Like with German, we can make arbitrarily long compound words in Dutch (for example, “kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedencomitéleden”), but if we limit it to words that are in the dictionary, “arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering“ (disability insurance) is one of the longest words that’s also commonly used.
Not only do they need to exist at the same time as us, they also need to be close enough to make it feasible to travel here and they need to pick us from the countless options that exist. With the vastness of space and the immense timescales, I wouldn’t be surprised if we never get in contact with any other intelligent life at all, even if there’s plenty of it in the universe.
Also, I don’t believe that politicians and civil servants can keep something of this magnitude secret for many decades.
But, hey, I can’t prove you wrong. Who knows.
There are now over 13,900 SPAR branded stores in over 48 countries on four continents, meeting the needs of over 14.7 million consumers every day.
I didn’t know about Eierkuchen. In the Netherlands eierkoeken (same word, but Dutch) are something else: https://www.recipesfromeurope.com/eierkoeken/.
I’ve been on holiday in 32 countries. Quite a lot! About 2/3 of those were European countries (I’m European).