Double Dutch
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This video begins with two Dutch sayings:
There's a saying in Dutch: "God schiep de Aarde, maar de Nederlanders schiepen Nederland".
Another saying in Dutch is: "Wij smachten naar achtentachtig prachtige nachten bij achtentachtig prachtige grachten".
Today's program is about how the Netherlands picked a fight with the sea, and won.
The first saying means "God made the world, but the Dutch made the Netherlands". It summarizes the video's topic, which is when, how, and why "roughly 17% of the whole country has been conjured out of thin water."
The second? It's explained and analyzed by three of the comments on the video:
Commenter 1: "Wij smachten naar achtentachtig prachtige nachten bij achtentachtig prachtige grachten" translates roughly to "We long for eighty-eight beautiful nights by eighty-eight beautiful canals" it is a relatively famous dutch tongue twister…
Commenter 2: Meanwhile in not-Dutch it sounds hilariously fake
Commenter 3: yeah I fully thought he was just making noises
Commenter 4: That's how talking works usually.
As far as I can tell, the second saying was just added to the script for fun.
And as for this post's title, there's actually a connection beyond the two guys performing two Dutch sayings. As Wikipedia explains
Double Dutch is a game in which two long jump ropes turning in opposite directions are jumped by one or more players jumping simultaneously.
It is widely acknowledged that modern Double Dutch originated in the United States among girls in predominantly Black urban communities during the 1940s and 1950s, who congregated on street corners to display new tricks and repurposed clotheslines as ropes. […]
Although it is popularly claimed the activity was brought to America by Dutch settlers, the term "double Dutch" itself has long existed in English slang, where it originally referred to incomprehensible speech or nonsense, reflecting historical English views of the Dutch language as confusing or strange. Phrases such as "in Dutch," meaning to be in trouble, further illustrate this pejorative connotation. The use of the term "double Dutch" for the game reflects the visual complexity and perceived challenge of the jump-roping, similar to the confusion implied by the idiom.
[h/t Geoff Dawson]
Philip Taylor said,
November 13, 2025 @ 7:07 am
Not forgetting (at least in British English) "going Dutch", meaning that each pays for him/her self. Also "Dutch treat", with much the same meaning.
Ralph J Hickok said,
November 13, 2025 @ 7:30 am
In some expressions, "Dutch" basically means "false." E.g., a "Dutch treat" is not a treat at all, a "Dutch uncle" is someone who isn't a real uncle but acts like one, "Dutch courage" is fake courage inspired by alcohol.
Mark Liberman said,
November 13, 2025 @ 7:54 am
@ Ralph Hickok: "In some expressions, "Dutch" basically means "false.""
No. The OED's gloss for "Dutch uncle" (supported by the quotations): "(The archetype of) a strict but (usually) well-intentioned or benevolent person, esp. one who offers (unsolicited) advice bluntly. Frequently in to talk to (a person) like a Dutch uncle."
And the relevant sense for "go Dutch" is "In a manner considered to be typical of the Dutch (in various senses of the noun); spec. (originally U.S.) with attendees at a meal or other social occasion each paying for their individual share of the expenses".
And "Dutch courage" is indeed "Alcoholic drink regarded as a means of acquiring temporary boldness or confidence via intoxication; (hence) temporary boldness or confidence acquired via the consumption of alcoholic drink." But "alcohol-inspired" is not the same as "false".
There might be a semantic drift for some people in the direction of Dutch == false, but if so, it's secondary and recent and still specific to a few fixed phrases.
Coby said,
November 13, 2025 @ 9:18 am
"Wij smachten…" is not really a tongue-twister; it's more like a throat-tickler, since its point is multiple articulations of [χ].
Philip Taylor said,
November 13, 2025 @ 9:35 am
And to augment my previous list of "not forget"tings, there is also the Dutch cap (not an article of headwear worn in the Netherlands …).
Robert Coren said,
November 13, 2025 @ 10:28 am
The "Dutch = false" concept (which I always assumed arose during a period in which the British and the Dutch were rivals in international trade) also shows up in "Dutch oven", which is not an oven. I would dispute Mark's suggestion that "Dutch courage" doesn't imply "falseness"; to me it means that the person isn't normally brave but appears so when deprived of inhibition by alcohol.
I'm not sure what to make of "Dutch door", referring to a door whose upper and lower halves one independently.