I’m Dutch, and honestly we’re not making it easy for all of you. You’ll see us aggressively commenting that “actually it’s not Holland but the Netherlands”, but then at the same time a lot of Dutch people themselves also use “Holland” instead of “the Netherlands”. Companies and advertisements will use “Holland” to advertise abroad, we chant “hup Holland hup” during soccer events, etc.
So while it’s technically true that “Holland” isn’t “the Netherlands”, anyone making a point of it is being pedantic and annoying like 90% of the time. Everyone knows what you mean.
I’m Dutch, and honestly we’re not making it easy for all of you. You’ll see us aggressively commenting that “actually it’s not Holland but the Netherlands”, but then at the same time a lot of Dutch people themselves also use “Holland” instead of “the Netherlands”. Companies and advertisements will use “Holland” to advertise abroad, we chant “hup Holland hup” during soccer events, etc.
So while it’s technically true that “Holland” isn’t “the Netherlands”, anyone making a point of it is being pedantic and annoying like 90% of the time. Everyone knows what you mean.