go Dutch
To pay for one's own food and bills, or split the cost, when eating at a restaurant or going out for entertainment.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Let's go Dutch and split the bill.”
“On their first date, they agreed to go Dutch so neither person felt awkward about money.”
“Though he had invited her to the concert, she insisted they go Dutch, unwilling to let him shoulder the expense alone.”
first recorded 20th c.
First attested in 1914, the idiom is a derivative of the phrase Dutch treat. It stems from the use of Dutch as a derogatory term for ersatz or poor imitations, an insult originally directed generically toward German-speaking peoples as a whole.
- 01
all dressed up and nowhere to go
Elaborately attired or otherwise fully prepared for an anticipated situation or activity which, nevertheless, fails to occur.
- 02
all systems go
Everything is ready.
- 03
as you go
While one is doing (something); as one progresses.
- 04
boldly go where no man has gone before
To break new ground.
- 05
come and go
To repeatedly appear and disappear; to be transient.
- 06
don't go there
Do not broach that topic.
- 07
Dutch courage
The courage or bravado induced by alcohol.
- 08
Dutch reckoning
A (falsified) bill that is not itemised, and that is unjustifiably high.
Last updated August 10, 2026