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Dutch...

Posted by Graham Cambray on March 06, 2009 at 18:09

In Reply to: Dutch... posted by Bill Powell on March 06, 2009 at 17:08:

: Referring to expressions like dutch courage dutch uncle etc - have you heard the expression "dutch face"? I once heard it used referring to a man with a naturally stern-looking face, but no-one seems to know anything about it.

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Robert Hendrickson's Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins - the sort of book you use to keep the door open on a windy day - has a great long list of phrases starting Dutch (or Dutchman's):
act, auction, bargain, bond, brig, build, cap, cheese, clinker, clover, comfort, concert, courage, cupboard, defense, door, foot, gold, kiss, lap, luck, lunch, anchor, breeches, drink, headache, land, cape, log, pipe, medley, nightingale, oven, palate, pennants, pink, praise, pump, reckoning, red, route, straight, treat, two hundred, uncle, and wife.

But no "face". So I don't hold out very much hope.

In the US (is that where you are?), "Dutch" often means German (Deutsch). So it could fit. In the UK, we have a saying "The German sense of humour is no laughing matter". (GC)

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