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RE: [OM] Re: [OT] Dutch/Danish (was "Solvang")

Subject: RE: [OM] Re: [OT] Dutch/Danish (was "Solvang")
From: "Olaf Greve" <o.greve@xxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 10:28:11 +0200
Hi,

>> To call a Scotsman English is perhaps the direst insult you can make
north of the border.

Yes, I'm very aware of that :)
Some years back when working in Amsterdam, I worked with many Irish people.
Though they are normally extremely witty and wise to pranks (or p*ss-takes
as they call it), it was very easy to get them going by calling them
English. :)
Of course I would not do so until they said I was German or Belgian.
Similarly, the Canadians are having a blast when you call them Americans,
the Spanish really love to be called Portuguese or French (as do the
English, BTW! ;) ), etc. etc.
I think it's typical for the peoples of neighbouring countries to not like
to be confused with their neighbours. Often this will have historical
reasons, and at other times perhaps other reasons exist for this, but it's
something very typical.
I also think that often these peoples don't really have anything against the
peoples they are confused with, but it just seems to tick them off that they
are mistaken for a people they are not...

Then in reply to Dan Lau's message:
>The name "Holland" is also used in Asia as the name of the country now
known as "The
>Netherlands".

There you go; it simply is the widest-known name for our country :)

>So I was wondering, was Holland a separate country originally and is now
"absorbed" into The
>Netherlands?  If so, when did this happen?

Well, the history of Europe has seen some turmoil. I don't know all the
details, but many changes have happened in these territories. Apart from
having been occupied by the Romans, the Spanish, the French (Napoleon), and
the Germans (WWII), we ourselves have also done our "share" of land
conquering, and at one time Belgium and Luxemburg were part of "The
Netherlands" as well. I'm deliberately writing the words The Netherlands
within quotes, for several different names have been used for it (such as
"the seven provinces"). Too many changes have taken place (even when
excluding Dutch colonialism - which is a blemish on our history, IMO), so I
think one should look at a tourist book/page about The Netherlands and read
a short summary of the history for getting a full grasp on what has happened
exactly.
Either way: the certain thing is that at present, the _country_ is called
The Netherlands; the capital and provinces are as Bart elaborated, and
indeed the part known as Holland is the most thriving part of the country.

>It probably happened after the 1600's because all the exploration of the
Far East were done by
>the "Dutch" from Holland with their world reknown pilots.

The 17th century is known over here as the "golden century", which I guess
is self-explanatory, it is when The Netherlands was one of the most powerful
countries of the world. Indeed, this would have been the time when the Dutch
were most thriving.

>[By the way, to go further off track, why are the people from Holland not
called Hollanders or
>Hollandians but "Dutch"?]

Actually, within The Netherlands we do use the word "Hollanders" (again:
often this is used to indicate anyone from The Netherlands). :)

>By the way, the Chinese sweet pea pod is called "Holland pea" in Chinese,
so it must have been
>introduced into China by the Hollandians.  So do they eat similar pea pods
in Holland?

We do eat them. Dunno if we introduced them over there though. :0

Cheers!
Olafo


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