As always, Flanders' Word of the Year, organised by dictionary publisher Van Dale in collaboration with VRT, mirrors a topical issue that has greatly affected Belgians in 2023: 'greedflation'.
Graaiflatie, the Dutch word for 'greedflation', has been voted Word of the Year 2023, Van Dale announced on Tuesday.
The publisher defined the word as inflation which is "fuelled by companies that pass on the full or excessive cost increase of raw materials, means of production and labour to consumers to maintain or increase their profits." Van Dale added that it was influenced by the English neologism 'greedflation'.
The word repeatedly made headlines in Belgium this year as food inflation reached record levels. When material prices started falling, and this was not reflected in the cost of groceries, consumer rights organisation Test Achats urged the Belgian Competition Authority to launch an investigation into the phenomenon.
However, the Federal Planning Bureau said it saw few signs of 'greedflation'. The National Bank of Belgium also reported that it had not significantly contributed to Belgium's soaring inflation rate, denying that it was a widespread phenomenon.
Silver and bronze
From 5 to 18 December, almost 15,000 votes on the Word of the Year were cast. The word graaiflatie received 36.7% of the votes, and was also voted word of the year in the Netherlands this year. Silver and bronze went to 'nepobaby' and 'pyjama tourist', with 11.9% and 9.8% respectively.
Graaiflatie succeeds klimaatklever, which was awarded the title last year – an amalgamation of klimaat (climate) and klever (sticker), referring to activists who hang, attach or stick themselves to objects to draw attention to the climate crisis.
This followed a wave of stunts in which activists glued their hands to or threw liquids at famous works of art such as Johannes Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers', and Andy Warhol's 'Soup Cans'.
In second place was an English word, 'nepobaby', referring to someone whose job, especially in the entertainment or creative industries, is claimed to be due to their famous parent(s) who also worked in the industry. The word is shortened from nepotism baby.
This was followed by 'pyjama tourist', which is the word used for a tourist who stays in the same place for some time.
