Marloes of Double Dutch has joined in and you can read her post at Marloes.
While reading, I wondered where the term Double Dutch originated from. So I went off digging and came up with the following. (As with most expressions, idioms etc, there are a number of explanations.)
The most popular definition is of English origin meaning "something incomphrehensible", I could not find anything incomprehensible at Double Dutch though.
The Second reference is to a skipping game "a game of jump rope in which players jump over two ropes swung in a crisscross formation by two turners", as per Wikipedia. By all accounts this is a difficult exercise.
The third reference I could find is to a brand of Lager available in the United Kingdom. (I would like to know more abouth this one)
And, a final reference is to the usage of a condom with the pill.
Also, while wondering around looking this up, the "The Flying Dutchman" story popped up. This is the story of a ghost ship still sailing around in Cape waters. That is another story for another time.
2 comments:
Ah, what a wonderful post Graham! I choose the name because I do sometimes tend do get my p's and q's mixed up. Talking and (most of the time) thinking in Dutch, makes it harder sometimes to translate to English and still be comprehensible...
I hope you liked my choices by the way?
Thank you for giving some of your time, I enjoyed the read. It is amazing who people think of first. I ahve asked a number of people I know and get answers that seem to be aout of character with what I would expect. Even had a couple of guys who said "Nobody".
Thanks again
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