If.........................?

Question

people from england are called english

people from france are called french

people from germany are called germans

people from spain are called spanish

people from italy are called italians

people from hungary are called hungarians

people from china are called chinese

people from japan are called japanese

people from australia are called austrailians

people from mexico are called mexicans

people from america are called americans

people from argentina are called argentinians

people from brazil are called brazilians

people from canada are called canadians

people from switzerland are called the swiss

then why are people from holland called the dutch ????

Answer 1

Well, people from Holland are called Dutch by English speaking people only. In German and French and even in Russian they are called

- German: Holländer, Niederländer
- French: les Hollandais
- Russisn: gollantskij

As you can see all these words are derived from the Dutch word Holland.
Strictly spoken even Holland is wrong. Holland was the name of the county Holland until 1795. But as the economic and cultural centre of The Netherlands was situated in the old county of Holland, this last name stood for the whole of The Netherlands. Moreover the name "The Netherlands" also applies for Belgium historically. Originally there were 17 counties united as the Low Countries, in French Les Pays Bas. History divided them into two groups which became Belgium and Netherlands.
Now about Dutch. This word is the English counterpart of the Dutch words "Diets" and "Duits". In Dutch "Duits" means "German", where the Germans call themselves "Deutsche". Around 1290 in the northern and eastern part of the Netherlands the word was: "duutsc" and as the Frisian people (living in the North) spoke a language much more alike English, the English adapted "dutch" from Frisian "duutsc". Later "duutsc" became the Dutch word for our eastern neighbors: Duits (German).
I know that one can find a lot of expressions in an English dictionary related to habits which are supposed to be typically Dutch. But here as in so many cases the pot calls the kettle black.

Answer 2

Note sure on how deep you want to go with this but briefly it is mainly those that speak English who call those from Holland Dutch. In France they are les Hollandais, German they are called Holländer, Niederländer, and in Russia they are called gollantskij.

It will be noticed that the latter words come from the Dutch word Holland.

Was advised from someone who is Dutch that Holland is in fact incorrect. It was Holland until, if I recall correctly, the late1700's/early 1800. and is in fact The Netherlands.

Do hope that this goes some way to answering your question and is not wholly "Double Dutch".

Answer 3

Holland is not a country it is a region within a country, The country is the Netherlands.

The origin of the world Dutch is from the German world for German - this is because in Roman times this region was considered part of Germany.

Answer 4

It might be related to the language. For example, the German word for "Germany" is "Deutchland" which sounds a lot like "Dutch-land." This implies a bunch of cross-cultural, historical mumbo-jumbo for how the word came to be used in English.

Answer 5

Wow Great Question...But,I really Dont Know...But,That Was Good Point Bro!

Answer 6

because the way they pronounce holland is duchland hence dutch

Answer 7

Because they are double dutch and no one can understand double dutch lol

Answer 8

double dutch i reckon ! 2 points

Answer 9

because they want to be different and thats cool .Anyway the dutch are ok lovely country lovely people.

Answer 10

i believe we brits are the only ones who call them dutch