Holland ist offen
German
Etymology
Literally, "Holland is open". From Central Franconian do es offe Holland, explained in the Rheinisches Wörterbuch as a pun on holle (“to take, fetch”), cognate of German holen.
Phrase
Holland ist offen
- (regional, Rhineland) Said of a situation where rules are no longer respected or where there is no control, such that everyone does what benefits them or takes what they want.
- 2006, Thomas Kilchenstein, “In der Abwehr war Holland offen”, website of Frankfurter Rundschau
- Die Eintracht hatte also sechs rein defensive Spieler in ihren Reihen – und trotzdem wirkte die Abwehr so instabil und löchrig wie noch nie in dieser Saison. „In der Abwehr war heute Holland offen“, meckerte Ballfänger Pröll.
- Accordingly, Eintracht Frankfurt had six purely defensive players among their ranks – and nevertheless the defence looked more unstable and porous than ever this season. “In the defence, we let them do as they wished today”, grumped goalkeeper Markus Pröll [born in Rheinbach].
- Bei der Schwarzarbeit hat man ja schon aufgehört, überhaupt zu kontrollieren. Da ist Holland völlig offen mittlerweile.
- Regarding illicit labour, they’ve effectively stopped even bothering to perform checks. Everybody is doing whatever they want by now.
- 2006, Thomas Kilchenstein, “In der Abwehr war Holland offen”, website of Frankfurter Rundschau