I like this! And I appreciate your making the connection with the often bilious situation at home.
Thanks.
vukoni
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: ugnet_: When it comes to Buganda, there are lots of Dutchs floating around ...
From: "J Ssemakula" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, February 6, 2003 9:34 am
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dear Language
Squire: My grandparents came from Holland and I was wondering what
the story is behind sayings like Dutch treat, Dutch uncle, and Dutch
courage, and something about a Dutch Auction on eBay. What did the Dutch
do to the English?
There was a time when the
English and Dutch navies were suddenly forced to merge under very
artificial circumstances. King William and Queen Mary (yep, the same
as the American college "William and Mary") reigned in Britain from 1689
to 1702. Europe was in the horrible period when Catholics and Protestants
were being about as unchristian as Christians can get and the wars and
revolts of the time were nearly
constant.
When William became
king, he merged his Dutch navy, which was a force to be respected, with
the Royal Navy and set about making the seaways just as miserable for
Catholic sailors as the kings of Spain and Portugal had made them for
Protestant sailors. His expectation was that he could put a unified
fight force afloat that would keep Dutch and English fleets supreme.
His sailors, however thought otherwise.
The Dutch, as a generalization, are not known for
excessive flexibility in habits or subtlety in verbal expression. The
phrase used in many English-speaking countries of someone being a "Dutch
Uncle" means that they give their opinions freely, without invitation, and
with little concern for the rules of propriety. And, again as a
generalization, the Dutch are rightfully and fiercely proud of their
accomplishments as a people and are not burdened with any kind of
inferiority complex..
And then there are
English sailors. While not as openly opinionated as the Dutch, the
English, too, have a rather elevated sense of self in contrast to other
nations (listen to the second half of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta
HMS Pinafore for more data on this). British habits and
social rules were not something that gave way lightly to the standards of
other cultures. Additionally, the Royal Navy and the Dutch navy
were, prior to William and Mary's ascension to the throne, competitors on
the high seas and in colonial places from Indonesia to the north coast of
Brazil.
Sailors at the time,
regardless of nationality, were not always the most tolerant and
broadminded segment of their respective country's populations.
Imagine, if you will, a sailing ship of the late 18th Century. It is
small and cramped and a place of severe discipline and harsh natural
conditions, and packed to the gills with men, most of whom would rather be
somewhere else. Along come your cousins from overseas to share bunks
and square meals (another term from the Royal Navy's square wooden plates
that were easily made and efficiently stored) and it's time for cultural
tolerance lessons for all hands! Under the circumstances, exchanging
cultural values was a somewhat informal affair conducted almost entirely
by shoves and pushes.
What happened was a
general British contempt for the Dutch and the result was a bad precedent
for making slurs against Hollanders. A Dutch treat is no treat at
all, as most of us know. Dutch courage, a common British phrase, means
allowing an excessive intake of alcohol to provide motivation. And
any Dutch uncle will tell you, without being asked, that there are other
terms like Dutch auction (starting high and dropping the price until a
buyer is found and no inspection of goods. See eBay for more on
this.), a Dutch concert (when musicians accidentally played two tunes
together), Dutch consolation (meaning only that someone says the problem
isn't worse), to be "in Dutch" (get in trouble), and so on. A
few of of these phrases are American in origin. They could be a
result of the 18th and 19th Century Yanks being unable to her the
difference between "deutsch" (German) and Dutch. That'! s how the
Pennsylvania Dutch, who are really of German and Swiss backgrounds, got
their name.
Regardless, the Dutch
seem to have got a bad rap in all this. Once you're on someone's
cultural Bad List, it's hard to get off. While the phrases live on,
especially in the non-American English-speaking world, the fact is that
the British and the Dutch today have great regard for one another.
The Second World War proved to be a showcase for national character and
the Dutch showed no end of determination and courage in the face of
overwhelming circumstances. Alas, a vocabulary of distain created by
disgruntled sailors has long outlived its humorous
intent.
And for those who
don't know, Holland is a province of the Netherlands. The correct name of
the country is the Kingdom of the Netherlands [het Koninkrijk der
Nederlanden]. Holland was the richest of the Dutch states and most of the
Netherlands commercial activity came through Holland. The word "Dutch" has
the same Germanic root as "Deutsch".
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