double Dutch

/dʌb.əl ˈdʌtʃ/

noun

Incomprehensible language or speech.

Similar
all Greek to megibberishgobbledygooknonsense
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Meanings

noundouble Dutch (uncountable)
  1. uncountableIncomprehensible language or speech.

    “Tell him I don’t know what he’s talking about. It’s double Dutch to me.”

    1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 121
  2. uncountableA language game akin to pig Latin.

    Synonyms: all Greek to me, gibberish, gobbledygook, nonsense

  3. uncountableA game of jump rope with two ropes and frequently two jumpers.
  4. colloquialuncountableSex using a condom and the contraceptive pill at the same time.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA language game akin to pig Latin.

Similar
all Greek to megibberishgobbledygooknonsense
Also see
double talkdutchgarbageit's all greek to menonsense

Origin

From double (“twice, i.e. more than”) + Dutch. For sense 1: Dutch (which historically had a wider meaning) as a foreign language was not easily understood, so anything completely incomprehensible would be double Dutch, i.e. twice as hard as Dutch. Sense 2 expands on this meaning.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian неразбираем език
  • неразбираем език (nerazbiraem ezik)incomprehensible language
Dutch koeterwaals, wartaal
  • koeterwaalsincomprehensible language
  • wartaalincomprehensible language
Finnish siansaksa, heprea
  • siansaksaincomprehensible language
  • hepreaincomprehensible language
French charabia
  • charabiaincomprehensible language
German Kauderwelsch
  • Kauderwelschincomprehensible language
Greek κινέζικα
  • κινέζικα (kinézika)incomprehensible language
Hungarian halandzsa
  • halandzsaincomprehensible language
Icelandic golfranska, skollaþýska
  • golfranskaincomprehensible language
  • skollaþýskaincomprehensible language
  • hrognamálincomprehensible language
  • kúrelskaincomprehensible language
Italian arabo, turco
  • araboincomprehensible language
  • turcoincomprehensible language
Polish chińszczyzna
  • chińszczyznaincomprehensible language
Portuguese grego
  • gregoincomprehensible language
Russian тараба́рщина, кита́йская гра́мота
  • тараба́рщина (tarabárščina)incomprehensible language
  • кита́йская гра́мота (kitájskaja grámota)incomprehensible language
Spanish chino básico, un chino
  • chino básicoincomprehensible language
  • un chinoincomprehensible language
Turkish saçmalık, anlaşılmaz
  • saçmalıkincomprehensible language
  • anlaşılmazincomprehensible language
  • deli saçmasıincomprehensible language
Cite this entry
APA

double Dutch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20Dutch

MLA

“double Dutch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20Dutch. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “double Dutch,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20Dutch.

Source: double Dutch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.