Double Dutch

¹

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. a form of the game of jump rope in which two persons, holding the respective ends of two long jump ropes, swing them in a synchronized fashion, usually directed inward so the ropes are going in opposite directions, for one or two others to jump over.

double Dutch

²

noun

Slang.

1. unintelligible or garbled speech or language.

   She could have been talking double Dutch for all we understood of it.

double Dutch

noun

1. informal,  incomprehensible talk; gibberish

Word History and Origins

Origin of double Dutch¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Idioms and Phrases

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 .

A game of jump rope in which players jump over two ropes swung in a crisscross fashion.