What does dutch treat mean

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Learn English Online - Idiomatic Expressions. Dutch treat. Definition The phrase 'Dutch treat' refers to a meal or entertainment for which each person pays his or her own expenses. A similar idiom is 'going Dutch'. The origin of the phrase The origin of the phrase 'Dutch treat' or 'go Dutch' goes back to the 17th century when England and the Netherlands were rivals and fought constantly over trade routes and political boundaries.

The phrase has a negative meaning, suggesting that the Dutch were stingy. Hence the fact that the phrases 'Dutch treat' and 'going Dutch' imply that everyone has to pay his due. The earliest occurrences of Dutch treat that I have found date from June ; the origin of this noun was explained in an article titled Beer, Letter from Vienna to the Baltimore American , published on Friday 20 th in The Chicago Daily Tribune Chicago, Illinois —this article shows that in Dutch treat , the adjective Dutch is used in the sense of German [ cf.

They rush into a restaurant and gulp down two or three glasses and move on. Here a German never thinks of finishing his glass of beer in less than ten minutes, and to drink it without eating something at the same time, even if it is only a crust of brown bread.

They seldom treat one another, but sit down to the tables, and although they drink together, each man pays for what he consumes, whether it be beer or food.

This of itself is a great preventive of excess, as, if half a dozen or a dozen were to sit down to drink, as with us, each must treat in turn, and thus six or a dozen glasses to be guzzled, whether they want it or not. He takes it as a sustenance, and not as a stimulant. In Dutch treat , therefore, the adjective Dutch is not used in the derogatory manner in which it is used in Dutch courage and in Dutch uncle , nor does it refer specifically to the Netherlands, as it does in Dutch auction.

The noun Dutch treat gave rise to the phrase to go Dutch treat.