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Probably because the joke does not translate so well into Dutch. The translation of "The Flying Dutchman" is "De Vliegende Hollander", so there is no obvious pl
by Phemist 6y ago
Probably because the joke does not translate so well into Dutch. The translation of "The Flying Dutchman" is "De Vliegende Hollander", so there is no obvious place to put a car pun (but maybe someone more creative than me can interject here).
- marta_morena_28 6y agoIf you put a Dutchman into the car, it's a flying dutchman. I don't see why they couldn't just use "Flying Dutchman" as name for this car.
- Phemist 6y agoThat also puts you in a morass of discussions you don't want to be in. The link between the car and the legend might be problematic because it perpetuates the idea of the "Hollanders" being the only Dutchmen. For the same reason people not from Holland (the region contained by the western most provinces of the country) do not like it when The Netherlands is referred to as Holland in English. I jest of course. The official English name being "Flying Dutchman" could definitely work, and "Vliegende Nederlander" as the official Dutch name would be funny.
- piaste 6y agoWell the company is based in Raamsdonksveer which is in Brabant but, if my wiki-walking didn't mislead me, used to be part of Holland until fairly recently - 1815 or so. Could be good enough to go with "Vliegende Hollander" on historical grounds :)
- OrderlyTiamat 6y agoAnecdotal data point here, it's totally fine with me if you call us hollanders, and I'm not from Holland itself. Its simply association with our brand as a nation, I don't see any problem there!
- thaumasiotes 6y agoYou might be interested to know that some Australian aborigines refer to all whites as "Hollanders" (Balanda).
- contravariant 6y agoDe Vliegende Hollandkar?
- dzhiurgis 6y agodutchman in Lithuanian slang is a driver (typically of a small passenger bus or taxi)