There are still a lot left of Dutch jokes over from the 17th century, when England and the Netherlands were rival colonial powers:
Dutch defense (surrendering) Dutch treat (making the other person pay a share) Dutch uncle (not your uncle) Dutch concert (a lot of noise) Dutch courage (liquor)
Dutch crossig Dutch party Playing double Dutch Dutch roll
Yaah, the Brits have been very kind to us ;-)
and so on, where "Dutch" usually means that the following word has an opposite sense. All of these except for "Dutch treat" are now very rare, and no one really thinks of "Dutch treat" as an insult any more.
In Ottawa, we'll be beginning our annual tulip festival in a few weeks:
http://www.tulipfestival.ca/
Hey, I didn't know this! It's nice to see this is still happening.
Every year, the Dutch government sends over millions of tulip bulbs, and our National Capital Commission plants them all around our parks and canals. It's an annual gift from the Dutch government to thank Canada for sheltering part of the Dutch royal family during WW II (Princess Margriet was born a few minutes' walk from my house) and for helping to liberate the Netherlands at the end of the war. The result of all this is that we're not all that inclined to make Dutch jokes.
That's very kind of you.
Erik
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