double Dutch
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From double (“twice, i.e. more than”) + Dutch. For sense 1: Dutch (which historically had a wider meaning) as a foreign language was not easily understood, so anything completely incomprehensible would be double Dutch, i.e. twice as hard as Dutch. Sense 2 expands on this meaning.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /dʌb.əl ˈdʌtʃ/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]- Incomprehensible language or speech.
- 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 121:
- “Tell him I don’t know what he’s talking about. It’s double Dutch to me.”
- A language game akin to pig Latin.
- A game of jump rope with two ropes and frequently two jumpers.
- (colloquial) Sex using a condom and the contraceptive pill at the same time.
Synonyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]incomprehensible language
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