the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands. The architecturally hybrid but mainly Romanesque church is situated next to the Gothic church of Saint John, bac ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

were among the objects swaffeled in the submissions. In 2015 a firefighter in

Enkhuizen Enkhuizen () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. History Enkhuizen, like Hoorn and Amsterdam, was one of the harbor-towns of the VOC, from where overseas trade wi ...

was fired for swaffeling a colleague. When the topic of swearing in various languages arose, in episode 4, series N, of the British panel show '' QI'', one of the show's panelists,

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...

, mentioned the word, defining it as meaning, ''specifically'', "...to bang your penis against the

." On episode 5 of the

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pri ...

show ''

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 Novembe ...

'', Jeremy Clarkson again defined it as "to bang your gentleman sausage... on the side of the Taj Mahal".

Word of the year

Swaffelen was voted as the word of the year in a 2008 competition organized by

Genootschap Onze Taal ''Genootschap Onze Taal'' ('Society Our Language') is a Dutch society dedicated to the Dutch language. It was founded in 1931, initially to guard the language against what was then seen as creeping invasion of Germanism (linguistics), Germanisms in ...

(Society for our Language), (Van Dale Publishers) and the newspaper

De Pers ''De Pers'' (literal translation: ''The Press'') was a freely distributed Dutch language tabloid newspaper in the Netherlands, with a circulation of around 200,000. Its competitors were ''Metro'' and ''Sp!ts ''Spits'' (; en, Peak/Rush Hour; s ...

. The blog

GeenStijl.nl GeenStijl is a Dutch blog founded on 10 April 2003. The logo is a pink coloured Crown (headgear), crown within a circle. In the Dutch language, the term "geen stijl" (literal translation: no style) is used to describe an act by a person or orga ...

encouraged readers to vote for "swaffelen". "Swaffelen" received 57% of the votes while "wiiën" (meaning to play

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

) drew 12% and "bankendomino" (referring to the credit crisis) received 6% of the votes. "Gastroseksueel" and "smirten" each received 5% of the vote.

Turkey-slap

Turkey-slap is another term for swaffelen. The phrase gained notoriety in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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.

References

{{Sexual slang Dutch words and phrases Sexual acts Sexual slang Human penis Sexuality in the Netherlands

Origin

Media-coverage

Word of the year

Turkey-slap

See also

References