Third installment
closing in
Your table is so elegant. I think I had a key once that could write that vertical slash. I forgot where to find it.

The sea-lake words are interesting.
You have created an Ijsselmeer in the Zuiderzee, right? Or wrong
In Denmark we operate in the principle with ’hav’ for sea/ocean and ’sø’ for an inland lake. ’Sø’ is very much like ’zee’, ’See’ and ’sea’ but as the Germans we don’t seem to have things straight. And you don't either, if the Ijsselmeer example is right.

’Hav’ has a different origin - a Norrøn (Nordic) one.

We have the word ’Nordsøen’ (which is a direct translation from 'The North Sea' when we talk about the ocean between Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and England) using the ’lake’ word.
However, if we talk about the coastal waters along the Juland peninsula, it is called ’Vesterhavet’ (The West Sea), and ’hav’ is normally the bigger thing and lake the smaller.
It’s easier with The Baltic Sea, which is invariably called ’Østersøen’ (The East Sea).
So what do you call the North Sea in Dutch?
And would you have another name for your Dutch coastal waters?

keithhenry, I apologize for being "dumsmart" - a novel word invented and used by our Queen in her traditional New Year speech many years ago, to reproach the Danes for their in her opinion less than pleasant behavior toward strangers - it can be translated into "stupid-smart" and we never forget. We are embarassed and hurt at the same time. The word harbors some arrogance, a good deal of plain stupidity and a pound of inconsideration in it.

I have done my homework on Wikipedia now. No throbbing Diesels, but an unusual man who lead a life with many faces. A Bohemian one mixed with main stream traits. I intend to sample his writings. Plenty is available at Danish libraries.

Here is Icelandic singer and composer Björk, ... e e cumming's poems.

I think Mr e e cummings would have approved.

Fourth installment
Oh, boy, this is ballooning isn’t it?

Say, little mermaid, in Dutch your last name 'mermaid' would translate as "meermin" or "zeemeermin".

As to mermaids: I really like you Dutchmen being able to cover all possibilities: meermin must be a salt water mermaid, whereas the zeemeermin probably can do both salt and fresh water, which is a great feature for mermaids wanting to visit the Netherlands where the water is transformed all the time … now: what do we call a brackish-water-mermaid?

The ’min’ part? It comes up as ”minus” in Danish; will that mean in the terms of a mermaid? A girl?

’min of meer’ is practically Danish – however for some reason we switch the two into ’mere eller mindre’. I never gave it a thought that they are antonyms, but you’re right, of course. In my mind I always saw it as a starting point having undefined upper and lower limits/tolerances/wiggle room. And of course I had to check the German way to say this: mehr oder weniger.
- to be continued - I have your tourism part of this chapter left

My dear, if you feel compelled to apologize then I must unquestioningly and unhesitatingly forgive you - for being human. I learned long ago to be ever mindful of the three fingers I point at myself anytime I choose to point one at someone else - though as I continue on my journey into senile old fart-dom, I will inevitably forget that at times as well. I am doomed it seems to fail miserably at growing old gracefully. So, as you can see, I am not a good influence and have somehow managed to unfortunately affect you by some means beyond my feeble comprehension. Actually, to be honest, there is a VERY logical reason for your initial understanding. There is an American company - Cummins Engines - that makes, among other things, diesel engines that one American car maker has been known to heavily promote in some of its vehicles. So, the fault is not yours but lies with that dastardly villainous missing letter G. Let us immediately string it up from the highest rafters in the nearest outhouse (after all, we hang plastic pine trees from our car mirrors).

Einstein was quite right - God does not play dice with the universe. He also has a wicked sense of humor that I am reminded of each and every time I look at myself in the mirror.

Fifth installment
- turning me into a tourist, which it my favorite state; you should know I went on a road trip by myself to the Netherlands for eight days in April, and I think I saw a lot and know for sure there is much, much more left to see
Vaalserberg
adriverhoef, your highest mountain is about twice as high as Denmark’s tallest at 172,54 m – deduct the bronze age barrow on the top, and we’re down to 170,77 m. Our most popular ”mountain” is only 147 m, but it makes up for it by a spectacular name: ”The Sky Mountain”. I have put Vaalserberg on my ”Holland” list (maybe I should rename the list ”Nederlandene”). The hike and the view are attractive.

Frisian Islands
Pearls on a string.
I noticed the word ”Frysland” and it gave me the chills – ’fryse’ meaning to be cold in Danish. Have you been there?

Nordzee
Something we share and battle against – you more than we. The tide must be more powerful along your coastline and have to be taken into consideration all the time when construction your seawalls.

Deltawerken
One huge feat!
You have sunk oceans of money into that. Do you regard that seawall as finished? Or will you have to expand in some ways in order to take a possible rise of the water level in the oceans into account?

Sand Engine
Now that I didn’t know about. That is really something! That goes right to the "Nederlandene" list. It even says it works. I wonder if the coastal protection people in Denmark have studied this?


Hondsbossche Zeewering
is similar to our Danish dykes, but much larger in height and looks sturdier. Say, do you feel safe from the flooding catastophes that have hit the Netherlands historically? I remember in 1953 when I was in second class in school that we collected especially clothing to be shipped to the Netherlands.

Ijsselmeer en Afsluitsdijk
Crossed it in 1973? Never forgot. Did it again i April this year. Again: What a feat!

Waterland
Yes, water, water, water everywhere. I even stopped at a very neat waterworks – that was because of the attractive building, though!

Thank you for taking me on a tour of your country which I remember with great fondness. Oh, water! I spent 2x2 nights on houseboats on the Spaarne in Haarlem and on the Rhine in Arnhem …

End of first chapter.
It has been such a pleasure. I thought nobody was interested in language this way until I noticed your little ”hints” to KliK
Good night. I hope to catch up with some of the new chapters tomorrow …..