Why are Dutch people...

[daydreamerdeluxe]

why is duetschland (the country which ones as the fome for the nazi's (no offense, but now everyone knows about which country i'm talking.)) calles germany in english? it is the smae question and there are more countries like it. it is just ones of those gray area's with translating to different languages.

I'm just taking a look into that, and it would appear to be mainly due to the Romans and Greeks referring to the area there as Germania, which is where the words Germanic and thereby German come from. It looks like it was a word that Julius Caesar claimed from the Gallic term for the people living East of the river Rhine, which probably meant "neighbour". Deutsche, however, came from the Old High German word "diot", meaning people, so Deutsche means "language of the people".

So, the Germans call themselves the People, whilst other people in the world call them the Neighbour. Makes sense, actually.

 

[NickCooley]

We probably couldn't say it and decided one day, "You know what, we're just calling you this. Any arguments? Tell it to the navy".

In fairness in Britain we don't call ourselves British, it has to break down to about 8 or 9 different regions, it's rude to lump us in with those damn southerners.

We're damned?! Your... northern ilk is as uncouth as they come and the 'north' is dangerous enough at the best of times without the weather making it worse! =P

Anyway... you barbarians speak some strange language unintelligible to my cultured ears! /jk

[sub][sub][sub](Yes, I'm about to put a set of power armour on!)[/sub][/sub][/sub]

Of course! Danger and harsh environment make us hardier men of the north! A northmen doesn't need your poncey power armor! Booze is our armor! The only thing stopping is washing over the rest of England is that we hate each other as much as the south!

Well hate is a strong word, but you get the idea

 

[John the Gamer]

Uncouth? I don't know the meaning of the word!

Actually I just looked it up. It's not inaccurate.

Our language is elegant, removing necessary words to allow more fluent speech in which we can emphasise more important things. None of this "the" and adding extra letters to things. What the hell is grarse anyway?

Yeah you run to your power armour, I'll be fine in my flat cap.

LOL & touche! Grass, sir, is what you put in a cigarette for that extra bit of feelgood! *hrk*

Now that's a thought actually. To Dutch Escapists: question - what are your regional accents like? Tonal? Vocab? Or diction? (Or all three?)

The Frisians have their own seperate language(Frisian, duh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Frisian_language )

and the dialecs are "Nedersaksisch( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Low_German )" and "Nederfrankisch ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Franconian_languages )"

Which is sort of like the difference between a Scotsman speaking English and an Englishman doing so.

And then there are some other differences in pronunciation(?) from area to area, Sort of like the difference between someone living in the northern part of the US and someone in the south.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Of course! Danger and harsh environment make us hardier men of the north! A northmen doesn't need your poncey power armor! Booze is our armor! The only thing stopping is washing over the rest of England is that we hate each other as much as the south!

Well hate is a strong word, but you get the idea

My word! Thank heaven I've never been further north than Watford! XD

And I suppose there is the threat of the Scotch invasion! LOL

BTW we have a certain proportion of chavs around here, would you be so kind as to house them... or whatever it is you do...?! =P (flamethrowers delivered on request)

[sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub]Now if you'll excuse me, I have some French fancies to eat and a warm scented bath to attend to![/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub]

EDIT:

cultural snip

Hmmm... thank you kindly.

Granted it's a much larger country, but I find the Cantonese spoken in Shanghai to be almost unintelligible compared to when I'm in Hong Kong/Guangzhou in general.

 

[Simon1]

Well, Holland and the Netherlands used mean to mean two different areas (I don't remember what they meant but it was like one meant the whole country and another meant the whole country minus two provinces). And I guess that both names lost their exact definition at one point and that by most people they're used for the same thing.

We call our land both Holland and the Netherlands.

I'm going with this.

 

[Asti]

Serbian (and Croatian) "Nemačka" ("Njemačka") and "Nemci" ("Nijemci") actually has a really hilarious origin. You see, it's not related to cats, but to the fact that "nem" or "nijem" means mute or inarticulate. Serbs and Croatians, while listening to the German language, thought they are talking gibberish and that they are mute or speechless and are just muttering random sounds. I'm not kidding, my anthropology professor told us that as an anecdote about languages. Now, he could have been kidding, but it actually makes sense, because a few hundred years ago, hearing something like German language was probably really weird and sounded funny. I know my mother still believes their language is ridiculous and cannot be comprehended. Also, it could have been used as an insult.

We get that a lot. The Greek called us Barbarians because of that and the word gothic (for the architecture) is from Italian "gotico" which basically means "barbarian" or, as they probably would have said: butt-ugly.

But gothic architecture originated in France, so we're not at fault here. =)

It's weird how German has always been regarded an utterly terrible language. Mark Twain actually wrote a book about that. He hated our language. =)

 

[StBishop]

Ermm... I'm pretty sure they call themselves `Nederlanders'. At least wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_people] says so. And I think the real question is why we call Germans German when they come from Deutschland.

Or call the Japanese Japanese when they are from Nihon.

 

[Nimcha]

While we're at it, why is the country called Holland somewhere and Netherlands ('low grounds') elsewhere? That's some schizophrenic country

Either way, researching history of words is very interesting. I think I'll look this up.

because officially THE NETHERLANDS would mean including belgium luxemburg and the northern part of france

The Netherlands blatantly means : the low countries

I always thought that the common name for that region was Benelux....i just found out that Benelux only refers to some sort of economic union between those countries.

Live and learn i guess

You are actually right. Our country is called The Netherlands. No matter what it actually means, it's just the country. I don't think you'll make many friends in Belgium if you lop them in with the Netherlands.

Anyway people should really stop calling it Holland, it's annoying. Ask any Brit what they think about people calling their entire continent just 'England'.

you're right somewhat but wrong in your conclusion, you ask an englishman he'll say england, you ask a scot he'll say " no you *** I'm scottish/brittish"

It's not everyone it's those parts that are actually heriditary different

Also : Belgium Belongs to THE NETHERLANDS because they are one of the low countries
The reason why everyone calls Holland ,Holland because of the view of The Netherlands being the low countries

Neder-landen Neder=Lage=Low

Ask any educated belgian on the subject and they'll tell you the same

Again, I know what the name of my country means. But again, it's just the one country. Belgium has been part of the Republic of the Netherlands in the past, but is not anymore. I don't know how I can make it more clear to you.

I'm trying to make clear to you that belgium IS a low country a "Neder-land" thus in the international community the area would be referred to as Netherlands, the countries as holland and belgium

I'm sorry, but you're just wrong on all accounts. Holland is not a country. The Netherlands is. Belgium is. Eveybody in the world but you seems to know that.

 

[Zantos]

Of course! Danger and harsh environment make us hardier men of the north! A northmen doesn't need your poncey power armor! Booze is our armor! The only thing stopping is washing over the rest of England is that we hate each other as much as the south!

Well hate is a strong word, but you get the idea

I'd totally agree with this, but I doubt you're from Barnsley so I don't like you. You're probably all "Why-ai like pet" and stuff.

 

[Beliyal]

Serbian (and Croatian) "Nemačka" ("Njemačka") and "Nemci" ("Nijemci") actually has a really hilarious origin. You see, it's not related to cats, but to the fact that "nem" or "nijem" means mute or inarticulate. Serbs and Croatians, while listening to the German language, thought they are talking gibberish and that they are mute or speechless and are just muttering random sounds. I'm not kidding, my anthropology professor told us that as an anecdote about languages. Now, he could have been kidding, but it actually makes sense, because a few hundred years ago, hearing something like German language was probably really weird and sounded funny. I know my mother still believes their language is ridiculous and cannot be comprehended. Also, it could have been used as an insult.

We get that a lot. The Greek called us Barbarians because of that and the word gothic (for the architecture) is from Italian "gotico" which basically means "barbarian" or, as they probably would have said: butt-ugly.

But gothic architecture originated in France, so we're not at fault here. =)

It's weird how German has always been regarded an utterly terrible language. Mark Twain actually wrote a book about that. He hated our language. =)

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I like your language And most people think it's weird. Especially when I note that I don't like languages like French and Italian and like German instead. But somehow, Germanic languages sound much better to me. Though, no offence to any Hollanders, but Dutch sounded horrible to me.

 

[SckizoBoy]

You are actually right. Our country is called The Netherlands. No matter what it actually means, it's just the country. I don't think you'll make many friends in Belgium if you lop them in with the Netherlands.

Anyway people should really stop calling it Holland, it's annoying. Ask any Brit what they think about people calling their entire continent just 'England'.

you're right somewhat but wrong in your conclusion, you ask an englishman he'll say england, you ask a scot he'll say " no you *** I'm scottish/brittish"

It's not everyone it's those parts that are actually heriditary different

Also : Belgium Belongs to THE NETHERLANDS because they are one of the low countries
The reason why everyone calls Holland ,Holland because of the view of The Netherlands being the low countries

Neder-landen Neder=Lage=Low

Ask any educated belgian on the subject and they'll tell you the same

Again, I know what the name of my country means. But again, it's just the one country. Belgium has been part of the Republic of the Netherlands in the past, but is not anymore. I don't know how I can make it more clear to you.

I'm trying to make clear to you that belgium IS a low country a "Neder-land" thus in the international community the area would be referred to as Netherlands, the countries as holland and belgium

I'm sorry, but you're just wrong on all accounts. Holland is not a country. The Netherlands is. Belgium is. Eveybody in the world but you seems to know that.

You're both right... or you're both wrong, just in different contexts.

During the 18th century, the Netherlands was split into three: part controlled by Spain (Spanish Netherlands/north Belgium/southern current Netherlands); part controlled by Austria (south Belgium); and the United Provinces (Stadtholders and all that).

Therefore, historically 'the Netherlands' and the 'Low Countries' (in English) came to signify the geographic area that we're all referring to, and making no distinction to the people that resided there (and it was more Belgium and 'Holland' (just a label, you know what I mean), and less Luxembourg because that was a political situation all of its own). Enter the 19th century, the Netherlands were united post-Napoleonic wars (from the Batavian Republic & Belgium) into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, until 1830 when Belgium gained independence.

From then on, the Netherlands as a label came to signify just the 12 provinces that we now know as 'the Netherlands' and while it means the same as 'Low Countries', they don't infer the same thing any more, either politically or ethnically.

 

[Wintermoot]

in the native language it,s official called Nederland and the citizens Nederlanders, Holland is just a province.

 

[Kargathia]

Because we like to mindfuck people who can't update their name for us more often than once every milennium.

 

[wastedyouth89]

The Dutch... AGAIN!


Sorry, I don't have an answer. I just wanted to do that

 

[crazyhyena645]

Because the English are weird as hell. The Netherlands is our country's name, and in The Netherlands we call ourselves "Nederlanders". To make matters worse, people started calling The Netherlands Holland, which are only 2 out of the 12 provincies of The Netherlands, and not the whole country.

TL;DR The English are doing it wrong

thanks for cearing that up i shall inform the english that they are indeed weird.

 

[Rickyvantof]

This way we can tell the smart people from the dumb people when we introduce ourselves in any English speaking country. When I say I'm from the Netherlands (or Holland, for that matter) and people start talking German, I know they're stupid.

I also always /facepalm when "Dutch" people in American movies have some weird Russian or German accent. I recently saw Transformers 3 and the guy who was called "Dutch" started talking German... it sucked.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Looks like you have a nasty cough there!, I know a good doctor that can sort it out for you, he's a Gaul though, answer to the name of Jean Luc... Don't go to one of those nasty Breton Dr's, they speak dodgy English!

*coughs*, oh god I think its catching!.

Surely you mean Anglish?

you make me ow yu say "le HAHAHA"

Spoiler

 

[Bassik]

The Brittish have a long and weird history with changing names without informing anyone. Point in case, the names in the Bible have all been UPDATED to speak to a more MODERN crowd (In the middle ages.)

British*

And that's just what happens with language. A name will change or come about with different interpretations. Hell, England as a name comes from the 'Angle's Land'.

This whole thread is futile if it's to complain about name changes because honestly, that's just the evolution of language.

This, I think, we should all agree on.

 

[KingofallCosmos]

I'd like to know where the negative meaning of dutch comes from. Like "french" it's also a term for bad or dirty.

Also, you english and your weird namechanging. Like latin/greek names, you say Ovid, Homer instead of Ovidius and Homerus. Man I love languages.

 

[Connor Mulhern]

Elada > Greece

Whats even more confusing is that the different names are not the same, like for example in Turkish Greece is called Yunanistan (The land of Greeks)