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?
Why/How do you speak English better than we do? 
How tall are you?
Do you have a moustache? Like these guys?
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.
Do you like salty licorice? Dubbel Zout?
[sub]mmmmmmmm… salmiak![/sub]
but with the accent that makes “hey guys” sound like “hey guysh”?
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.
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.
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?
PSV.
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.
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?
Is there anything you’re not tolerant of, aside from intolerance?
Have your gay Dutch soldiers allowed any genocides inside your country?
I’m going to get deported for this, but I don’t care about football. 
Nah. We do it ourselves too. Just as long as they understand it’s the same country.
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.
No. 
Both interpretations are plausible, but Dutch family names don’t usually mean anything sensible anyway.
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.
I’m 1m 89cm tall, which wolframalpha suggests is 6’ 2.4". That’s a bit over average.
Also, I have a full beard.
Hahah. Oranjeboom is awful. Be glad you got rid of it.
YES!
I dunno. I don’t have much of the typical Dutch accent, but you can tell I’m not a native speaker fairly quickly.
Why “Dutch”? You tell me. We call ourselves “Nederlands” or “Hollander”.
Oh yes, we do have some of the best biking paths in the world. I love them.
Because they’ll fall off otherwise. Duh!
Dunno about the wood, but a good pair is fairly comfortable actually. My grandpa used to wear them all the time at the farm.
Currently I think the peadophiles aren’t very popular.
Hey, our soldiers usually stick to smoking weed and smuggling drugs. But allow one genocide and suddenly it’s all the gays fault.
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?
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.
Nope. Been there often enough, though.
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:
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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?!?
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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…
- Who makes the best stroopwafels?
or stroopwaffles?
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?