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lazza · Post by **lazza** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:09 am

androl wrote:don't the Spanish also say "eso me parece chino" ("that seems chinese to me") for something that sounds strange?
In German we say "das kommt mir spanisch vor"

And in the UK: "It's double dutch".... not sure why it's double....

tabbs · Post by **tabbs** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:36 am

There are quite a few phrases in English that refer to "Dutch", many of them pejorative. Guess that Double Dutch means something is, from an English/British POV, even less understandable or intellegible than Dutch.

Another English expression that comes close to what Zé da Silva mentioned is the saying "it's all Greek to me". Now that would be "Bohemian villages" for us Germans. And just as you carry coal to Newcastle, we carry owls to Athens.

Christian

JP Simões · Post by **JP Simões** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:32 pm

There's also another english expression, "going Dutch", when, say, in a restaurant or something, each person pays his/her own bill instead of one person paying it all.

Dakkus · Post by **Dakkus** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:45 pm

Finnish is completely Hebrew for most EBTers. ;)

Divine · Post by **Divine** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:50 pm

tabbs wrote:There are quite a few phrases in English that refer to "Dutch"

Indeed.

gg947 · Post by **gg947** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:54 am

We also say:

"Eso suena a chino" (that sounds chinese), that sounds strange

groentje · Post by **groentje** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:47 pm

An non comprehensive language is Chinese or Latin in Dutch.
And carrying water to the sea is common, too, carrying owls to Athens is more intellectual.

Saucage doesn't interest us mucht, either.

groentje · Post by **groentje** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:49 pm

Ah, and "chinezen", or "to chinese" is something drug related.

eddydevries · Post by **eddydevries** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:13 am

Zé da Silva wrote:There's also another english expression, "going Dutch", when, say, in a restaurant or something, each person pays his/her own bill instead of one person paying it all.

Isn't it the same as an "American Party"?

Concernig chinese: the phrase "it's chinese to me" can also literally be translated in Dutch. I think in many European languages this phras mean the same.