It's a grey day here ... dark enough to require turning on lamps ... so I'd like to throw this out for comment. Here in New England we look for a patch of blue in an overcast sky as an indication the weather might clear. We say we are looking for "the Dutchman's Pants" meaning that we want to find a patch of blue sky about the size of a pair of old fashioned (traditional costume) Dutchman's Pants. You have anything similar?
I've never heard the expression, wow, even though we have plenty of reason to gaze hopefully at the gray in mid-Michigan. OTOH, we say, "if you don't like the weather, just wait a few days," since nothing stays the same around here for long. Oh, sure, its been raining for days here, but I know tomorrow will be different: we'll have hail!
Dear wow: I never heard the term "Dutchman's Pants" for a break in overcast hinting impending improvement in weather. But entering those words in Yahoo Search box brought up some attractive pictures of flowers so named.
We are talking a BIG patch of blue ... think of Paul Bunyan in a pair of Dutch pants of the traditional variety ... loose and full from waist to ankle. I Googled "Dutchman's Britches" and found a picture and lots of info on the flower which is quite lovely. Thanks wwh.
I come from northern California and we say, "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes." It can often change from sun to rain (with a rainbow!) to hail and back to sun again in the space of 20 minutes or so. I don't think we have a saying to compare to Dutchman's Pants though. We just say, "a patch of blue."
We use that in Newfoundland too, along with "If you don't like what you see out the front door, go look out the back door" or something to that effect.
an old expression "enough blue to make a sailor's pair of trousers." seems equivalent to the Dutchman's pants.
Yes, Rod, my Mum used the same expression, but she also used to say " .... a Dutchman a pair of britches," as well, almost as often. So, to me, the expressions are definitely interchangeable. If those of you who've been following thew "keeping the Dutch from the English" thread think that us Brits are a bit hooked on the Dutch, you should bear in mind that we only fought them for about twenty years or so - most of the time we have co-operated with them and traded with them. The drainage of the flat country of Eastern England was mostly done by Dutch experts, for instance. And, of course, they provided us with a King when we were in need of a new one (William III, married to Mary Stuart after her brother James was deposed - 1687-88.)
An interesting trivia question. At which airport was a sea battle fought? The answer (of course) is Schiphol, between the Spanish and Dutch fleets. I can't remember who won, 'cos there was something better on the other TV channel.
I heard of "eyes as blue as dutchman's britches" (and as "shiny as the seat of a police sargent's trouser!" ) -- as left handed compliments-- but never about the weather or sky. Aside from the Dutch reformed church-- a many place name, the dutch influence in NY is very slight.
Surely Mary Stuart and William of Orange were married long before James II was deposed.
Yep. 1677 (We got a day of school for it!). William and Mary "ascended the throne" together in 1689 to rule jointly, as King William III and Queen Mary II. UK had had Queens before, so why the insistence on a King? And why jointly? They were first cousins, both having Charles I as grandfather. Apparently parliament wanted Mary as Queen, Mary wanted her husband as King, and William wanted the throne by inheritance. Crowning them both seemed an acceptable compromise.
NY has had a large influx of Mexicans-- 15 years ago, most of the "Latino" population didn't exist-- we had Hispanics (which was just an other name for PR)-- now -- columbians (nice ones, not just drug war lords) peruvians, mexicans, Salvadorians (a report in the NY times said Salvadorians living in US sent back 100X more money than US relief funds did after the most recent disaster--)
an other NY time report said illegal immigrant workers on Long Island (mexicans, in this case) were getting paid $15 an hour! (of course, no SS, no benefits, no sick leave, and for most not even steady work)-- but still $15 an hour! This is of course attracting more immigration!
My in-laws, who are originally from Norway, are visiting, and on Saturday it was patchy sun and cloud kind of weather. We walked out of Chapters and my mother-in-law looked at the sky and said "There's enough blue to make a skirt!". A week ago I would have had NO CLUE what she was talking about, but of course I got what she was saying. I explained the "Dutchman's pants" thing and she told me that where she comes from, they talk about making a skirt instead. (Which brings us full circle - because weren't we talking about the Scandinavian origins of "sk" words a while ago?)
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site.
Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to
hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.
