The Warlike Origins of 'Going Dutch'

"Going Dutch" (sometimes written with lower-case dutch) is a term that indicates that each person participating in a paid activity covers their own expenses, rather than any one person in the group defraying the cost for the entire group. The term stems from restaurant dining etiquette in the Western world where each person pays for their meal. It is also called Dutch date, Dutch treat (the oldest form, a pejorative) and doing Dutch.

But where did the phrase come from? One suggestion is that the phrase "going Dutch" originates from the concept of a Dutch door, with an upper and lower half that can be opened independently. The Oxford English Dictionary connects "go Dutch" and "Dutch treat" to other phrases which have "an opprobrious or derisive application, largely due to the rivalry and enmity between the English and Dutch in the 17th century", the period of the Anglo-Dutch Wars.

This week, a look at what makes "Going Dutch" fighting words.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust (French novelist, 1871 - 1922)  

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