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'Dutch' stands for sex, drugs or cunning
Translated from Dutch. View the original post
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When the British or the Americans call something “Dutch”, it is usually not a fresh affair. What do we blame this negative reputation for? Gaston Dorren gives the answer in his book 'The Dutchionary'.
Dutch Butt Disease for ugly thick buttocks.
Double Dutch for gibberwaals.
Dutch treat for just not treat.
A Dutch rose for when you miss the nail with your hammer and hit the wood.
Dutch oven for a fart in bed.
Dutch courage' means: to give yourself courage
And a Dutch uncle will give you the ass.
If you look at the English language, it's like English and Americans find us cowardly, rude, ugly, peasant, dirty, booming, oversexed and suicidal scammers. Who also cross the street wrong by means of a Dutch crossing.
Dutch people do not get away with it in the English language. “What is Dutch is no good,” Gaston Dorren summarizes it. The taaljournalist went for his dictionary 'De Dutchionary' looking for English terms with 'Dutch' in it. He came across over 500 words and word combinations. A little 150 of them are negative.
In English there is also teeming with lesser-known metaphors in which our name appears in a questionable way. Take 'Dutch Alps' (joking for small breasts), 'Dutch rose' (a hammer print in the wood if you hit next to the nail) and 'Dutch wife' (a sex doll). The examples are for picking up, according to Dorren.
How do we Dutch people get such a bad reputation?
“It started in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The English then considered us formidable competitors in the struggle for the colonies. We were at war against each other at the time. That's why the English gave us the image of drunken, unintelligible, power-hungry people. They thought we had it quite high in the sphere for such a small country. They said we were too proud. And ungrateful, because we would not appreciate the fact that the English had supported us in the fight against the Spaniards.
“In the nineteenth century, a whole new load of negative terms was added in the United States. Millions of German immigrants had then moved to America. The English-speaking inhabitants felt overflowing. For convenience, they designated the 'Deutsche' newcomers as 'Dutch'. Everything that was bad, they projected onto them. For example, the immigrants were considered peasants. Hence a term like 'Dutch crossing': crossing the street without respecting the rules.”
Are all these offensive terms from the past, or are new ones still coming in?
“It just goes on. In modern times, even a third wave of pejorative concepts has arisen. The addition 'Dutch' now often refers to sex, drugs or cunning. Or economic phenomena. Think of the 'Dutch disease' when a country has tapped natural resources — such as Groningen gas — and then neglects the rest of the economy.”
Dutch Butt Disease for ugly thick buttocks.
Double Dutch for gibberwaals.
Dutch treat for just not treat.
A Dutch rose for when you miss the nail with your hammer and hit the wood.
Dutch oven for a fart in bed.
Dutch courage' means: to give yourself courage
And a Dutch uncle will give you the ass.
If you look at the English language, it's like English and Americans find us cowardly, rude, ugly, peasant, dirty, booming, oversexed and suicidal scammers. Who also cross the street wrong by means of a Dutch crossing.
Dutch people do not get away with it in the English language. “What is Dutch is no good,” Gaston Dorren summarizes it. The taaljournalist went for his dictionary 'De Dutchionary' looking for English terms with 'Dutch' in it. He came across over 500 words and word combinations. A little 150 of them are negative.
In English there is also teeming with lesser-known metaphors in which our name appears in a questionable way. Take 'Dutch Alps' (joking for small breasts), 'Dutch rose' (a hammer print in the wood if you hit next to the nail) and 'Dutch wife' (a sex doll). The examples are for picking up, according to Dorren.
How do we Dutch people get such a bad reputation?
“It started in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The English then considered us formidable competitors in the struggle for the colonies. We were at war against each other at the time. That's why the English gave us the image of drunken, unintelligible, power-hungry people. They thought we had it quite high in the sphere for such a small country. They said we were too proud. And ungrateful, because we would not appreciate the fact that the English had supported us in the fight against the Spaniards.
“In the nineteenth century, a whole new load of negative terms was added in the United States. Millions of German immigrants had then moved to America. The English-speaking inhabitants felt overflowing. For convenience, they designated the 'Deutsche' newcomers as 'Dutch'. Everything that was bad, they projected onto them. For example, the immigrants were considered peasants. Hence a term like 'Dutch crossing': crossing the street without respecting the rules.”
Are all these offensive terms from the past, or are new ones still coming in?
“It just goes on. In modern times, even a third wave of pejorative concepts has arisen. The addition 'Dutch' now often refers to sex, drugs or cunning. Or economic phenomena. Think of the 'Dutch disease' when a country has tapped natural resources — such as Groningen gas — and then neglects the rest of the economy.”
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