"J. van Baardwijk" wrote
> At 20:22 24-5-01 +0100, Robert Shaw wrote:
>
> >The Netherlands doesn't quite sound like a country name either.
> >Countries don't normally get definite articles in modern
> >English and Netherlands is plural, not a suitable name for a
> >single entity.
>
> It is plural, sure, but the full name of this lovely little country isn't.
> Officially, we're known as "The Kingdom of The Netherlands".
>
Which doesn't have any suitable abbreviations.
If Holland weren't such a convenient alternative the country would
get called The Netherlands, but there is an alternative which does
seem to fit our language marginally better.
--
Robert
