There are hundreds of funny expressions in the English language. A lot of them include country names or nationalities, and many are very old. Take these examples: The Dutch are the target of most English expressions about nationalities. Why are there so many jokes about the Dutch in English? And what do these expressions mean? In the 17 th and early 18 th centuries, there were wars between the British and the Dutch, and “Dutch”became a bad word. So, “double Dutch” means something that has no meaning or is impossible to understand. A “Dutch uncle” is someone who gives much stronger advice than he needs to. There are later expressions, which are funnier and kinder, like “to go Dutch”, which is nowadays a popular expression. It means to pay for only your part of a bill. This often happens when a group of friends have a meal together, and each person pays for the food they ate. “I’m a Dutchman” is another common expression. This means not being able to believe something. An expression with a similar meaning to “double Dutch” is “it’s all Greek to me”, which means “I don’t understand”. The expression was made famous in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, although it is really hundreds years older. If you “take French leave”, you are not present or leave somewhere without telling anyone. For example, you could take French leae from a classroom or the place where you work. This expression is from the 18 th century when French people left parties without saying good bye to the host. There are “Chinese whispers”, which mean a confused message. This describes the fact that a message can often change as it is passed from person to person. This expression comes from the First World War, when foreigners were often confused by the Chinese language. There is also the expression “Chinese puzzles”, meaning a puzzle or problem that cannot be solved. Many peopole find English expression difficult to understand, but now that you know about some of them, you can have fun finding out many more interesting English expressions.