No, it’s ‘The Dunking Dutchman’, or as I like to call him, ‘Dutchboy in the Paint’.
To this I add another one, one whose origin I cannot fathom- and of course, equally derogatory, I’d wager. As a Cameraman, I’m asked to shoot a shot “Dutch Angle”- that is, with the horizon tilted to one side. Origin???
As far as I can tell, the so-called “Dutch Master” Painters, whose work I revere ( especially Vermeer’s) always kept a pretty level horizon. Whence, then, this term?
Cartooniverse
The Word Detective website has a column on “Dutch” slurs at
http://www.word-detective.com/back-h.html#dutch
It doesn’t mention Dutch Angle, but does reference a more complete listing in a book by Clayton Rawson. Maybe that could give a history of the term.
OK, I can see how those other expressions are derogatory, but saying that “dutch oven” is insulting, just because it’s simple? It works well, for what it’s designed for, and I’ve yet to see the “high-tech” equivalent. Maybe that particular term has a legitimate origin? Invented in the Netherlands, perhaps? Used by the “Pensylvania Dutch”? Anyone know?
From this site:
A WAG: it’s the drunk and mentally unbalanced thing that makes it Dutch
This was the only thing I could find though. I’m thinking about famous Dutch film-producers like Bert Haanstra and Dick Maas, but they’re all pretty conventional from what I recall. Anton Corbijn is slightly more experimental, but he’s mostly known for his photographic work (e.g. the cover of the U2 Joshua Tree album). He did do some videos as well. “Losing my Religion” by R.E.M. comes to mind, although I’m not sure it’s his.
A Dutch oven is unknown to me as well.
A Dutch oven is a cast iron pot with a lid. Very efficient and useful.
There is also the uncouth practice of farting under the bed covers and holding one’s partner’s head under the blankets. I don’t know if this charming custom and term is only in NZ/Australia though.
Since everything else has already been covered, I’ll go ahead and mention that “Pennsylvania Dutch” is a corruption of “Deutsch” and they were indeed of German origin.
I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that the middel-Dutch “duitsch” for “common” might be from the same root as the German “deutsch” - many people call themselves “the people” or “the folk” in their own language and Deutsch is not unrelated to Nederlands.
also:
“Dutch-doors” - traditional Nederlandish carpentry or slur for “half-assed door”?
“Dutch Apple Pie” - almost certainly German, right?
“Dutch” as slang for a bad temper
“in Dutch” as slang for in trouble
Dank u vel en goedenacht.
Seems like if anything is deragoratory, it’s the term “Netherlands”. I mean, the term “nether” doesn’t have all that great of connotations.
Dank u wel en goedenacht
I’ll leave the translation to your imagination, Teeming Millions - it’s an easy one.
The Ryan: it isn’t derogatory when you think of the actual reason: Nederland* means “low land” in middle-Dutch. Our tallest mountain (and I use the term loosely) is 312 meters high - the same hight as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Pathetic, huh
Add to that the knowledge that 70% of the country is below water level because of our ability to build good dykes (no pun, naturally), and the term Nether is quite appropriate.
Anyone who knows the Dutch, knows that “Nether” does not apply to our general attitude - we’re pretty arrogant bastards, in the patriotic sense of the word
Also, VB is a foreign language to most Dutch people, as can be witnessed above…