go dutch
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.40 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To pay for one's own food and bills, or split the cost, when eating at a restaurant or going out for entertainment.
Informal; Slang
Example Sentences
- "GOING DUTCH Some girls are quite willing to pay part of the expenses on special dates. When something is planned which is beyond the boy's means. . . ."
- "Ashley Olsen may be a teenage zillionaire, but when she's out on the town with pals, she goes dutch."
Etymology
A derivative of Dutch treat, from Dutch (“poor imitation; ersatz”), a derogatory term originally referring generically to German-speaking peoples as a whole; first attested 1914.