double Dutch
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double Dutch
1. Indecipherable or nonsense speech. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. I'm not a programmer, so I have no idea what they're saying in there—it all sounds like double Dutch to me. When you teach preschoolers, you get used to hearing double Dutch all day.
2. A style of jumping rope in which two ropes are swung at the same time in opposite directions. I'm pretty good at jumping rope, but I always get tangled up when I try double Dutch.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
double Dutch
1. language or speech that is difficult or impossible to understand. This book on English grammar is written in double Dutch. I can't understand a word. Try to find a lecturer who speaks slowly, not one who speaks double Dutch.
2. a game of jumping rope using two ropes swung simultaneously in opposite directions. The girls were playing double Dutch in the schoolyard.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
double Dutch
1. Language that cannot be understood, gibberish, as in They might have been speaking double Dutch, for all I understood. This usage dates from the 1870s (an earlier version, however, had it as high Dutch) and is heard less often today than the synonym double talk.
2. A game of jump rope in which players jump over two ropes swung in a crisscross fashion.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ˌdouble ˈDutch
(British English, informal) language that is impossible to understand: I wish someone would explain this contract in simple language — it’s all double Dutch to me!Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017