Ok, so I know that I am a geek... but I get "The Word Of The Day" from Yourdictionary.com (a highly recommended site BTW), and this was the word of the day Friday.
Seems like the word "Dutch" takes quite a derogatory form in the English language. (no offense intended to some of our fellow list members that just happen to be Dutch!) + + + + from Yourdictionary.com + + + + Today's Word: Dutch (Adjective) Pronunciation: [d�ch] Definition 1: Native to Holland; descended from the people of Holland or the lowland Germans. Usage 1: Today's contributor, Loek Hopstaken of Amsterdam, wanted to know why so many negative terms in English contain "Dutch." To be "in Dutch" is to be in trouble, a "Dutch uncle" is one who admonishes harshly, "Dutch comfort" is schadenfreude, the comfort of knowing someone else is less fortunate than you, "Dutch reckoning" is a bill with no particulars, a "Dutch treat" isn't a treat at all (you have to pay), and a "dutchman" is any device for hiding a structural defect (except the "Flying Dutchman," of course, the ill-fated ship of legend forced to round Cape Horn eternally as punishment for the blasphemy of its captain). Suggested usage: Actually, very few of these opprobrious epithets are in current use because their origin is the rivalry between the English and Dutch for control of the slave trade in the 17th century. "Drunk as a Dutchman" is being replaced by "generous as a Dutchman" and the cute little Dutch boy on paint cans by the same name, indicate that our negative attitude toward the Dutch has waned completely. Etymology: From the Germanic the noun *theudo "people" from PIE *teuto-. The suffixed form gave *teut-onos "they of the tribe" borrowed by Latin as Teutoni "the Teutons" thence back into the Germanic languages as "teutonic." Today it is the word for "German" in German (Deutsch) and our word for, well, Dutch. The Pennsylvania Dutch, however, are actually of German ancestry, from the Neckar Valley in Germany, but "Deutsch" (or "Deitsch" in PA German) was misperceived by English-speakers as "Dutch." Latin totus "all, whole," today "tutti" in Italian, as in tutti-frutti (all fruits) ice cream, shares the same source. Moreover, Latvian and Lithuanian tauta "people," Irish tuath "country folk"-all come from the same root. (Check the YD FAQ sheet for PIE a la mode.)
