Why are there so many (nasty) English Expressions about the Dutch?

#learnenglish #speakenglish #newlanguage
italki offers more than 150 languages and has thousands of great tutors to choose from. Buy $10 get $5 for free for your first lesson using my code: LETTHEMTALK

Dutch Courage, to go Dutch, Double Dutch, Dutch comfort...Why are there so many English expressions about the Dutch. We look at the history.

Sign up for the LetThemTalkTV newsletter here. It's full of interesting insights and stories about the English language and it's free!

00:00 Those Dutch!
01:18 Expressions from other countries
02:47 italki
05:33 All the Dutch expressions explained
11:23 The history: How did this happen
17:59 Let's make our own Dutch expressions.

[LetThemTalkTV]

italki offers more than 150 languages and has thousands of great tutors to choose from. Buy $10 get $5 for free for your first lesson using my code: LETTHEMTALK

[PatrickTouw]

Dutch memory...Our last Prime Minister Marc Rutte always commented that he had no active memory of things he was asked about

[francoranieri]

In Australia, a Dutch oven is when you hold the bed covers over someone's head and fart

[fado]

Jealousy. The Dutch stole the English flagship The Royal Charles.

[Buckshot]

I grew up understanding that a 'Dutch Uncle' was not a real uncle but a very close friend of one's father who, in many ways, acted like a real uncle.

[jaspermooren]

Calling a bicycle with square wheels a Dutch bicycle is an affront to my entire nation and culture!

[marlonmaastricht]

I wonder how many Dutch people are watchers of this video. Love from The Netherlands 🇳🇱

[herbertbruna]

Dutch is in sound and meaning the best language to be rude, direct and charming at the same time. Greetings from a Dutchie.

[ronaldderooij]

As a Dutchman, I today learned about the Dutch reach. To open your car's door with the hand furthest away from the door to force you to turn your body so you can see if you can safely open your door (and not hit a passing bicyclist). I think I do it, but I am not sure.

[daanvoogt]

As a Dutchman, I know we are always right! We will rather let you guys believe we think so ❤ thx for the great video.

A friend of us is having a relation with an American girl and she learned a lot of expressions with “Dutch” in it that we didn’t know.

A new expression “Dutch marriage” marry your niece, invade her country and become a king

[robhoutkamp]

The Dutch Clutch -> automatic gearbox (variomatic) invented by Dutch car factory DAF. The first CVT gear box😊

[runswithbears]

They resent us for being better sailors! 😂

[robensur]

A Dutch wife is a long body length pillow used while sleeping. In Asia these are put between the legs in bed to limit sweating.

[RootsEcho]

as a Dutchman I enjoyed your video. However: That the Dutch are always right is NO stereotypical nonsense, at all.

[Anonymous-sbrr]

Learning Dutch: Goede morgen.
Dutch person: Mogguh.

[buzzardist]

One important factor to weigh in the etymology of all these "Dutch" idioms is whether they started as Americanisms or were originally rooted in England. If a lot of them did not show up until the 19th century, why? Why would the Americans or English suddenly start labelling so many things as "Dutch" around that time?

The Anglo-Dutch Wars explanation is thin and leaves much wanting. A few ugly phrases usually pop up during wars that make it easier to kill the enemy. Most of them tend to disappear within a generation or two of war's end. These "Dutch" phrases, however, are not the kinds of expressions associated with war. We are not having auctions, going on dates, or dealing with in-laws with the people whose ships we are trying to sink. Almost none of these phrases makes any sense in the context of war. They are about day-to-day social and economic interactions. These phrases sprang out of English speakers and Dutch people living alongside one another.

Was there anything happening in England in the 19th century that saw a lot of English and Dutch living alongside one another? The video's explanation of the textile industry is a theory, but textiles saw Dutch and Flemish people in England in large numbers from the 15th or 16th century onwards (and English in the Low Countries). By the 19th century, England was forging a global colonial empire. The Dutch, arguably, were a smaller and smaller portion of foreign interactions for English traders and other English people. Was there a huge influx of Dutch immigrants to England around that time?

Across the pond, there was heavy American-Dutch interaction in the 19th century. New York was Dutch before it became English and then American. Many of the old, established families in New York have always been Dutch. New York in the early 19th century still had a heavy Dutch flavor (immigration from other nations not having overtaken the city yet). At the same time, starting in the 1830s and 1840s, American experienced a large wave of immigration from the Netherlands. In the post-Napoleon shakeup, Europe's monarchies decided to establish the Netherlands as a monarchy instead of restoring the Dutch Republic. When the Dutch government then decided to bring the Reformed Church under civil control, a lot of staunchly Protestant and congregationalist church loyalists emigrated rather than allow their religious expression to fall under royal government control. Huge numbers relocated to America, many in places like Holland, Michigan, and Pella, Iowa, that still bear Dutch names. Both in the major city of New York and on the frontier West at the time, Americans had significant interactions with the Dutch socially and economically. Is this where many of these phrases came from?

Also, don't be dismissive of cultural stereotypes. They can be wrong, but they are often shortcuts to get us to a place of understanding faster. The explanation for a Dutch uncle being stern, blunt, and critical is spot on. Dutch people are typically direct with criticism. They don't tend to have a comparatively strong sense of social hierarchy. Dutch people frequently describe themselves in this way. If someone assesses another's work and doesn't deliver substantial, direct criticism, Dutch people may question the genuineness of the assessment. An English or American person might view direct criticism as blunt and distasteful, and thus the "Dutch uncle" phrase originated. From a Dutch cultural perspective, that uncle is forward with criticism precisely because he is loving and caring.

The low hierarchy Dutch culture is probably also what gives rise to phrases like "going Dutch" and "Dutch treat." One person pays for others in a social situation when there is a clear social hierarchy. Dutch people tend to flatten out hierarchies. If everyone is essentially equal, why wouldn't everyone pay? These phrases seem to spring out of reactions by English or Americans to Dutch people who follow a different set of cultural norms. For these kinds of phrases to spawn, we need a situation where Dutch and English or American communities were living side-by-side and encountering disputes about who pays.

[psluijsmans]

hi, double dutch was a form of slang used by dutch and english sailors to talk, it was a combination of a lot of languages, but mostly dutch and english. The sailors on the ships where of a lot of languages/countries and being able to communicate was nescecary. So Double Dutch was apractical and organic grown language. After or during the Napoliontic wars this slang got into disuse, but fraces and documents can still be found with some of the text (it never had any writen application, official documents where still in dutch or english).

[michaellange]

Just for your information: the auction of flowers does not take place in Amsterdam but at the world famous flower auction in the village "Aalsmeer" about 10miles distance from Amsterdam

[francescojsb]

6:26 When in Italy the bill is divided or better if everyone pays for what they have consumed it is called "pagare alla romana" (paying the Roman way)

[Sujowi]

Dutch Hill? A head wind on flat ground. When you’re cycling into it, with a lot of effort, it makes sense!