I sent you a counter trophy!

Meh, Holland is both a reference to the provinces and a synonym for the Netherlands. There's a reason why we sing "Hup Holland Hup" at football matches. Because everyone understands that it refers to the country, not just the two provinces.

Hahaha I've proudly presented it in my showcase! Great counter! And I'm sincerely sorry for your 'autobahns' :D 

You make 1 capital mistake here, you asume that 'most' people enjoy or watch soccer. That is a thinking fault. I would say, of course those people sing that, they don't know any better :) 

 (and when we actually win, they sing: nederland.... ohhh nederland.... )  

Well, it's the number one sport in our country. With nearly 10% of the country being a member of a football club and on top of that a gigantic fanbase of the sport existing as well, you can safely assume they're at least somewhat representative of the population of our country.

Plus, the Dikke van Dale has two entries for the word 'Holland':

1. The two provinces
2. The Netherlands

And the official book? "het groene boekje?"

We can argue all day long about this, but like you said, 10% of the population plays football, maybe 10% out of those think Holland is The Netherlands, well, we need to educate those poor souls. But the official name is The Netherlands. You know it, I know it... so why drag some minority into it?  

Ok, so let's leave the football argument out of it. The fact that the Dikke van Dale provides those two definitions definitely is a valid argument. Also het Groene Boekje refers to spelling, not definitions.

Eh no it is not... The official name is just The Netherlands... The Dikke van Dale is a commercial word-book... It has no influence on this discussion. Or are you going to argue that our official name isn't the Netherlands? 

No, I never said that. I merely said that Holland is a commonly accepted synonym for the Netherlands, which is why the Dikke van Dale refers to it as such. You claimed that my 'football argument' was irrelevant because it potentially meant that "merely" 120,000 people thought that Holland could refer to the Netherlands. Apparently your vision on the matter is so incredibly sacred that it should be held in higher regard than the Dikke van Dale, the website of the Dutch foreign ministry and 120,000-1,200,000 pepople.

Well yes, that is obvious, coming from a country with more than 16 million people of whom most don't want to be called Hollander... So yes, of course my statement has more value in this. I'm backed up by 15 million, AND the official name.... Using Holland as a name for the country is just a simple story of badly educated people and we should correct that, educate the people. We don't want them to be dumb about this issue do we? 

And I'm not going to respond to your pool with a 1000% differential rate... 

First of all, where did you pull this 15 million number from? To literally translate a Dutch saying, you sucked it out of your thumb. It's funny how you're not accepting the Dikke van Dale as a valid source yet you make up numbers without ANY evidence to support those numbers.

Second of all the 1000% differential rate is because you presented the possibility that only 10% of the Dutch footballing crowd would use Holland to refer to the Netherlands. I went along with it because 120,000 people considering it to be a valid synonym is still 120,000 people. Which is 120,000 times the amount of people you can provide as a potential source (yourself).

Third, synonyms work. That's one of the great things about language. There's multiple ways of expressing what you want to say.

It's obvious you have a problem with the term Holland as a synonym for the Netherlands. I don't. I also wouldnt have a problem with it if it wasnt a synonym. Fact of the matter is, is that is a synonym. I've given you multiple sources to back it up, yet you're clinging onto your own vision on the matter which is entirely based on your personal feelings.

And just what is "netherlands"? Lowlands. It's really just a reference to altitude, since the country was build in a bog between the mouth of the Rhine and Ostfriesland. 

Yes, true, but Holland means the same. It's just pretty irritating for the most people in the Netherlands to be called Holland(er). Ofcourse as above, some don't mind, which is cool. Doesn't change the fact that Holland isn't its name. 

How about Batavia? Or does that sound too much like Bavaria?

There is always Dutchland, though that again sounds too much like Deutschland.

I don not envy your identity crisis.

It was a country, then it became a state, much to our regret.

I think I like Dutchland lol. Ah, it won't be a problem for long anyway. Any civilization that settles below sealevel is bound to be swept away from the DNA-pool sooner or later lol. 

How about the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, you know, if you're not into the whole brevity thing?

It's been a long time since this happened to me, but I have absolutely no clue what brevity means 

the art of being short or "to the point"