Just complaining: unnecessary use of the English language
So there is something that really makes my hair stand on end. Like nails on a chalkboard. The worst part is: I sometimes find myself guilty of it too, and then I get really annoyed with myself, so this is also somewhat of a lament for myself. I want to talk about OET, or: Unnecessary English Language Use.
Unnecessary English Language Use is described on the internet as ‘the use of English words in a Dutch sentence, while the sentence could easily have been completely in Dutch'’. And I guess everyone has to deal with this in daily life.
Because this OET has now also reached the supermarkets, especially Albert Heijn. For example, the cheaper house brand of Albert Heijn is called ‘Basic’ and the turkey salad for on bread has been renamed ‘pulled turkey salad’. Yes, this gives me an error. Because I understand leaving ‘pulled’ as an English word. I don't get ‘turkey’, but then to have 'salad' as the only word in Dutch again? Error.
In the business world, it is also used frequently. Now I (thankfully, not for me) do not work for some multinational, but people around me do. For example, in my free time, I contribute to the board of my tennis club, where I often hear that we need to ‘align’ certain communication with someone. Are we talking about budgets? Then we might need to see if this is not a ‘sunk cost’. Are we going to give commissions money? Then that probably has to be done via ‘drip feeding’. No. No. NO. Nails. Chalkboard. Aggression.
But perhaps even worse are the job titles that are suddenly completely in English. I honestly saw someone on LinkedIn who was a ‘director of first impressions’. In other words: this person was a receptionist. Additionally, I have been wondering for a long time what a Chief Happiness Officer actually does.
That Unnecessary English Language Use is a thing is proven by the Instagram account @onnodigengelstaalgebruik_. Hilarious and so cringeworthy, but still enjoyable. And very annoying at the same time. I have listed the funniest ones for you.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CY6M24ToRzh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYySFRDoqMX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYwsepRoPHO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYqfi2RIYGZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYxCsj8oHEM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYuAWaQo0xk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
