I wasn’t allowed to use the word Nimweegs , and in turn, I’ve (tried to) wean my children off it as well. But these days, just for fun, I chat with my little boy in Nimweegs! That’s why I asked my little boy if he’d come along to the festive launch of the Nijmegen dictionary!
The Baos
For many years, the Nimweegs Soap Theater put on fantastic end-of-year shows.These performances featured wonderful sketches and songs about current events in our city. The scripts were almost all conceived and written by the man known as the baos of the theater—Leo van Stijn. Unfortunately, the tradition has come to an end, but the baos continued to write: columns in local weekly newspapers and, together with two other authors, he wrote a new edition of the Nijmegen dictionary: the *Nieuwe Nimweegs Woordenboek*!
From the Baos himself I received an invitation to attend the festive presentation of the new dictionary. The first copy was to be presented to our mayor. I felt honored to be there, and my little one was happy to come along.
It was already pretty crowded when we walked into the small room at the local bookstore. To get a good view of everything, I always like to sit on the right side of the room, but those seats were already taken. My little boy pointed to two empty seats in the back left corner of the room and said: “Look, Mom, next to that guy—we can sit there so you can see well.”. Once we were seated there, my son whispered to me, “Be careful, Mom—don’t hit the guy sitting to your right, okay?” I hissed back, laughing and pretending to be angry,“I’ve told you a million times—I’m only watching with one eye, but I’m not blind, you know!”
The Presentation
We enjoyed the remarks by the organizers, the authors, and our mayor. Afterward, we had a wonderful time listening, along with the other attendees, to the Nimwegen-themed texts and songs recited by former members of the Soap Theater. Then we raised a toast to the beautiful new book.
We bought the book and had the baos sign it. As he handed the book back to me and looked at my little boy, he said: “It’s good that you brought your kids along; the Nimweegs language must be passed on to the next generation to prevent it from dying out.” I saw a huge grin on the face of my little guy. I braced myself, because I sensed another joke at my expense coming my way, and it came :“Oh, it’s the other way around—I ’ve been speaking Nimweegs with our mom to make sure she doesn’t forget it now that she’s getting older.” The roaring laughter of the baos made me realize that my little guy quickly.
Anita Hol-Bubeck
Translation
But right now, I’m hanging out with my son in Nimwegen—just for fun!
But these days, my son and I speak in the Nijmegen dialect just for fun.
End-of-Year Performances:
end-of-year performances
Baos: boss
on their own: self
Check it out, Mom—next to that pillar, we can sit there; you can see it really well:
Look, Mom, next to that pillar, we can sit there; you can see it really well
Are you making sure you don’t hit the people right next to you?:
Are you making sure you don’t hit the people right next to you?
I’ve said it a bunch of times already—I only see out of one eye, but I’m not blind, you know!: I’ve said it before—I only see out of one eye, but I’m not blind!
It’s great that you brought your son along; the Nijmegen dialect needs to be passed on to the next generation to prevent the language from dying out: It’s good that you brought your son along; the Nijmegen dialect must be passed on to the next generation to prevent the language from dying out.
Baos It’s the other way around—I’m speaking in the present tense I often speak the Nijmegen dialect with my mom to prevent her from forgetting it as she gets older: Baos, it’s the other way around—these days I often speak Nijmegen dialect with my mom to prevent her from forgetting it as she gets older
