hor lan (English)
Where does "hor lan" come from?
The English verb 'hor lan' stems from the Dutch place name 'Holland,' which originally meant 'wood land.' Through the influence of Cantonese and Hokkien, the name became a shorthand for ending up far away, evolving into the phrase 'to go to Holland' before being adopted into English as a slang term for getting lost or going off course.
Full etymology tree
- hor lan (English), 'To have unexpectedly lost one's way and gone off course; to get lost and end up in some faraway place.'
- borrowed 荷蘭 (Hô-lân) (Hokkien)
- borrowed Holland (Dutch), 'Holland (a traditional region of the Netherlands formed by two modern provinces, North Holland and South Holland)'
- derived Hollant (Middle Dutch), 'Holland (a county)'
- inherited *Holtland (Old Dutch)
- compound holt (Old Dutch), 'wood (the material)'
- compound lant (Old Dutch), 'land (as opposed to water)'
- inherited lant (Middle Dutch), 'land'
- inherited *Holtland (Old Dutch)
- derived Hollant (Middle Dutch), 'Holland (a county)'
- borrowed Holland (Dutch), 'Holland (a traditional region of the Netherlands formed by two modern provinces, North Holland and South Holland)'
- borrowed 荷蘭 (ho⁴ laan⁴⁻¹) (Cantonese)
- borrowed Holland (Dutch), 'Holland (a traditional region of the Netherlands formed by two modern provinces, North Holland and South Holland)'
- derived Hollant (Middle Dutch), 'Holland (a county)'
- inherited *Holtland (Old Dutch)
- compound holt (Old Dutch), 'wood (the material)'
- compound lant (Old Dutch), 'land (as opposed to water)'
- inherited lant (Middle Dutch), 'land'
- inherited *Holtland (Old Dutch)
- derived Hollant (Middle Dutch), 'Holland (a county)'
- borrowed Holland (Dutch), 'Holland (a traditional region of the Netherlands formed by two modern provinces, North Holland and South Holland)'
- borrowed 荷蘭 (Hô-lân) (Hokkien)
Direct ancestors
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris