phrases

[gavin9811]

what does going dutch mean

[scubadiver]

spliting a bill (usually for a meal) equally between the number of participants

[smudge]

OK, apart from 'going Dutch' - what about Dutch oven! I know what it's supposed to mean, but where does the saying derive from?

[FredPuli]

A Dutch oven is a metal box, a cube, with one open side. It is used for cooking by setting the box by a fire, the open side facing the flames. So it is working then like an ordinary oven but the heat comes in to it from the open side, where the door would be on a normal oven. The word Dutch was formerly used for anything odd or unconventional or the opposite of what you'd expect. Going Dutch itself is not a Dutch invention; it is called that simply because the man of a couple would normally pay both for himself and the lady but 'going Dutch' is when she pays her share. So it goes against the old convention

[Mortartube]

Another version of the origins of "going Dutch", is that when Britain and the Netherlands were building their empires, the Dutch failed to secure as many trading routes and colonies as the British, and they were seen as being the poor relation because of this. Going Dutch is was originally an insult implying that the man could not afford to treat a lady to a night out without her financial assistance.Later the meaning changed to the one we accept today.

[sddsddean]

In the 16thC, most trade was transported by sea. As ships were made of wood, the hulls tended to rot and often a ship would disappear on route, simply because its bottom had fallen out. This, plus all the other hazards of early shipping, meant that you could easily lose your livelihood. The main money 'brokers' at that time were the Dutch. If you wanted a loan, thats who you went to. Anyway, they came up with this wizard wheeze; insurance. They would help finance the shipping operation, for a large share of the profits, but would reimburse you some money if the ship was lost. This early form of insurance was known as 'Going Dutch'. Someone then discovered that you could almost prevent the rotting of hulls, caused by the main culprit, the teredo worm, simply by cladding the hull in copper.(They just couldn't chew through metal!). Such a ship was of course 'copper bottomed'. Any shipowner who had this done had made a 'copper bottomed investment'. So by the end of the 16thC, the best thing you could do was 'Go Dutch with a copper bottomed investment'.