Hauke and Mechthild,  I enjoyed very much your letter to the Digest, 
and your tales of the "Dutch" and the "Krauts".

I recently performed at the residence of the Consulate General of 
the Netherlands in Los Angeles, and I asked him about the origin of 
the word "Dutch", which I thought was an intentional mispronunciation
of "Deutsch", as you noted.

"Ja, Robbie," he replied, "the word comes from England, long ago, 
when the British and Dutch were competing in world trade.  To the 
Netherlander seamen it was a derogatory term, and it probably caused 
many fights at the waterfront."

But later that evening a young man from Amsterdam smiled and said, 
"Don't worry about calling us 'Dutchmen'.  All the English speakers 
say 'Dutch', because it's a most convenient adjective."

At gatherings of Germans living in California, I often see a big 
"button" on their shirts, which says:

        "Know how to make a Sour Kraut?
               Don't pay him!"

I'm happy that the descendants of my European ancestors still have 
a jolly sense of humor!

-- Robbie Rhodes