Swaffelen (orzwaffelen, similar to "dick-slap"[1]) is to hit one's soft or semi-erectpenis — often repeatedly — against an object or another person's body.Swaffelen isDutch and was named as the word of the year in theNetherlands andBelgium in 2008.
The act ofswaffelen often takes place in the form of teasing, crude humor, or a degrading context, but it can also be asexual act. 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. Similar terms exist in other languages.
The term "swaffelen" is believed to have originated in English-speaking areas.[2] It is believed to originate from Dutch words meaning swing, sway and swoop, as well as theGerman words for tail or penis (Schweif andSchwanz).[2][3]
Turkey-slap is another term forswaffelen.[citation needed] The phrase gained notoriety inAustralia during 2006, after two male contestants, Ashley Cox and John Bric, in theBig Brotherreality TV series performed the act on a female housemate, Camilla Severi. In the ensuing controversy, the male housemates were expelled from the house and contest for violating the show's terms of agreement.[4][5][6]
In April 2008, the term received wide media attention in the Netherlands andBelgium,[7][8] when a Dutch student committed the act on theTaj Mahal and uploaded the video toYouTube. The student was suspended for this action.[9][10]
In response, theBNN TV programSpuiten en Slikken invited viewers to make their own videos of other objects being swaffeled. They also called for aBNN Nationale Swaffeldag (BNN National Swaffel Day) to be declared.[11] TheRoyal Palace of Amsterdam and theBasilica of Saint Servatius inMaastricht were among the objects swaffeled in the submissions.
In 2015 a firefighter inEnkhuizen was fired for swaffeling a colleague.[12]
When the topic of swearing in various languages arose, in episode 4, series N, of the British panel showQI, one of the show's panelists,Jeremy Clarkson, mentioned the word,[13] defining it as "...to bang your penis against theTaj Mahal."
Swaffelen was voted as the word of the year in a 2008 competition organized byGenootschap Onze Taal ("Society for Our Language"),Van Dale Uitgevers [nl] (Van Dale Publishers) and the newspaperDe Pers.[2][3][14] The blogGeenStijl encouraged readers to vote forswaffelen.[15]Swaffelen received 57% of the votes whilewiiën ("playWii") drew 12% andbankendomino (referring to credit crisis) received 6% of the votes.Gastroseksueel andsmirten each received 5% of the vote.[16]
InSwedish, a similar act isollning, which roughly translates to "glans-ing" (att olla, "to glans"; from nounollon, "glans", and verb-building suffix-a), which is the act of touching or rubbing the penis tip against something, typically exotic places or places which others will touch.[17]
The act is said to be facetious but can be perceived as gross and sexual, and it can be prosecuted as molestation as a punishable offense.[18][19]