Re: OT: Where? and What?

On Feb 17, 7:32 pm, mAsterdam <mAster..._at_vrijdag.org> wrote:
> cim..._at_hotmail.fr wrote:
> > mAsterdam wrote:
> >> Cimode wrote:
> >> Hollande is French for Holland.
> >> The French for the Netherlands is Pays-Bas.
> >> Strangely both English and French use a plural word for what
> >> the Dutch call Nederland (singular).
> > Being French, I never thought about it, but in French collective
> > subconscious Hollande = Pays- Bas. Etymologically however you are
> > perfectly right. I apologize again.

The UK used to make the same mistake ("Holland" = "Netherlands"), but that seems to have stopped in the last few years. Possibly after the furore about the Maastricht treaty, since Maastricht is in the Netherlands but not in Holland.

>
> No need. Holland is the most sea-going part of the Netherlands.
> If you ever meet a Dutchman who says he is from the Netherlands,
> you can be pretty sure are that he is _not_ from Holland.
> Similarly: if you meet a Hollander who says he is from Holland,
> chances are that he is _not_ from Amsterdam.
>

That's handy to know - I'll hopefully be visiting Amsterdam again some time in the next few months.

The Dutch guy who works with me is from Utrecht, and reminds us of the difference between Holland and the Netherlands.

But even he calls the national football team "Holland" ;) Received on Sat Feb 17 2007 - 23:16:21 CET