Double Dutch (jump rope)

Double Dutch is a game in which two long jump ropes turning in opposite directions are jumped by one or more players jumping simultaneously.

It is widely acknowledged that modern Double Dutch originated in the United States among girls in predominantly Black urban communities during the 1940s and 1950s, who congregated on street corners to display new tricks and repurposed clotheslines as ropes. While it had long been a popular street activity for African American girls in New York City, the rules of the sport were formalized in the early 1970s by NYPD officers Ulysses Williams and David Walker. The first official competition was held in 1974. Competitions in Double Dutch range from block parties to the world level. During the spring of 2009, Double Dutch became a varsity sport in New York City public high schools. In the early 1980s, Double Dutch was strongly associated with New York hip hop culture. It has also been recognized as an element of the genre by notable MCs such as KRS-One.

Although it is popularly claimed the activity was brought to America by Dutch settlers, the term "double Dutch" itself has long existed in English slang, where it originally referred to incomprehensible speech or nonsense, reflecting historical English views of the Dutch language as confusing or strange. Phrases such as "in Dutch", meaning to be in trouble, further illustrate this pejorative connotation. The use of the term "double Dutch" for the game reflects the visual complexity and perceived challenge of the jump-roping, similar to the confusion implied by the idiom.