# Ask the Dutch guy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480 "2010-04-17T20:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/21 "2010-04-18T00:49:03Z")
This is probably not the kind of question you expected, but I have been curious about it ever since I toured the Seattle library designed by Rem Koolhaas. You can get a button there that says something like, “I’ve been in a cool house.” Now this is obviously a play on the name, but I started wondering whether the name has a meaning and, if so, what it means. Being in a library, I immediately found and looked into a Dutch/English lexicon. What I discovered was that “kool” means both “cole” (as in cabbage) and “coal” (so does German “Kohl”) and that “haas” means “hare” (as does German “hase”). So the name seems to mean either cabbage (eating?) rabbit or black rabbit. Can you enlighten me? ---
**Author:** ![Polly\_Glot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de053/32.png) [@Polly\_Glot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polly_Glot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/22 "2010-04-18T00:52:57Z")
Why/How do you speak English better than we do? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![toodlepip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@toodlepip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toodlepip)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/23 "2010-04-18T01:05:01Z")
How tall are you? Do you have a moustache? Like [these guys?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRfluaMKoOY) Oooh, and did anyone find that case of Oranjeboom my friend lost in the bushes during our rugby tournament all those years ago? I’m trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I still suspect she drank it all. Don’t bother asking for a more specific location. I wasn’t… umm… very clear-headed for much of my stay. And your country all looks the same. It was near a canal, I remember people falling in. There was a rusty bike in it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/24 "2010-04-18T01:06:13Z")
Do you like salty licorice? Dubbel Zout? [sub]mmmmmmmm… salmiak![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/25 "2010-04-18T01:12:10Z")
> [@Polly\_Glot](#): > > Why/How do you speak English better than we do? 🙂 but with the accent that makes “hey guys” sound like “hey guysh”? ---
**Author:** ![\_xiao\_wenti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b782af/32.png) [@\_xiao\_wenti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_xiao_wenti)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/26 "2010-04-18T01:22:42Z")
Not a question, but a comment. I was lucky enough to go to a conference in Maastrict and _really_ liked your country. It is beautiful, the people are friendly, and very civilized. I hope to be able to return someday and spend more time. ---
**Author:** ![Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siddhartha_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/27 "2010-04-18T01:29:21Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Does it annoy you when foreigners call your country Holland, rather than the Netherlands? Which is the correct name? And why “Dutch”? Why not “Hollandaise”? I remember reading a comic book years and years ago that described a character from the Netherlands, which I confused with the Netherworld, and was frightened of the Dutch for years. ---
**Author:** ![F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Pu-du-he-pa-as)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/28 "2010-04-18T01:29:22Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > we don’t think we’re the best country in the world But _I_ do! After spending a month there. Please send your civil engineers to come design bike paths over here! But…one thing baffles me above all. Why do y’all eat sprinkles on buttered bread? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/29 "2010-04-18T01:48:51Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Being Dutch myself I have no factual questions for you that I can’t answer myself. Still, I have for you what is probably the most important question for a Dutch person to answer: > > Feyenoord or Ajax? PSV. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/30 "2010-04-18T02:00:55Z")
> [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](#): > > And why “Dutch”? Why not “Hollandaise”? I think it would be Nederlandsche, or Nederlandse actually, but I’m not sure. Hollandaise just sounds too saucy, and besides–even if it were the correct form, I’d think that strictly speaking, it would only refer to those who are from Noord of Zuid Holland. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/31 "2010-04-18T04:27:26Z")
What kind of wood do those shoes get made from? I bet if you were really good with some tools, you could get a pair that wasn’t too bad, maybe just horrible? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/32 "2010-04-18T04:37:22Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Hi, I’m a thirty-something Dutch, single male. Ask me stuff! Is there anything you’re _not_ tolerant of, aside from intolerance? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/33 "2010-04-18T06:01:25Z")
Have your gay Dutch soldiers allowed any genocides _inside_ your country? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/34 "2010-04-18T09:40:29Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Being Dutch myself I have no factual questions for you that I can’t answer myself. Still, I have for you what is probably the most important question for a Dutch person to answer: > > Feyenoord or Ajax? I’m going to get deported for this, but I don’t care about football. 😃 > [@Cunctator](#): > > Does it annoy you when foreigners call your country Holland, rather than the Netherlands? Nah. We do it ourselves too. Just as long as they understand it’s the same country. > [@](#): > > What’s the general attitude towards Queen Beatrix and the monarchy? Generally, I think most people don’t care very much. We’ve got our segment of very pro-monarchy people and a (smaller) section of republicans, but Beatrix is considered by pretty much everybody to be very competent, which is probably what keeps the monarchy pretty much free from attack. Even the socialist party dropped its republican agenda a couple of years ago. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > So the name seems to mean either cabbage (eating?) rabbit or black rabbit. Can you enlighten me? No. 🙂 Both interpretations are plausible, but Dutch family names don’t usually mean anything sensible anyway. > [@Polly\_Glot](#): > > Why/How do you speak English better than we do? 🙂 Lots of practice 🙂 I hated learning languages since I’m not naturally good at it. But we have required lessons in English, French and German for the first couple of years of high school. Plus lots of English/US TV shows and movies and pop music. For me, side from that, my sister lives in the UK so I go there fairly frequently, my university did about 1/3 of lessons & books in English, I’ve had lots of English speaking colleagues and my work (software design and implementation) requires reading and writing a lot of English. > [@toodlepip](#): > > How tall are you? > > Do you have a moustache? Like [these guys?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRfluaMKoOY) I’m 1m 89cm tall, which wolframalpha suggests is 6’ 2.4". That’s a bit over average. Also, I have a full beard. > [@](#): > > Oooh, and did anyone find that case of Oranjeboom my friend lost in the bushes during our rugby tournament all those years ago? I’m trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I still suspect she drank it all. Hahah. Oranjeboom is awful. Be glad you got rid of it. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Do you like salty licorice? Dubbel Zout? YES! ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/35 "2010-04-18T09:54:28Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > but with the accent that makes “hey guys” sound like “hey guysh”? I dunno. I don’t have much of the typical Dutch accent, but you can tell I’m not a native speaker fairly quickly. > [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](#): > > Which is the correct name? And why “Dutch”? Why not “Hollandaise”? Why “Dutch”? You tell me. _We_ call ourselves “Nederlands” or “Hollander”. 🙂 > [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](#): > > But _I_ do! After spending a month there. Please send your civil engineers to come design bike paths over here! Oh yes, we do have some of the best biking paths in the world. I love them. > [@](#): > > But…one thing baffles me above all. Why do y’all eat sprinkles on buttered bread? Because they’ll fall off otherwise. Duh! > [@Gatopescado](#): > > What kind of wood do those shoes get made from? I bet if you were really good with some tools, you could get a pair that wasn’t too bad, maybe just horrible? Dunno about the wood, but a good pair is fairly comfortable actually. My grandpa used to wear them all the time at the farm. > [@elmwood](#): > > Is there anything you’re _not_ tolerant of, aside from intolerance? Currently I think the peadophiles aren’t very popular. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Have your gay Dutch soldiers allowed any genocides _inside_ your country? Hey, our soldiers usually stick to smoking weed and smuggling drugs. But allow _one_ genocide and suddenly it’s all the gays fault. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/36 "2010-04-18T09:59:07Z")
What’s your view on the “islamification” scares that seem to be hitting most EU states at the moment? Ever feel like Islam is threatening to make the Netherlands less tolerant/a good place to live? Ever purchased some time in the Amsterdam red light district? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/37 "2010-04-18T10:09:00Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > What’s your view on the “islamification” scares that seem to be hitting most EU states at the moment? Ever feel like Islam is threatening to make the Netherlands less tolerant/a good place to live? I think it’s ridiculous. There are issues with parts of the Islamic population, but the “Islamification” of Europe is a fantasy of frustrated muslim boys and grand-standing politicians. > [@](#): > > Ever purchased some time in the Amsterdam red light district? Nope. Been there often enough, though. ---
**Author:** ![Polly\_Glot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de053/32.png) [@Polly\_Glot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polly_Glot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/38 "2010-04-18T13:09:21Z")
Okay, in all fairness, I did live in A’dam and then Haarlem for a few months back in '98. Loved loved loved it, and would go back to NL to live/work/tolerate in a heartbeat! 🙂 So… more questions come to mind: 1. Given the option of renting two perfectly acceptable flats for the same price, you’d choose the smaller one, right? Because it’s more _gezellig_, right?!? 2. While you’re over here improving our American bike paths… I would like our slums to look and feel like living in a fricking park (a la the Bijlmer)! And most importantly… 1. Who makes the best stroopwafels? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/39 "2010-04-18T14:56:06Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Do you like salty licorice? Dubbel Zout? > > [sub]mmmmmmmm… salmiak![/sub] or stroopwaffles? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/40 "2010-04-18T15:22:33Z")
How are prostitutes perceived? Is it acceptable to say to friends or acquaintances that one is a prostitute? The Dutch military is unionized. How does that work? Can they strike? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480.md?page=3)