# Dutch, do you get annoyed by your country being referred to as "Holland"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077 "2018-03-23T16:13:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/21 "2018-03-24T01:32:14Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > The UK is largely England population, politics and economy-wise. It’s not really that wildly incorrect when Americans sometimes refer to the UK as England. It will become a complete joke to correct that if Scotland finally breaks away. Try saying this in Belfast or Cardiff and see how it goes over. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/22 "2018-03-24T03:05:21Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > My above-mentioned friend has lived in the US for some 60 years and probably refers to it as Holland after dealing with 60 years of American ignorance of Europe. “Neither Lands? Whassat?” “Um…Holland?” You know, the Neither Lands. How you get from Earth to Fillory or any number of other worlds. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/23 "2018-03-24T07:37:20Z")
I remember once Scots people were getting in a snit when the BBC referred to the Jackie Stewart as a British racing driver, but Sterling Moss as and English driver. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/24 "2018-03-24T08:44:42Z")
I grew up alongside many Dutch immigrants and they all referred to it as Holland. In one case they were actually from Zeeland. It’s less like “England confused as Britain” so much as “United Kingdom as alternative word for British Isles”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/25 "2018-03-24T09:11:25Z")
Speaking as a Nederlander, Holland has the benefit of being recognized almost everywhere. Holland works in most countries I’ve been. I can’t even pronounce “the Netherlands “ in most languages. (I know it’s Pays-Bas in French). I’m from the part of the Netherlands that is called (Zuid-)Holland so I guess my feelings are influenced by that. But to be fair about 1/2 of the Netherlands live in Holland. The capital is in Holland, the seat of government is in Holland. Call us whatever you want. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/26 "2018-03-24T09:22:07Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Speaking as a Nederlander, Holland has the benefit of being recognized almost everywhere. Holland works in most countries I’ve been. I can’t even pronounce “the Netherlands “ in most languages. (I know it’s Pays-Bas in French). In some languages (Spanish among them), _los países bajos_ (note the lack of caps) refers to the flat parts of the Netherlands and Belgium plus French Flanders. You know, that whole bunch of flatlands north of France, on the shores of the _Canal de la Mancha_. Dutch embassies in Spanish-speaking countries say _Países Bajos_, but to the immense majority of Hispanics that’s just confusing: both the name and the notion that other languages can’t have their own name for a thing, people or place. We don’t expect other people to call our countries Bunnyland, Land of the Silver River or Land of the Mexicas… ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/27 "2018-03-24T11:07:01Z")
I shared a student house many years ago with a girl from Maastricht (ie not Holland). Her opinion was that Holland was not correct, and she didn’t use it, but wasn’t too bothered by English speakers using it. Her view was certainly not comparable to the situation in the UK ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/28 "2018-03-24T14:26:41Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Try saying this in Belfast or Cardiff and see how it goes over. IME it’s the English who most often have a problem with Americans referring to the ‘UK’ as England. And again, the UK _is_ mainly England and the fig leaf of pretending it’s an ‘equal union of nations’ will be even more obvious if Scotland leaves. How that reality is digested in Belfast and Cardiff is another question. So is politeness a different question, no benefit to offending people for no reason. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/29 "2018-03-24T16:46:51Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Apparently, that’s what irritates the Dutch. I literally laughed at loud. Post of the day. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/30 "2018-03-24T17:14:54Z")
As long as you are not referring to the country as “the Nether Regions”, I think they will probably be ok with whatever term you use. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/31 "2018-03-24T19:28:10Z")
I’m Dutch, but emphatically not from the part that ‘Holland’ technically refers to\*. I don’t mind if foreigners say ‘Holland’ and I even use it myself with weak English speakers who otherwise might not catch my meaning. However, I do get seriously annoyed with Dutch people referring to our country as Holland and would be outright offended if something called me ‘Hollands’. - I’m from Limburg, we are otherwise known as the ‘spare Belgians’. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/32 "2018-03-25T04:08:03Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > As long as you are not referring to the country as “the Nether Regions”, I think they will probably be ok with whatever term you use. That reminds me: I did for a while get the netherworld (a term I’d heard on the Real Ghostbusters animated TV show) mixed up with Netherlands, thinking that they were at least somehow related. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/33 "2018-03-25T07:49:42Z")
Actually, do you get annoyed at being called “Dutch”, a lightly disguised corruption of the German word for German. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/34 "2018-03-25T08:30:49Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > IME it’s the English who most often have a problem with Americans referring to the ‘UK’ as England. IME this is nothing compared to the problem Scottish people have with English people referring to the UK as England. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/35 "2018-03-25T09:12:07Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Actually, do you get annoyed at being called “Dutch”, a lightly disguised corruption of the German word for German. Not annoyed with that, but it does cause problems. I live in Italy and if I say ‘I’m Dutch’ I know that half the people will think that means German. If I say I’m from The Netherlands, many won’t know what that is. So I wheel out ‘Holland’ again. My life isn’t easy, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/36 "2018-03-25T19:13:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > My above-mentioned friend has lived in the US for some 60 years and probably refers to it as Holland after dealing with 60 years of American ignorance of Europe. “Neither Lands? Whassat?” “Um…Holland?” I never actually heard of “The Netherlands” until I was in my 30s. I’d always heard “Holland” before that. I’m noticed that a lot of the history books I’ve read refer to “The Low Countries” or “The United Provinces”. If I’ve read things correctly, the current “Netherlands” was originally a bunch of small principalities, much like Germany, that eventually banded together with Holland being the largest and most dominant, both politically and economically. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/37 "2018-03-25T20:52:31Z")
Trust the Dutch to be laid back enough that they don’t even mind half their country being ignored 😃 > [@Corry\_El](#): > > IME it’s the English who most often have a problem with Americans referring to the ‘UK’ as England. And again, the UK _is_ mainly England and the fig leaf of pretending it’s an ‘equal union of nations’ will be even more obvious if Scotland leaves. How that reality is digested in Belfast and Cardiff is another question. So is politeness a different question, no benefit to offending people for no reason. Do people pretend it’s an equal union? There are a lot more English people than Welsh or Northern Irish but that doesn’t mean Wales and Northern Ireland cease to exist. They have their own governments, additional languages (Welsh and Irish - Irish is uncommon in NI but not unknown) and different laws. > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I never actually heard of “The Netherlands” until I was in my 30s. I’d always heard “Holland” before that. I’m noticed that a lot of the history books I’ve read refer to “The Low Countries” or “The United Provinces”. > > If I’ve read things correctly, the current “Netherlands” was originally a bunch of small principalities, much like Germany, that eventually banded together with Holland being the largest and most dominant, both politically and economically. The low countries is a term that includes Belgium and Luxembourg too, basically a synonym of Benelux. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/38 "2018-03-27T05:26:02Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > The low countries is a term that includes Belgium and Luxembourg too, basically a synonym of Benelux. Beholux. (Yep, sounds weird.) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/39 "2018-03-27T10:59:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As somebody who lives in New York but doesn’t live in New York City, I can understand the annoyance. In which one of the boroughs do you live then? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077/40 "2018-03-27T11:22:07Z")
It’s not called Holland and stop calling me Dutch! I’m Ah-nold! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dutch-do-you-get-annoyed-by-your-country-being-referred-to-as-holland/811077.md?page=3)