r/CozyPlaces • u/Almighty_Egg Dog at feet • Dec 26 '22

COTTAGE East Neuk, Scotland. Early 1700s. Fire crackles, waves batter the house.

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7.8k Upvotes

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518

u/miaomiaomiao Dec 26 '22

Neuk means Fuck in Dutch 🤭

281

u/Almighty_Egg Dog at feet Dec 26 '22

Ha! I should have known (neuken in de keuken).

This part of Scotland traded heavily with the Dutch back in the day (hence the stepped Dutch gables of our house and many others).

It must have provided a good laugh to the Dutch sailors and tradesmen.

34

u/outdoorsyAF101 Dec 27 '22

I learned two things today! What were they trading?

61

u/OreoSpamBurger Dec 27 '22 edited Dec 27 '22

Scotland traded heavily with the Dutch

A lot of wool for the dutch textile industry, apparently, also fish and seafood. High end finished goods came back the other way.

https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/travel/scotland-travel/scotland-has-been-going-dutch-since-1066

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/entertainment/tv-film/2071663/scotlands-centuries-old-links-with-the-flemish-and-dutch-people-celebrated-in-new-billy-kay-documentaries/

10

u/Szygani Dec 27 '22

Why would we trade fish? Both countries are coastal countries! What did we do; "here's a herring, can have your herring now?"

3

u/OreoSpamBurger Dec 27 '22

Yeah I wondered that, but it was mentioned in one of the articles I linked.

Maybe Scottish fish was considered better or 'exotic' or something? They also mentioned Salmon, which I would guess Scotland had relatively more of.

1

u/albadil Dec 27 '22

Looks uncomfortably at name of the village...

10

u/OstentatiousSock Dec 27 '22

Wow! So this is your ancestral home? Super cool!

46

u/Judazzz Dec 27 '22

Can confirm: I'm Dutch and that title made me chuckle like an idiot.

Is there a Downtown or Central Neuk as well?

47

u/WilliamofYellow Dec 27 '22 edited Dec 28 '23

"Neuk" is simply the Scots version of the English word "nook", meaning corner. The East Neuk is the corner of the Kingdom of Fife that sticks out into the North Sea.

2

u/Judazzz Dec 27 '22

TIL, thanks!

10

u/AlwynEvokedHippest Dec 27 '22

/u/WilliamofYellow is right about the etymology of the town’s name.

Although unrelated to the naming of this town we do have the word nookie in English which supposedly comes from that Dutch word.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nookie

19

u/ssyoit Dec 27 '22

Funny. My first thought looking at the photos was how this was 100% a baby-making home

18

u/fckingnapkin Dec 26 '22

I love how this is the first comment. I snorted when I read the title because of it🙄

-112

u/HagweiNoir Dec 26 '22

No it doesn't.

69

u/AlpacasAreGreat Dec 26 '22

It does mean that. Source: am very Dutch

27

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '22

You’re just out here lying huh.

5

u/ksHunt Dec 27 '22

And he spoke it, and thus it was so! The arbiter of all Dutch

2

u/JynxTail Dec 27 '22

It does, what the neuk are you on about?