Several years ago, I was browsing through a German magazine trying to find one German word that took up a full column. I never found it, but several were close. The Germans have a tendency to develop long, compound words.

Well, apparently so do the Dutch and I just found a Dutch word that may meet the mark — Anderhalvemetersamenleving. Ironically, the long, compound word was developed because of the COVID-1984 lockdowns.

Breitbart explains:

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – One-and-a-half-meter-society has been voted the Dutch word of the year by a (social) distance.

Anderhalvemetersamenleving, a compound noun describing life under the Dutch government’s 1.5-meter (5-foot) social distancing requirement, was the runaway winner of a vote held by the Van Dale dictionary company.

The lengthy new word, which was added to the dictionary in April during the first spike in Dutch coronavirus infections, garnered just under 30% of some 12,000 votes in the annual competition.

READ: ‘Anderhalvemetersamenleving’, or Social Distancing, Dutch Word of the Year