Let’s set the scene: you’re watching a Pewdiepie meme reaction video on YouTube and he briefly mentions the Netherlands. You scroll down and the comments are a sea of ‘G E K O L O N I S E E R D’. 💬
Wat leuk, it looks like you’ve run face-first into a strange Dutch quirk in the wild (or, rather, on the internet).
What is it?
This quirk relates to a hilarious habit of some millennial/Gen Z Dutch people: rushing to the comments section of a YouTube/TikTok/Instagram video that mentions the Netherlands and spamming the word ‘gekoloniseerd’ (colonised).
Why do they do it?
According to a Reddit thread, the joke originated from a YouTube video by a user named Studio Massa.
The video, titled ‘de VOC (voor idioten)’ — or ‘the VOC (for idiots)’ in English — is a short cartoon retelling of a Dutchman landing on an island and attempting to wrangle spices from the natives.
Another Redditor in the same thread suggested that the ‘gekoloniseerd’ joke could’ve come from a rather unsurprising source: Thierry Baudet. A few years ago, a clip of the far-right Dutch politician went viral, and the internet found it hilarious.
READ MORE | What was the VOC? The Dutch East India Company explained
In the video, Baudet gestures to his bookshelf and goes “Dit is eigenlijk niet van mij, maar ik heb dit gekoloniseerd” (This is actually not mine, but I’ve colonised it).
Wherever the meme came from, it’s now firmly embedded in the cultural psyche of young, online Dutchies, who use every opportunity to wield it.
Why is it quirky?
Very few other nations have such a popular joke word or phrase that all but SCREAMS ‘Hi, my country was mentioned in your video/post, so now I’m spamming your comments section’.
In the words of a Redditor on the original thread, it’s a great way of figuring out if any Dutch people are online.
So, if you see a ‘gekoloniseerd’ (colonised), ‘zeg makker’ (say, mate), or ‘kokosnoten zijn geen specerijen’ (coconuts aren’t spices) wafting about in the comments section of a video, well… chances are it mentions the Netherlands in some way.
Should you join in?
That depends.
Most millennial/Gen Z Dutch people (and internationals) view it purely as a meme, or as a way of indicating that they’re part of a group online.
However, given the Netherlands’ history of colonising bits of land here, there, and everywhere, some Dutch people and internationals find its use distasteful.
As an international from a former Dutch colony, I think it’s a relatively harmless joke. Whether you’d like to adopt this Dutch quirk or shun it is solely up to you, as there’s no one-size-fits-all approach!
What do you think of this Dutch quirk? Have you experienced it? Tell us in the comments below!