It sounds like double Dutch?

Question

When the Brits can't make head-nor -tail of a verbal statement we say its all double-dutch, what do the Dutch (or any other country for that matter) say in response to the incomprehensible.

Martha P I was kinda hoping for answers like the excellent four above yours, NOT some catch all statement just to get two points.

Who to give best answer to when they are all excellent (well except martha p) thanks VERY much for your participation. I will print out the answers and stab a pin in. Truth is there is no BEST answer, they are all good!

Answer 1

Jammycaketin is right. The "welsch" part in "Kauderwelsch" originally means "foreign" and this meaning of the word is also the reason why the Welsh people were called so by the (Germanic-speaking) Anglo-Saxons.

Another German expression meaning the same is "Böhmische Dörfer" (Bohemian villages), relating to the fact that place names in Bohemia are Czech and difficult to pronounce and to understand by German speakers (while the larger cities such as Prague had German versions of their names).

In Portuguese, they say "isso é grego" ("that's Greek") just as you'd say in English "It's all Greek to me."

Answer 2

In French they usually say:
"Il/Elle parle comme une vache espagnole"(He or she speaks like a Spanish cow i.e. What is said is incomprehensible). Not flattering to cows, let alone the Spanish!
Interesting to see that in Germany the incomprehensible cows are Welsh.

Answer 3

The Dutch generally say "Dit is Chinees voor mij" (This is
Chinese to me) or "Dit is koeterwaals".
In Italy we say "Per me questo è turco/arabo" (This is Turkish/Arabic to me)

Answer 4

In Germany they say it's Kauderwelsch.

Answer 5

Quite frequently in France, people say, 'C'est du chinois' or That's Chinese.

Answer 6

In Finland we say it's pig's german (siansaksaa)

Answer 7

It is just a saying. Every country has its own.

Answer 8

chińszczyzna (in Polish)
It means 'Chinese' (language).