Rebranding Holland
Posted on:: October 5th, 2019
Upset that Holland has become associated with legalized drugs and sex work, the nation has decided to rebrand itself as The Netherlands.
Yet “Netherlands” has a history of bawdy associations that goes back far further than Holland’s.
For example, in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors (Act III Scene 2), Dromio is comparing an obese woman to a globe, mapping countries to her features.
The comparison ends with:
Antipholus of Syracuse. Where stood Belgia, the Netherlands?
Dromio of Syracuse. Oh, sir, I did not look so low.
Oooh, that naughty, naughty Bard!
On the other hand, if Holland had run an Internet contest to come up with its new name, the Olympic teams would probably now be playing for the nation known as Weedy McWeedFace.
