English Explanatory Dictionary

double Dutch

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Incomprehensible language or speech.
  2. A language game akin to pig Latin.
  3. A game of jump rope with two ropes and frequently two jumpers.
  4. Sex using a condom and the contraceptive pill at the same time.

Pronunciation

/dʌb.əl ˈdʌtʃ/ en-au-double Dutch.ogg

Word forms

double Dutch

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

all Greek to me gibberish gobbledygook nonsense
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