Holland ist offen

German

Etymology

Literally, “Holland is open”. From Central Franconian do es offe Holland, explained in the Rheinisches Wörterbuch as a pun on holle (“to take, fetch”), cognate of German holen.

Phrase

Holland ist offen

1. (regional, Rhineland) Said of a situation where rules are no longer respected or where there is no control, such that everyone does what benefits them or takes what they want.
   • 2006, Thomas Kilchenstein, “In der Abwehr war Holland offen”, website of Frankfurter Rundschau

     Die Eintracht hatte also sechs rein defensive Spieler in ihren Reihen – und trotzdem wirkte die Abwehr so instabil und löchrig wie noch nie in dieser Saison. „In der Abwehr war heute Holland offen“, meckerte Ballfänger Pröll.

     Accordingly, Eintracht Frankfurt had six purely defensive players among their ranks – and nevertheless the defence looked more unstable and porous than ever this season. “In the defence, we let them do as they wished today”, grumped goalkeeper Markus Pröll [born in Rheinbach].

   Bei der Schwarzarbeit hat man ja schon aufgehört, überhaupt zu kontrollieren. Da ist Holland völlig offen mittlerweile.

   Regarding illicit labour, they’ve effectively stopped even bothering to perform checks. Everybody is doing whatever they want by now.