Photo Sigmund/Unsplash Text Carina Nieuwenweg, Luuk Zegers, Coretta Jongeling
As a student in Wageningen, you will end up speaking jargon: a combination of typical Wageningen concepts and classic student slang. Get the hang of this ABC and you will be off to a good start.
A
Ad fundum: Latin for ‘bottoms up’. Various bastardized versions also get used in Dutch. Means downing a beer or other alcoholic beverage in one go.
Agrotech: Typical Wageningen term. Technology focused on agriculture.
Asserpark: One of the four high-rise blocks of student flats in Wageningen.
B
Bike jam: Traffic jam involving bikes, a problem in Wageningen. Your greatest chance of seeing one is at 8:30 at the Bornsesteeg crossing.
Billie: Reusable coffee cup with a deposit. Can be used on campus and in cafés in the town centre.
Black giraffe: Electricity mast in the Rhine floodplains, with various beaches nearby.
Bongerd: Sports centre for WUR students and staff. With a large gym, playing fields and various sports courses.
Bornsesteeg: One of the four high-rise blocks of student flats in Wageningen. This block is closest to campus.
Bractical: Doing a practical when you can still feel the effects of the previous evening’s boozing.
Bunker: also Hunkerbunker: flat pub in Dijkgraaf.
C
Chunder: Vomiting after a drop too much.
Cie: Short for ‘committee’ in Dutch. The student societies have committees for specific themes. PromoCie, VITcie, LustrumCie, you get the message.
Cobo: Drinks do to celebrate a new society board.
CSF: Christian Student Fraction. One of the three parties in the Student Council.
Cum laude: Distinction. At WUR, cum laude means you averaged an 8 for your modules and got at least an 8 for your Bachelor’s thesis or at least a 9 for your Master’s thesis.
D
Dies: Anniversary date for the university or student societies.
Dijkgraaf: One of the four high-rise blocks of student flats in Wageningen.
Droeftoeter: Student having lived in Droevendaal (see below) for too long.
Droevendaal/Droef: Student complex near the campus. Droef is a close community with its own culture. The students who live there are called droefies.
Duif: Student complex Duivendaal, in what used to be the university’s administrative building.
E
ECTS: European Credit Transfer System. System that uses credits to allow comparison of courses and modules in different countries. In theory, 1 ECTS point is the equivalent of 28 hours of study.
Erasmus: Exchange programme and fund for students who want to go abroad for courses or an internship.
F
First aider: First aid official. You always need someone with first aid qualifications if you organize events at uni outside working hours or in the weekend. So students with a first aid certificate are very popular.
Flunkibal: Beer game in which you have to toss a bottle upright with your shoe to be allowed to drink it.
FOS: Dutch funding scheme for students. Students get financial compensation if they take time out to do committee work, take part in elite sport, have a baby, deal with certain family circumstances or because of illness.
Fruit mafia: Market stall where you can buy really cheap fruit and veg, especially towards closing time. Make sure you eat it quickly, though, as it’s usually pretty ripe…
G.H.I.J.K
Ground pizza: The result of chundering.
Hoevestein: One of the four high-rise blocks of student flats in Wageningen.
Holo-ing: Strolling up and down Hoogstraat. A popular activity on Saturdays in Wageningen for lack of anything more exciting.
Knotsball: Popular student sport involving a stick with foam rubber at one end. Also known as tampon hockey.
Krokant: Literally: crispy. What you feel like after an evening’s serious drinking.
L.M.N
Lebo: Short for Leeuwenborch, the teaching building for the social sciences.
Lecture: You don’t have classes at university, you have lectures.
Liberation Festival:The Nazis surrendered control of the Netherlands on 5 May 1945 in Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen. Which is why Liberation Day is celebrated on a grander scale here than anywhere else.
Major: Your degree’s core element or specialization.
Minor: Part of your Bachelor’s degree where you choose a set of optional subjects. Can also be done at a different university.
Momo: Short for Molecular Life Sciences.
O.P.Q.R
One for the road: Beer for your journey.
Open parties: Parties organized by student societies that are also open to non-members. There is an open party every Thursday at one or other of the main societies.
Period: In Wageningen, the academic year is divided into six periods: four long ones for 12 credits and two short ones for 6 credits.
Quidditch: Sport based on the Harry Potter books. The Wageningen team is called the Werewolves.
Rela/prela: Relationship and the preceding period.
Revision week: The last week but one in a period, when nothing is on the timetable so that students can prepare for the exams.
S
S&I: Sustainability and Integration. One of the three parties in the Student Council.
SOGgen: Study Avoidance Behaviour. In Dutch: Studie Ontwijkend Gedrag. Doing the washing up, mending a flat tyre — suddenly everything has a higher priority than studying. Mainly seen during revision week.
Soil-drilling championships: A muddy and uniquely Wageningen spectacle in which teams compete to get the soil drill into the clay as fast as they can. The championships have been run for at least 20 years by Pyrus study association.
Star flats:Star-shaped blocks of flats that are landmarks in Wageningen. There are currently six star flats, four of which are student only.
Student Council:Representative body chosen by students that looks after the interests of all students.
Student counsellor:Gives advice and information. You can go to them for all your questions about your degree, from getting an extension due to special circumstances to student grants.
Study association:Association linked to a particular degree subject. Organizes subject-related activities.
Student society:Social club that has nothing to do with the degree programmes. See also pages 12 and 14.
Stufi:Short for student financing.
T.U.V.W
Thuis: Literally home: your student house.
Thuisthuis/Thth: Literally homehome: your parents’ house.
UFW: University Fund Wageningen. Manages various funds that pay grants to finance outstanding Wageningen research and education. Also provides scholarships for international students.
Veggie: Vegetarian or vegan.
VeSte: Verenigde Studenten (‘united students’). One of the three parties in the Student Council.
Waga: Short for Wageningen.
Wageningen quarter: Flexible first 15 minutes of a lecture. But not every lecturer observes this tradition.
Wayo: Short for Wageningen youth, someone who grew up here.
Woeste: Short for Woeste Hoeve, the Hoevestein flats pub.
WUR: Short for Wageningen University & Research.
WURkforce: Publishes a weekly list of jobs at WUR for if you want to earn some extra money.
XYZ
Zaaier: Popular pub in the centre of Wageningen, and the name of a statue at the campus entrance.
