Mary Jane, Aaaah!...why am I getting myself into this conversation? Can't help it. I also have strong PA Dutch roots. It's really interesting to me to hear someone standing up for PA Dutch as really Dutch. It's a healthy conversation. There's no doubt that there were Dutch here before the Germans, and no doubt that true-Dutch came later, and that many of those became PA Dutch through marriage and through the culture. I can't disagree with you. But, when I think of the term, I think of those who came mostly in the 18th centuries who created a specific culture. Yes, they lived around the Amish, but weren't always the same. They were originally of German roots, but blended with others who became part of it. When I think of the earlier Dutch settlers you referred to, I don't think of them as PA Dutch...unless, of course, they stayed and blended with the later settlers to become so. If that's incorrect as a technicality, I apologize, but it is an accepted explanation of "PA Dutch" among most who are still in these parts...and that's what's behind the response you're hearing. Jodi