Up a Tree

You are probably familiar with the little Dutch girl -- she's a stereotype who's been appropriated for advertising purposes . She wears wooden shoes, has blonde hair and rosy cheeks and wears the "Dutch cap," also called the "Dutch bonnett," a cotton or lace cap with triangular flaps turned up on the sides. That's her to the right.  A stereotype to be sure, but it reflects parts of Dutch culture and heritage. I suspect if you travel to the Netherlands, though, you would only see this representation as part of the tourist trade. I could be wrong -- some companies there might actually use the concept as part of their identity and marketing. I didn't check. Now, if you were paying attention, you noticed that 1) the country I referenced in relation to Dutch people was the Netherlands, not Holland, and 2) the term "Dutch" has no apparent linguistic tie to either country name. What's up with that? The answer is a bit complicated, involving et...