talk double Dutch—be totally incomprehensible when speaking:
- Oh yea, there was a guy explaining the system—in English and people were just looking at him as if he was talking double Dutch.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the compound doubletalk—(also: doublespeak) use deliberately imprecise, ambiguous language to disguise the actual meaning:
- The group is demanding a “genuine commitment to transformation” and a move away from the “tendency to double-talk.”
talk like a Dutch uncle—speak in a harsh, unkind manner to educate, encourage, or admonish a person:
- Just because he’s older than me doesn’t give him the right to talk to me like a Dutch uncle!