“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),[1] and doing Dutch.
The Oxford English Dictionary connects “go Dutch” / “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. Another example is “Dutch courage”.[1] A term bearing some similarities is Dutch oven.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Dutch
We’ve got some other terms in the same vein.
thanks for pointing that out, we should all consider avoiding those terms too
Not really. I lived in the Netherlands for a decade. I can promise you the Dutch don’t mind.
Actually, I think the expression “doing Dutch” fits them pretty well to this day.