New Year Fireworks 2008 from London / Dutch Design and Engineering - Part 1

Okay, our fireworks in Hoofddorp - see former posting - are not quite as impressive as this awesome display by French pyrotechnician Chritoph Berthonneau in London, England. However, there is a Dutch contribution visible in this fantastic video, because the beautiful London Eye was built in the Netherlands by the company Hollandia. And what about the next Hollandia project in Dubai? Looks exciting too, don't you think?

But wherever you are coming from - just enjoy this video and have a great two thousand and eight all over the globe!

Boulevard and mannequin are Dutch words

The French word, boulevard was derived from the Dutch word bolwerk (before 1395), which is still in use today in The Netherlands and means ‘rampart’. The English word ‘bulwark’ is also a derivative of this Dutch word.
The French adapted several nautical terms from the Dutch around the late Middle Ages and sixteenth century when Holland was a world leader in shipbuilding and nautical science. The French word for the port side of a ship, bâbord, is from the Middle Dutch word for port, bakboord. The other side of the ship is called tribord in French and this comes from stuurboord, the Dutch word for ‘starboard’. Yacht has made it into French (and English and many other languages) from the Middle Dutch word jaght, a word connected to the verb jagen ‘to chase’. The Dutch word for yacht is now jacht. Even the French word, fret, meaning ‘freight’ carried by ships is from the Middle Dutch word, vrecht for ‘sea freight’
And who would have thought that mannequin, the French word for fashion model, came from the Dutch? It is from the Middle Dutch word (circa 1450) mannekijn, meaning ‘little man or puppet' (see picture). Source

Dutch words in the English language

Furlough: A leave of absence or vacation, alteration of vorloffe, furlogh, from Dutch verlof (Middle Dutch) 1. I think you can also recognize the German word for holiday 'Urlaub' in this word - the Dutch and German languages are closely related, of course.

Maelstrom: Dutch malen ("grind") + stroom ("stream")
Large and violent whirlpool, any violent or turbulent situation.
On Wikipedia I found a list of English words derived from our language - check this. And this is also an interesting discussion.
Have a look at my postings about the Netherlands - USA below if you are interested in this subject and let me know what you think!