> for me the really strange part about the word netherlands
> tho not the country the netherlands
> is the austrian netherlands

I imagine that phrase came into use to distinguish those territories
from the rest of Low Germany.

>> Further, why do they call a Netherlander a Dutchman??
>
> i think only because they are anglo & confused about who the dutch are
> & who the germans are

It's because the word is older than the distinction.

The Netherlands were just another part of the vaguely-defined German
lands until about the fifteenth century. The Flemish language is part
of the Low German dialect continuum. After Holland became a sea power,
the English word `Dutch' -- which previously covered both `Low Dutch'
and `High Dutch' (see Gulliver's Travels for examples of that usage) --
became specialized to mean only the nearest and (at the time) most
important of the German nations.

My familiarity with the Germanic languages and peoples is not nearly
what I wish it were, so I hope better historians/linguists/ethnographers
will clean up any gross distortions I've made.

--
Anton Sherwood -- br0nt0@... -- http://ogre.nu/
............ unemployment 2002, here i come! ............